“Duster” (2025) created by J.J. Abrams & LaToya Morgan; starring Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson and Keith David / Z-View

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“Duster” (2025)

Created by: J. J. Abrams, LaToya Morgan

Teleplay by:

  • (eps. 1; 3) J. J. Abrams & LaToya Morgan
  • (ep. 2) LaToya Morgan & J. J. Abrams
  • (ep. 4) Sue Chung
  • (ep. 5) Lucas Brown Eyes
  • (ep. 6) Matt Lambert
  • (ep. 7) Michael Horowitz
  • (ep. 8) LaToya Morgan

Directed by:

  • Steph Green (eps. 1-2; 5-6)
  • Darren Grant  (eps. 3-4; 7-8)

Stars: Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson, Asivak Koostachin, Sydney Elisabeth Smith, Benjamin Charles Watson, Camille Guaty, Adriana Aluna Martinez, Greg Grunberg, Evan Jones, Sofia Vassilieva, Jonathan Dixon, Corbin Bernsen, Kevin Chamberlin, Matt Lauria, Gail O’Grady and Keith David.

Tagline: Everyone needs an inside man.

The Plot…

The year is 1972.  Nina Hayes, the F.B.I.’s first Black female agent is assigned to the Phoenix, Arizona office.  There she is expected to keep a low profile and not rock the boat as she works on the Ezra Saxton case.  Saxton is a Black crime kingpin for the area.  Nina thinks she may have an “in” by turning Jim Ellis, Saxton’s getaway driver.

Jim is a trusted family friend of Saxon’s.  In fact Jim’s older brother worked for Saxon as well.  Saxon loved his brother like a son.  When Jim’s brother was murdered, Jim took his spot in the organization.  There’s no way Jim would betray Saxton.

When Nina shares evidence with Jim that Saxton may have been behind his brother’s murder, all bets are off.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Duster is a fun ride.  Josh Holloway is perfect as Jim Ellis. I’m surprised we don’t see Holloway more often in big productions.  Duster was a great, uh, vehicle for his talents.

I’d never seen Rachel Hilson before.  She’s wonderful as the young, outsider set to solve a case.  Hilson and Holloway had great on-screen chemistry.

Keith David is always good.  He’s perfectly cast as Saxon.

Duster features one of the coolest openings before each episode.  Watch for slight changes as the season progresses.  Very clever.  Very fun.

It’s unfortuante that Duster wasn’t renewed for Season 2.  It currently has a 7.2 rating on IMDb.  At Rotten Tomatoes it currently sits with 93% from reviewers and 85% from users of the site.  So people did enjoy Duster.  Sadly, not enough tuned in when it premiered for the greenlight for a second season.

If you haven’t seen Duster, you should give it a try.

“Duster” (2025) earns 4 of 5 stars.