This post contains spoilers from Duster season 1 episode 3 from this point forward.
Often in series television, we make progress in the tiniest of increments. That’s certainly the case with Duster, the new series on Max. In the third episode, we got some progress, but it feels like some small, incremental steps. Still, any progress is good progress, right?
Let’s dive into this week’s episode of Duster.
A knife at the throat
The show has a thing for jumping to a crucial point then rewinding to show how we got there. We got it last week with Jim (Josh Holloway) and the body in the desert. This week, it’s Nina’s (Rachel Hilson) turn. We have our cold open with her in a dark kitchen, a knife and an angry man at her throat. It doesn’t look good, but quickly we spring to the opening credits.
When we’re back, we flash back 13 hours to see the journey of her day. It begins at the office, as she and Awan (Asivak Koostachin) are fresh off their discovery in the van where Jim’s brother died. The lab results are in and it turns out there was an explosive agent. It’s clear that Nina’s predecessor changed the report, but why? Either way, she’s moving closer to proving that the explosion that killed Jim’s brother was a hit.
She soon goes to meet with Jim. They didn’t connect in the second episode, and their time here is brief. She shares her findings, urging Jim to look into it. She also wants him to keep track of Saxton’s (Keith David) appointments. But he’s a little skeptical of the assignment and Saxton’s role in his brother’s death. More on that in a bit.
Meanwhile, Nina decides she needs to track down Agent Breen (Michael Bryan French), her predecessor. She’s been warned off it already by her boss (Greg Grunberg), and Awan is nervous about going rogue. But he backs her play, which leads to the mental hospital where Agent Breen is being held. He cracked up and was committed. But can he answer Nina’s questions?
After talking their way in, Nina and Awan change into uniforms and track down Agent Breen. Nina tries to get answers, but Breen is lost in the fog of his own mind. He makes a break for it, and she tracks him down, where he ends up putting a knife to her throat. Nina talks her way out of it, but Breen is a dead end.
Nina reports back to her boss. She lets him know that she went against his orders and tracked down Breen. She lets him know it was of no use, too. Nina expects a reprimand, but he lets her go with another warning. All’s not lost though as Nina gets a call from Jim with an interesting update.
The hunt for the truth
Jim, meanwhile, has his own issues. After finding out that Sgt. Groomes (Donal Logue) is in a coma and not expected to make it, he meets with Nina. He’s still not comfortable as an informant, but he wants the truth about his brother. That leads him back to his father (Corbin Bernsen).
Jim is seeking information, in this case the contact for an explosives expert named Paris Gilford. Jim’s dad is nervous about his son’s work with the Feds, and his poking around. But he urges Jim to get to the truth—sharing that he, too, believes Jim’s brother was murdered. He asks Jim to find out who did it and make sure they pay.
Soon, Jim gets a chance to spend some time with Saxton, too. His limo is on the fritz, so Jim needs to drive him for the day. He takes Saxton to a big meeting. It goes well and, on the way home, they stop for a drink. There, Jim goes through a range of emotions. He hears enough that he begins to believe Saxton wasn’t involved in his brother’s death. Then, he and Saxton have to fend off some racist bikers during a bar fight. It brings them closer together.
But Jim has a job to do. He calls Paris Gilford to put in a fake order. He gets enough from the call to confirm that Saxton had something to do with his brother’s death. He shares his lead with Nina, and that’s where we’re going next.
Thoughts on this week’s episode
There’re only so many times you can begin at the end and rewind. The series has done it two weeks in a row, and I’m hoping it’s not a recurring part of the formula. As for the investigation, there have been plenty of red herrings and few true leads. Is Paris Gilford a real lead? That remains to be seen. Still, it’s interesting to see the series making a little progress. We’ll see where we go from here.
Duster streams Thursdays on Max. We’re here every week to recap new episodes. Check back next week for a deep dive into the fourth episode of the season!