Jim Ellis is using the emotional curler coaster from hell — and he’s gripping the wheel with white knuckles.
Duster Season 1 Episode 3 places Jim by the wringer as his allegiance to Ezra Saxton begins to fray.
One minute, Sax is a surrogate father providing toasts and bar fights in biker joints. The following, he’s name-dropping Paris Gilford — the exact same lady Wade stated to name when you ever wanted C4.
For Jim, that modifications every thing.
However whereas his eyes are lastly opening, Nina’s stalled out. Her investigation into Saxton has hit a wall, and her newest detour — a non-sanctioned, unsupervised go to to a knife-wielding Leland Breen — yields extra chaos than solutions.
Jim Can’t Unhear What He’s Heard
Jim spends many of the episode making an attempt not to imagine Nina. Even with a forensic report confirming Joey’s van was rigged with C4, he’s nonetheless defending Saxton. He’s nonetheless loyal.
He’s nonetheless unwilling to imagine that the person who gave him a automotive and a profession may have put his brother within the grave.
And he’s not alone. His father asks him to warn Nina away from Sax within the investigation. Defending household is what they do. And Sax? He’s household.
However that blind spot takes successful. Whereas driving Sax to his large Tucson assembly, Jim watches his former mentor fumble by toasts with Russians, wax poetic about The Flamingos, and confess simply how deeply he misses Joey.
It’s shifting — real, even. No surprise Jim can’t face the potential for his betrayal.
After which Sax brings up Paris Gilford. Simply casually. Like she’s not the lady Wade stated may get you something explosive.
That second flips a swap. Jim makes a name to Paris from a pay cellphone below Sax’s title and asks for “the identical gear she offered for the Joey Ellis job.”
The tone in his voice when he says it? Ice chilly. Jim might not have full proof but, however by the tip of the episode, it’s clear he’s not seeking to exonerate Sax — he’s seeking to verify the betrayal.
And that, greater than something, makes this episode sing.
In the meantime, Nina’s in a Holding Sample… with Knives
Poor Nina. She’s a hammer with no nail, and when each lead hits concrete, her power — so daring and decided within the premiere — begins to crumble.
Her makes an attempt to get solutions from a clearly unstable Leland Breen end in one of the weird (and tense) sequences of the sequence to date.
The second he holds a knife to her throat, you’ll be able to really feel the present tipping into its grindhouse absurdity. Most of us would have gently slipped away when he spoke in pie and kitchenware. However not Nina.
Is he useful? Not precisely. However he does mutter one thing about ” the numbers,” which is able to doubtless immediate Nina to begin chasing an entire new thriller.
No less than she will get a reprieve from Abbott respiratory down her neck. His spouse likes “the thought” of Nina, a Black agent working in a roomful of silly white males. So now he’s pushing protocol whereas quietly rooting for her to shake issues up.
Even Awan, her one dependable associate, begins to waver — till she almost disrespects Superman, and he attracts the road. And that Velcro pockets? How may you not fall for Awan in that second?
Their back-and-forth stays a spotlight, and his loyalty by no means feels in query, however Nina is clearly burning by her goodwill sooner than she’s turning up leads.
She performs Jim like he’s below her thumb, however with out him, her complete case implodes.
Sax Is Easy Till He Isn’t
Ezra Saxton continues to be the present’s most charismatic enigma.
One minute he’s reminiscing about Joey, getting emotional over “You’re No Good,” and bonding with Jim throughout a biker bar brawl that ends in cartoon violence. The following, he’s elevating purple flags so large they may blanket the desert.
Watching Sax in motion, it’s straightforward to grasp how he’s stayed protected all these years. He performs the patriarch card superbly — fatherly when it fits him, powerful when it doesn’t.
However these moments when the masks slips? They’re stacking up. And Jim is lastly beginning to see it.
Keith David performs the half completely. I’m simply as confused as Jim, partly due to David’s efficiency. The opposite half? My lack of ability to establish with individuals so cruelly two-faced. Each time, I hope for the very best. Disappointment is an effective buddy.
Music as Temper, Once more
And if Sax’s allure offensive is engaged on Jim, the music does the identical to us. The soundtrack stays one among Duster’s greatest strengths.
The Flamingos, The Staple Singers, and Betty Everett all make appearances, each completely timed to punctuate emotional swings or add comedian aptitude.
The music doesn’t simply help the tone, it units it. Whether or not it’s a soulful drive or a combat scene performed for laughs, the songs are as central to Duster because the Duster itself.
Severely, the second Sax lights up over “You’re No Good,” singing alongside whereas Jim stares daggers on the radio, it tells us every thing we have to know. The person could be charming, however he’s not off the hook.
Notes from the Glovebox
Wade could be a retired legal with a Rolodex stuffed with bombmakers, however he’s nonetheless making an attempt to maintain Jim from going full-blown anarchist.
His shovel-toting help could also be unconventional, but it surely hits. He needs to point out up for Jim in methods he didn’t for Joey — and for a present like Duster, that type of flawed father-son loyalty lands.
Charlotte, in fact, simply needs a heads-up earlier than her matinee performances get interrupted. Honest sufficient.
Gail O’Grady is a scene-stealing gem. Between the martini, purple sequins, and cheeky grind on Bernsen, she’s giving camp and dedication in equal measure.
Izzy’s boyfriend David (Matt Lauria) is probably going extra than simply background casting. Might he be the surgeon who saved Royce’s life? If that’s the case, this triangle of household, drugs, and mobbed-up karma may get twisty quick.
After which there’s Royce. That emotional breakdown over steak and potatoes? Utterly bonkers and someway hilarious.
Saxton won’t know methods to course of emotions, however his “get me out of right here” face was priceless. That scene walked the road between sitcom and Shakespeare — and that’s the present’s complete vibe in a nutshell.
Last Ideas
This episode narrows its focus and lets the stress construct. Up to now, Nina and Jim have been working individually. However you’ll be able to see the case for them rising nearer on a regular basis.
Jim is lastly beginning to join the dots, and each revelation cuts a bit deeper. In the meantime, Nina is unraveling simply sufficient to make us surprise how lengthy she will hold preventing this combat earlier than the system spits her out.
Duster thrives on chaos, colour, and an entire lot of character — however beneath the grindhouse gloss, it’s starting to string one thing darker.
Belief is crumbling. Loyalties are being examined. And each time the Duster peels out, somebody’s one step nearer to a fall.
However what about you?
Is Jim lastly seeing Saxton for who he actually is — or will his historical past with him hold clouding the reality?
Do you suppose Sax genuinely cherished Joey? Or has every thing been an extended con?
And the way lengthy can Nina hold pushing earlier than the FBI pushes again tougher?
We wish to hear what you suppose. Hold forth within the feedback and share this evaluation together with your fellow crime TV lovers. We’re following this bumpy highway one mile at a time — and your help retains our tank full.
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