'Duster' Is Such a Pretty Good Show
Nothing more, nothing less
Some shows aren’t trying to be more than they are. They aren’t trying to win Emmys or make a grand statement about the world, they just want to be fun. Duster is one of those shows.
Max’s new crime thriller is aiming for a B, and it achieves that modest goal. Nothing about it will wow you, but nothing will make you feel like you’re wasting your time, either. The characters? Pretty good. The action? Pretty good. The humor? Pretty good. It’s a competently made potboiler, and I say that with respect and admiration. Sometimes these kinds of shows will skew too dark and stop being as fun as they should be (Reacher Season 2 is guilty of this, for example), but Duster never forgets that its primary purpose is to entertain. You might not remember it when it’s over, but you’ll enjoy watching it.
Duster is set in Arizona in 1972. The wardrobe’s collars and leg openings are wide, and the soundtrack is classic rock and soul. Josh Holloway plays Jim Ellis, a getaway driver for the regional crime syndicate, which is led by Ezra Saxton (Keith David, best speaking voice in the business). Jim’s car is a Plymouth Duster, which he never just turns around, he always pulls the E-brake and skids in a semicircle. You will never see him do a k-turn. Rachel Hilson plays Nina Hayes, the FBI’s first Black woman agent, a rookie who gets sent from Quantico to the Phoenix field office, where she’s intent on taking Saxton down. It’s personal, you see. Ezra Saxton killed her father. And she gets Jim to be her informant by telling him that Saxton, the man he’s worked for for years and is like a father to him, killed Jim’s brother Joey. Throughout the course of their investigation, they encounter all kinds of colorful characters, like an Elvis-obsessed gangster named Sunglasses played by David Puddy from Seinfeld, and do car chases and shootouts and all the fun action you’d expect.
And I do mean “expect,” because there isn’t much in the plot, action, or setting that will surprise you. If you’re imagining a ‘70s Southwestern hot rod crime thriller, Duster is probably going to hit the beats you’re anticipating. There are some fun, unpredictable moments along the way, though. My favorite scene of the whole season comes in the second episode, when Jim and his career criminal father Wade (Corbin Bernsen, who’s awesome in this) have a tender bonding moment in their shared grief about the loss of Joey — while they dispose of a body. It’s a clever scene that’s simultaneously emotionally sincere and ironically self-aware, and it’s just really fun. I wish there were more moments like it. Unfortunately, the show loses some gas as it goes on, getting bogged down in an ill-conceived, head-scratching subplot about a character leading a strike against her own union.
Duster is created by J.J. Abrams — his first show creator credit since 2010’s Undercovers, and he also composed the high-energy theme music — and LaToya Morgan, whose previous credits include shows as varied as Parenthood and The Walking Dead. Duster was ordered way back in April 2020, and it’s politically progressive in a way it might not be if it were greenlit now. In the Zaslav era, Nina Hayes would still be a Black woman FBI agent, but her identity wouldn’t be talked about as much as it is. I was unfamiliar with Rachel Hilson before Duster, but she’s totally charming in the role. She’s about five feet tall, which makes Nina’s underdog thing even more visually potent. Holloway is charming, too, of course. “Charming scoundrel” is kind of his whole screen persona. It’s why Abrams cast him on Lost, and why he called him up for Duster.
Even though it was ordered in a different era, Duster actually fits nicely in (HBO) Max’s new post-Pitt“elevated broadcast” strategy. It’s more violent than the ABC shows Abrams used to make, but it has some of the broadly appealing elements of a network drama. It has an accessible premise, a breezy tone, and an episodic-ish structure where it’s telling a continuing story, but there’s a new mission every week. And, to reiterate my original point, it’s not trying to be prestige. It’s not an ambitious, star-studded HBO drama or “an eight-hour movie.” It’s very much a TV show, and a pretty good one — nothing more, nothing less.
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