Duster Review: A Stylish Spinout That Nearly Crashes — But Might Still Be Worth the Ride.
J.J. Abrams’ new neo-western crime drama “Duster” arrives on Max with a roar — but by Episode 5, that engine starts to sputter. Set in 1972 Arizona, against the backdrop of Nixon-era paranoia and a fading American dream, Duster wants to be a vintage muscle car of a show — sexy, powerful, and built for chaos. But it often drives like it doesn’t know where it's going.
And yet, you might still want to take the ride.
🚔 The Setup: A Cherry-Red Car, a Rogue FBI Rookie, and a Mob with "Global Implications"
Rachel Hilson stars as Nina Hayes, the FBI’s first Black female agent, who storms into a male-dominated bureau with the goal of taking down Phoenix crime boss Ezra Saxton (Keith David, commanding as ever). Her plan? Flip his loyal-but-jaded getaway driver, Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway), whose ride — a ruby-red Plymouth Duster — gives the show its title and most of its attitude.
Abrams co-created the series with LaToya Morgan (The Walking Dead, Into the Badlands), and while there are familiar Bad Robot beats (shadowy conspiracies, double lives, kinetic dialogue), Duster makes a clear departure from his genre-heavy past. No aliens. No time travel. Just mob violence, FBI surveillance, and a sense of creeping dread beneath the desert sun.
🎞️ The First Half Works — Grit, Soul, and Swagger
The first few episodes are genuinely fun. The dynamic between Hilson and Holloway crackles with tension and misalignment — she’s all order, he’s all instinct. The car chases are real. The stakes feel personal. There's a sense that Duster could be something like Justified meets Jackie Brown, infused with Marvin Gaye, mistrust, and murder.
There are even surprising emotional beats: Jim’s fractured family history, Nina’s daily battle with sexism and racism in the bureau, and the unlikely team-up with Indigenous FBI agent Awan Bitsilly (Asivak Koostachin), who is quietly one of the show’s best characters.
🌀 Then the Plot Derails… Hard
Somewhere around Episode 5, Duster starts throwing storylines at the wall like a writer’s room on a Red Bull bender. A blade-wielding assassin. A Howard Hughes cameo. Elvis’s missing shoes. It’s as if The Americans got hijacked by Fast & Furious — in theory, that could be fun. In execution, it’s a tonal pile-up.
The core story — bringing down a crime empire from within — gets lost in the haze. And while Hilson does her best with a script heavy on tropes, and Holloway still has undeniable screen charisma, their arc gets sidelined by what feels like setup for a future season, rather than resolution in this one.
📰 What’s New: Viewer Buzz, Streaming Strategy, and Season 2 Teases
In the last 24 hours, Max quietly confirmed that internal metrics for Duster’s premiere exceeded expectations, thanks to a spike in Gen X and older millennial viewers drawn in by nostalgia-heavy marketing. J.J. Abrams is already in talks for a second season — but network insiders say it may be shortened to six episodes if greenlit, based on audience drop-off patterns reported over the weekend.
Meanwhile, Twitter/X has lit up with fans split between loving the show’s ‘70s vibes and mocking its “car-prank pacing.” And yes, the line “Elvis’s shoes were the key all along” is already a meme.
🎸 Final Verdict: Messy, Moody, But Occasionally Magical
Duster is like a forgotten vinyl in your uncle’s garage — dusty, a bit warped, but with enough soul to make you keep listening. It’s uneven. It overreaches. But it also gives us something fresh: a Black female FBI lead in a period crime drama, a queer-coded Indigenous sidekick with real depth, and a show that at least tries to do something stylish with substance.
Is it worth watching? If you’re the kind of viewer who prefers vibes over structure, and doesn’t mind a little narrative chaos, then absolutely. Just don’t expect every detour to lead somewhere meaningful.
And if Abrams and Morgan get another shot? Hopefully they’ll stop looking in the rearview mirror — and focus on the road ahead.
⭐ RATING: 3.5 out of 5
A flawed but fiercely entertaining crime caper with standout performances and serious throwback style.
