In a series that mirrors the present, Agent Nina Hayes would typically manage Jim Ellis, the federal agent’s informant, using a blend of tech and coercion. She might hand him a disposable phone or a sleek earpiece for communication, evolving their work relationship as she becomes the guiding voice during his escapades at an Ezra Saxton soiree, or when snatching a flash drive filled with Sax’s secrets. Fortunately, since these strategies are passé, Duster isn’t that kind of show. Instead, it unfolds in a setting resembling the 1970s, where communication tools are as analog as the vehicles. Remember pay phones on poles? The Duster even features a CB radio, paying homage to the communication fad inspired by the energy crisis of that era. (Could Jim Ellis, in Phoenix, Arizona, possibly connect with the Duke Boys in Hazzard County, Georgia?) While much of current TV hums like the soft drone of an electric car, Duster roars like the sound of a fuel and oxygen mix igniting in a four-barrel carburetor.

During Nina’s latest covert meeting with Jim in a parking garage, she presses him for more substantial intel on Sax and entices him with forensic evidence from Joey Ellis’s van. The explosion was undoubtedly caused by C-4, not a propane mishap. Doesn’t he want to take down the one responsible for targeting his brother? Jim argues that this doesn’t directly incriminate Sax, but Nina counters that it doesn’t clear his boss either. (She’s reminded of her own father, who ran numbers for Saxton in Philly when she was young. Her father lost his life in a deliberate car explosion after a disagreement with Sax.) Motivated by his federal agent contact, Ellis orchestrates a plan to stay close to Sax as he chauffeurs his boss to a clandestine meeting in Tucson.

Their journey is peppered with rapid revelations. Joey initially bought the Duster, and it was Joey’s deployment to Vietnam that motivated Jim to enlist. (“I couldn’t let him go alone.”) Sax expresses pride in his accomplishments, moving two generations away from his grandfather who picked cotton. “I own my own company”—albeit a criminal empire, he built it and he’s in charge. Sax’s meeting in Tucson, involving a mysterious Russian figure, seems to be part of his strategy to elevate his operation. “If this deal happens, we leave ’em all behind.” This includes a rival known as Greek Sal and the mob families in Las Vegas and along the coasts. We appreciate how Duster fleshes out the criminal elements within its universe, maintaining a pulpy vibe. If Greek Sal ever appears, it could be due to a botched deal culminating in a creative demise via pinsetter.

A flash drive full of dark secrets would really help Jim Ellis out of a jam, though, because while he’s agreed to help Agent Hayes, he’s waffling on evidence of Saxton’s relative duplicity. When they repair to a biker bar for drinks after the meet in Tucson, it sets up a great scene between Keith David and Josh Holloway, with David cutting Sax’s paternalism toward Jim with a boss’s unspoken demand for compliance. “I wish Joey was still here – he was your blood, but I loved that boy like he was my own.” Jim as consolation prize in the Ellis brother sweepstakes. (And check out another cool period detail in Duster, as Sax uses spare change, makes his selection, and pulls the level on a cigarette machine. That’s even more of an anachronism than a pay phone.) Did Sax blow up Joey? And if so, why? When Ellis slips away to make a call to a C-4 supplier hipped to him by his dad Wade – a supplier who doesn’t flinch at mention of “the Joey Ellis job” and Ezra Saxton – Jim is even more unsure of what to think. He’ll tell Nina about the Tuscan meet, and the Russian, and Saxton’s plans to expand. But in the meantime, he’ll also join his boss in beating the hell out of a bunch of racist bikers. Bar fight!    

Obviously, Ezra Sexton and his Snowbird operation is the biggest thing in Phoenix, crime-wise. Which is why it doesn’t feel like the pushback Agent Hayes is experiencing in the FBI field office is only due to its prevailing racism. Abbott’s protestations over her investigation get more desperate as they get louder, and a veteran forensics guy – he’s sucking on a cig, and Duster makes sure you can hear the ’70s filter paper burn – combines warning with the usual bias against her race and gender. “Kid, you gotta drop this case, or you’ll fail. Hard. People like you only get one shot.” To all of this, Nina applies her practiced answer. Fuck these clowns. And with Awan on backup, she infiltrates the psychiatric facility where her predecessor on the Saxton case is being kept.

With a quick change into ’70s nurses’ unis, they locate Breen, the former federal agent. Whether he’s just hopped up on meds or actually sick is unclear, because he would rather hold a blade to Nina’s throat while ranting in rhyme than offer her anything tangible. But he doesn’t seem surprised that a federal agent would sneak into his room just to ask about the Saxton case. And remember, this is the dude whose wife we saw in Duster Episode 2, calling in a marker on Hayes to some unknown figure in a cowboy hat. “My turn is over, Hayes – it’s your turn now,” Breen offers Nina in a brief moment of lucidity. “Follow the numbers.” At least Ezra Saxton operates as a kingpin right out in the open. What the FBI is hiding could be even bigger than the intel she cribs from her CI Jim Ellis.

Duster: 8-Tracks

Otis Redding, “Hard to Handle”

Joe Tex, “I Gotcha”

The Chakachas, “Jungle Fever”

Jimi Hendrix, “Foxy Lady”

Staple Singers, “I’ll Take You There”

Dave Hamilton, “Take Care of My Own Business” (A killer Duster deep cut!)

Merle Haggard, “Workin’ Man Blues”

Betty Everett, “You’re No Good”

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.