This post contains spoilers from Duster episode 4 from this point forward.
At some point, we all have to pay the toll. But what happens when the bill comes due? How do you respond? Well, Jim (Josh Holloway) has been delaying his bill coming due for a couple weeks, but that ended in the fourth episode of this first season of Duster. Let’s see how it all plays out.
Enrique the Blade
As we open the episode, Jim is contemplating his troubles. In the pilot, he arranged to work for Mad Raoul when he planned to go on the run. Instead, he made a deal with Nina (Rachel Hilson) and stayed in town. That meant going back on his promise to Mad Raoul, which didn’t bode well. As we open this week, we find out that Mad Raoul is planning to connect, sending his top man, Enrique the Blade (Rigo Sanchez) to track Jim down.
Naturally, Jim turns to Nina for help, but she says she needs more evidence in the Saxton investigation. Nina has troubles of her own and can’t go out on a limb for Jim with nothing to show for her efforts. She suggests that Jim needs to find some hard evidence. So, that leaves him looking for an opening.
He finds one with Royce (Benjamin Charles Watson), Saxton’s son. Jim and Royce are tight, especially since Jim helped track down the heart to save Royce’s life. Royce is going back out on the job, making a run to the Scottsdale facility. Jim offers to drive. He uses the guise he wants to spend time with Royce, but really starts working him for information.
Royce is only too happy to share. He even invites Jim in to tour the facility. There, Jim learns more about the operation and finds a way to get Nina some insider information. Turns out, Royce is there to pick up a car that once belonged to Howard Hughes. As they head back, the car overheats, and Jim and Royce pull over.
While at the shop, Enrique catches up with Jim. They tussle in the bathroom but, eventually, take a break to enjoy a drink together. Jim and Enrique talk about the lack of upward mobility in their jobs and how to change that. Jim lands upon a deal—give Enrique the car in exchange for his life.
The only problem is a couple young men steal the car first. That leads to a chase. Jim and Enrique recover the car and he takes it to Mad Raoul. Jim’s life is spared, but a new problem emerges. But it’s a problem for another day.
Ladies making moves
While Jim is sorting out his issues, Nina and Izzy (Camille Guaty) are making their own way. For Nina, it’s making progress in the case. Agent Breen (Michael Bryan French) is dead, which puts more pressure on her to come up with results. That leads her and Awan (Asivak Koostachin) to think about the last clue Breen provided—to follow the numbers.
Turns out those numbers are hidden coordinates. They lead to a spot on the reservation. Awan is reluctant to go due to some family issues but ends up making the trip. At the spot Breen marked, they find a video tape. They need to clean it up, but it’s clear Breen is leaving clues for his successor to follow, and Nina plans to make the most of it.
Izzy, meanwhile, is dissatisfied with her working conditions. She’s one of only a handful of truckers and the conditions they find aren’t great. Lacking facilities for females, that leaves drivers like Izzy vulnerable when on the road. She heads to the union boss (Kevin Chamberlin) to see about getting equality, but he blows her off.
Still, Izzy is determined. She meets with other female drivers, and they make plans to push for substantial changes. This will be a fight to monitor going forward.
Thoughts on this week’s episode
We are making progress, albeit slow progress. Nina and Awan are learning more about the investigation while Jim is balancing his troubles and finding a way to learn about the organization. All that is interesting enough. I was glad to see that this week’s episode didn’t start at the end and work its way back to that point.
Instead, we have more of a caper. I was also interested by the use of classic Warner Bros. cartoons to kick off the episode. Overall, it’s been quite a bit of fun. The sequence between Jim and Enrique as they discussed the corporate ladder, so to speak, was the kind of humor I’d like to see more of in future episodes. Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come as the series starts to find its way.
Duster episodes drop Thursday nights on Max. Check back each week as we recap the action in each episode right here.