Prime Video has canceled two of its freshman action series, Countdown and Butterfly.

According to Deadline, the cancellations were not initially expected. Countdown, in particular, has continued to be in the Prime Video U.S. Top 10. And, as Deadline continues, both series have been in the Nielsen Top 10 for Streaming Originals. However, according to the article, Prime Video gave the two series the chop because the series didn’t do well overseas.

It’s hard to say if Prime Video is reaching for reasons to cancel a series, especially since these two series were so popular domestically.

What Jensen Ackles told us about ‘Countdown’

Countdown followed an LAPD detective who is recruited to a secret task force to investigate the murder of a Department of Homeland Security officer. The series also starred Jessica Camacho, Elliot Knight, Violett Beane and Uli Latukefu.

Ackles, who played the main character, LAPD Detective Mark Meachum, said during his June interview with Blavity’s Shadow and Act that he liked the mental health twist the series has.

“I think we’re used to seeing sometimes [with] these characters, they’re just crazy, so that’s why they act so cavalier and that’s why they act like a maverick and have problems with authority and all that stuff is just because wired that way,” he said. “I like the fact that there’s a reason behind him acting the way that he does and harboring this kind of deadly secret. And it does give him the ability to act out, and to take risks, and to take chances, and put his team in maybe dire situations that he wouldn’t normally do if he wasn’t on his way out, so to speak. I liked that little twist to the character and what it brought to the story. It was definitely something that hooked me from the beginning when Derek was telling me about the story.”

What Daniel Dae Kim told us about ‘Butterfly’

Butterfly, starring Daniel Dae Kim and Reina Hardesty, was based on the graphic novel series by Arash Amel. The series followed a Korean-American secret agent living in South Korea who reconnects with his estranged daughter, who is now also a secret agent, as they flee their former employers, a shadow government agency.

Kim told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in August how proud he was of the series to be part of Hollywood’s embrace of Korean culture.

“When I started my career, no one knew anything about Korean culture. The only Korean culture that we saw on our televisions was M.A.S.H. in the ’70s,” he said. “… I know how far we’ve come and I don’t think a show like Butterfly could have been made 10 years ago because there wouldn’t have been the interest, not only in the part of the studios and the networks, but also in the population to say that we have a show that’s bringing over Korean actors and that we shot in Korea. Now there’s an awareness of these actors that there wasn’t 10 years ago.”

Uli Latukefu

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