Duster delivers a Pam-Grier-meets-slasher-movie mashup
Generally, the first episode of a new TV show establishes the world, the second reiterates those same beats, and the third is where you really find out what the series is going to feel like on a weekly basis. So it's a relief that after last week's installment zeroed in on criminal driver Jim Ellis, FBI Agent Nina Hayes takes center stage here. I was worried that last week's Jim-centric hour meant Duster was too enchanted by Josh Holloway to give Rachel Hilson the same screentime. But it turns out the series was just planning two back-to-back 'showcase' episodes for its two co-leads.
In fact, Nina even gets her own in medias res cold open just like Jim did last week. 'Suspicious Minds' opened with Jim burying a body in the desert only to jump back in time 15 hours to fill in the gaps. This episode opens with Nina being held at knife point and then jumps back to 13 hours earlier to show us what happened to get her there.
While the in medias res cold open is a pretty basic TV trick, it works really well for Duster for two reasons. For one thing, this is an intentionally 'basic' throwback show, so classic TV storytelling devices feel like a natural fit. And, for another, this is a relatively episodic series, and the cold open serves as a helpful thematic primer for the tone and focus we can expect. Here we immediately know we're getting a Nina-centric hour with a violent, conspiracy-heavy tone.
The cold open also gives the episode a ticking clock that makes it more exciting to sit through the procedural beats. Ten minutes in, we see a picture that confirms the guy attacking Nina is none other than her much discussed predecessor Agent Breen (Michael Bryan French). And the opening scene provides some extra tension as we watch Nina get chewed out by her boss Agent Nathan Abbott (Greg Grunberg) for barking up the wrong tree and then decide to take Agent Awan Bitsui to visit Breen at the Kirkbridge Sanitarium anyway. What could feel slow or meandering on a more serialized show all feels like it's building towards an episodic climax here. Again, the series isn't reinventing the TV wheel. But, hey, sometimes old tricks are popular for a reason—which is basically Duster's entire raison d'être.
Watching these last two episodes back-to-back also helps us get to know Jim and Nina by contrasting how they handle similar missions. Last week, Jim used his charisma and people skills to crash a party at Elvis' house and steal his blue suede shoes. This week, Nina relies on her powers of observation and a little cold-hard cash to sneak into the sanitarium. True, she also throws a little flirtation into the mix too. But it's really her ability to spot a weak link in the hospital's security chain—in this case, a Black janitor who's being mistreated by his white bosses—that gets her in the door.
Once Nina and Awan are inside, the show has a whole lot of fun giving them even more of a full-on heist than Jim got last week, where the bowling alley fight was the episode's actual climax. Sure, the idea of two FBI agents spontaneously going undercover at a mental institution seems a little farfetched. But Awan's absolutely adorable love of Superman sells the idea that he'd be okay adopting a 'secret identity.' (This is a great episode for Asivak Koostachin.) And playing Jimi Hendrix's 'Foxey Lady' while Nina changes into a white nurse's uniform is a double homage to two iconic Pam Grier roles: Foxy Brown and Coffy.
It's an enjoyably stylish sequence, even if we quickly realize that Nina is definitely an overconfident newbie when it comes to improvising on the job. Her attempt to reach Breen goes awry almost immediately as she really just succeeds at freeing him from his locked room and letting him run amuck in the hospital. From a modern perspective, it's probably not the most sensitive approach to basically turn the sanitarium into the setting for a horror movie. But it does feel like a fitting homage to the slasher films that would take theaters by storm in the late 1970s.
Where a lot of final girls survive on gumption alone, Nina saves herself by talking through Breen's brain-addled riddles. True, I don't know if committing multiple crimes, getting Breen to knock himself out, and only getting the clue to 'follow the numbers' could really be considered a win for our intrepid agent. But it's great to see Nina faced with more than just interoffice drama this week. And her undercover mission provides another point of comparison with Duster's co-lead.
Where Jim is a well-trained crime pro with a long history of getting out of scrapes, Nina is still learning the ropes when it comes to bending (okay, breaking) the law. At least she gets an unexpected ally in Agent Abbott's wife, who's so excited about the idea of her husband working with the first Black woman at the FBI that he agrees not to report Nina's indiscretion. It's a bit of a goofy resolution to a bit of a goofy sideplot, but given how the deck is stacked against Nina because of her race and gender, it's nice to see her get a win because of those qualities too. That also goes for the sweet scene where the FBI cleaning lady Kelly (Esther Omegba) is so excited to meet her.
Though Nina takes center stage this week, this is by no means a Jim-lite episode. Once Nina finds proof that his brother's van was intentionally exploded with C4, Jim becomes even more motivated to get dirt on Saxton. Here that means sabotaging his boss' limo in order to become his chauffeur for the evening—driving him to Tucson for a meeting with 'global implications' (a.k.a. partnering with some Russians).
The storyline mostly exists to ratchet up the interpersonal tension for Jim. His dad is adamant that Saxton is family, and Saxton goes so far as to say that Jim is one of the few people in the world he can really trust and confide in. He even reveals he loved Joey like a son and thought about grooming him to take over his criminal empire, which would seem to place Royce or more likely Genesis as the prime suspects in the murder. But is that just an act to cover up the fact that deep down Saxton is just like his favorite song: 'no good'?
It's hard to say. This week offers the most extended screentime for Keith David yet, and he's such a naturally warm, charismatic presence that you really do want to root for him. Placing Saxton within the context of a racist, rural bar is also a reminder that though he may be a powerful crime lord, he's still breaking down barriers in his own way too. Jim even decides to let go of the idea that Saxton had Joey killed—at least until he hears his boss mention 'Paris Gilford,' the go-to C4 provider for the greater Phoenix area.
In the end, Jim winds up back on 'Team Saxton Did It' and Nina winds up without any new leads outside of her CI, which means this hour is ultimately a little less consequential than it seems like it's going to be in the beginning. Plotwise, we pretty much just leave things exactly as we started them. But putting Nina front and center is still a crucial step for Duster's worldbuilding. The show now feels like a true two-hander (or three-hander if we consider Saxton another co-lead). And that's a solid foundation for whatever detours it wants to take next.
• This week in 'It's the 1970s!': The Staple Singers' number-one hit 'I'll Take You There' plays on the radio, and Saxton buys a pack of smokes from a cigarette vending machine. Also, Awan is going to be so excited when the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie comes out in six years.
• The blue suede shoes from last week remain in the opening credits and we get a new tease for Wade's beloved rolodex of criminal connections. We also get to see the IRL version of the arched 'Duncan's Layaway' sign that's been part of the sequence from the beginning.
• I continue to think they need to make some minor adjustments to Jim's hair. It's so clean and shiny without really being styled. I feel like they either need to lean into the idea that he's a man who fully does his hair each day (give me some feathered face framing pieces!) or let it be a little grungier.
• Royce is apparently having 'emotional swings' after his heart transplant (is that a thing?) and cries when his dad offers him steak.
• Great casting on the photo in Nina's locket! That guy really looks like he could be Hilson's dad.
• I'm not exactly sure why this show is so adamant about checking in on all of Jim's family members each week, but at least their scenes are all light and zippy, with Izzy having a breakfast date with her doctor boyfriend David (Friday Night Lights' Matt Lauria), Jim and Luna sharing an adorable lunch together, and Jim walking in on Charlotte performing her weekly Guys And Dolls striptease for Wade.
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