Duster TV Review: J.J. Abrams and Lost star Josh Holloway reunite for a retro mystery roller coaster

Plot: Set in the 1970s Southwest, DUSTER explores the life of a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate that goes from dangerous to wildly, stupidly dangerous when a tenacious young agent comes into town hellbent on taking his crime family down. 

Review: When Lost debuted in 2004, it introduced audiences to several fresh faces, including Josh Holloway. Playing the smart-ass anti-hero Sawyer, Holloway became a sex symbol and seemed to have a big career ahead. Despite a small role in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, the short-lived series Intelligence and Colony, and a supporting turn on Yellowstone, Josh Holloway has been criminally underutilized in Hollywood. Lost co-creator J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan set out to create Duster as a showcase for Holloway, which evolved into a rip-roaring retro thriller blending 1970s vibes and mystery series and an intense modern sensibility. Giving Josh Holloway a starring role tailor-made for his good looks and swagger, Duster is a solid new series with an equally impressive turn by co-lead Rachel Hilson, making this a roller coaster ride of a summer series and your next new favorite show.

Duster is set in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1972, where Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway) works as a driver for criminal kingpin Ezra Saxton (Keith David). Having lost his brother two years earlier, Jim is a smooth operator who beds women as skillfully as he gets away from enemies of Saxton’s syndicate. A loyal employee, Jim’s allegiance is tested when Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson) arrives in town. Fresh out of Quantico, Hayes is the first Black female FBI agent and has her sights set on taking down Saxton. The Phoenix office doesn’t want her there. Still, Nina partners with the equally overlooked Navajo agent Adan (Asivak Koostachin) to turn Jim Ellis into an informant with the promise of more information on the death of his brother. Jim must now contend with searching for the truth about his brother while working with Nina and against Saxton. The complex web of double and triple crosses is only the setup for a mystery chock-full of side quests and adventures that deepen a conspiracy you will not see coming.

There are a lot of elements coming together to give Duster a refreshing yet familiar feel. When Josh Holloway is behind the wheel of his Plymouth Duster, the series carries a Smokey and the Bandit feel coupled with the adrenaline rush of getaway classics ranging from Baby Driver to Bullitt. The FBI narrative itself would have made for a fun period series with Rachel Hilson doing a great job holding her own as a woman and a Black woman working in an organization dominated by white men. Hilson, who at thirty could pass for ten years younger, is diminutive but imaginative and intuitive, and her investigation skills are fascinating to watch. As she pursues Saxton through Ellis, she uncovers a larger conspiracy that draws the various characters together, including famous names ranging from Adrienne Barbeau to Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon, and even Howard Hughes. The blend of reality and fiction gives Duster an energy that is fun and does not venture too far into Forrest Gump territory with the historical accuracy and connections.

The key to what makes this series work is Josh Holloway, who brings every bit of his Southern charm to playing Jim Ellis. This fictional Phoenix is populated with countless bad guys ranging from Sunglasses (Patrick Warburton), an Elvis aficionado, to the corrupt cop Groomes (Donal Logue) to the unseen Xavier and Mad Raoul, who are set up to be potential antagonists in a second season. Holloway takes each episode in stride as the stakes get bigger, as Ellis must keep the truth close to the vest from his father, Wade (Corbin Bernsen), and Izzy (Camille Guaty), mother to Jim’s niece Luna (Adriana Aluna Martinez). Holloway is so damn charismatic when he tries to seduce women or takes Luna for joy rides in his car to convincing anyone he crosses paths with to help him with his mission at that time. Holloway does not play Jim as a detective or a hero but rather as a Vietnam veteran who knows when he is in over his head but manages to escape by the skin of his teeth while trying to make a better life for himself and those he loves.

Duster is J.J. Abrams’ first television series he has been credited as a writer on since 2010’s short-lived Undercovers and his first project as writer since Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Abrams and LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead, Into the Badlands, Turn: Washington’s Spies) share script credits on the first episodes of Duster, with the rest of the season crafted by Lucas Brown Eyes, Sue Chung, Michael Horowitz, Matt Lambert, and Kendall Lampkin. All eight hour-long episodes were directed by Steph Green and Darren Grant, who perfectly capture the desert landscape of the Southwest, ranging from Palm Springs to Phoenix. Along the way, the series gets a spark of retro energy from a pumping soundtrack of era-appropriate jams that enhance the excellent production values and costumes. I barely scratched the surface of the story’s complexity, but it never becomes a chore to watch. Abrams and Morgan have found a perfect showcase for Josh Holloway that is so bespoke it could not have starred anyone else.

Duster works well as an overall series with the finale setting things up for a bolder and potentially different second season. While I think that Rachel Hilson and Josh Holloway work well opposite one another, I believe Duster could have worked just as well with the focus entirely on Jim Ellis. Not looking a day older than he did when Lost premiered two decades ago, it is long overdue that Holloway gets a project as perfect for him as Duster. I liked the short, eight-episode season and the absolute fun that the series represents, which is captured perfectly in the opening credits that echo old Hot Wheels tracks. I think audiences will connect with Ellis and Hayes and readily overlook the story’s weaker elements that are wonderfully overshadowed by the violent action, exciting chase scenes, classy nudity, and Josh Holloway’s smirking charm.

Duster premieres on May 15th on Max.

Duster

GOOD

7

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