Considering how little Blythe trusts anyone in law enforcement right now, you’d think he would have planned ahead when it came to the photos in Countdown!
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Countdown season 1, episode 5.
As the task force closed in on details about Volchek, the question about their own photos came up. It would only be a matter of time before someone would end up turning the tables on them. Why did it only take up until now for them to realize this, considering they had already been looking at various profiles online?
Well, fortunately, they did, because it brought up the topic. And fortunately, one of them thought about this earlier, to make sure everything looked good for the task force.
Shepherd shows that she knows the dangers of tech in Countdown
Considering Shepherd works with IT so much, it’s not surprising that she is always looking at how other people could use technology. She knows that individuals could hack into their system, considering she hacks into everyone else’s. She likely even knows that the government websites aren’t as protected as some others around the world.
So, she thought about the problem long before anyone else did. During her first week on the task force, she went to work on changing everyone’s photos. This wouldn’t have taken her too long to do, but I’m surprised she didn’t even mention this until this point.
Blythe should have thought about this in Countdown
I think Blythe not thinking about how the photos should have been changed out earlier gives us a look at his flaws. He doesn’t quite understand the way computers work. There have been a couple of times he’s relied on Shepherd or Bell to tell him details, and even then, it looks like the details go over his head.
However, he should have thought about the dangers of the profiles on the databases. Blythe has made it clear that he’s sure there are moles, and he can’t find them all. He should know that this puts all of them at risk, especially since this task force isn’t exactly the best kept secret. While he doesn’t understand technology that well, he should have at least thought to ask if there was a way to remove profiles off the system or adapt them.
One of the great things about the whole arc is that we see everyone has a purpose in this task force. Without Shepherd, Meachum would have been cooked in Countdown.
Countdown airs on Wednesdays on Prime Video.
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