HBO Max’s Duster: A Slightly Above Average, Far From Great 70s Crime Show
The Duster is a fast, red car.
Will it get you very far?
Or is this show about the Duster
Really simply quite lackluster.
With fans who all do bluster
About how much they enjoy said Duster
Is it time that you should muster
And tune in and watch Max’s Duster?
Sometimes when you finish a show and are then summarizing your feelings about it, you’ll say something like, “Well, there’s a lot to like about (insert name of show).” Or the inverse of that, “There’s a lot to dislike about (insert name of show).” I think with Duster, however, there isn’t really a lot to either like or dislike about the show. Sure, there are some things it does well enough and some areas in which it could definitely be improved, but Duster largely resides snuggly in the realm of pretty good, but not great or particularly special TV.
On a personal note, 2025 has been a rough year so far for me when it comes to finding quality shows. With the exception of Netflix’s Adolescence, which was fantastic, but also only three episodes long, TV for me this year has either been just meh (American Primeval, Dept. Q), disappointing (Andor Season 2, The White Lotus Season 3, Silo Season 2), or not even worth watching (Paradise, Dope Thief).
I feel like Duster doesn’t quite fit into any of those categories though. I had no expectations before watching it, so it’s clearly not a disappointment. I also think it’s better than a meh-level show, albeit not much better than that tier of program.
Duster is fun enough. It’s more of a B-show, but I can appreciate that it never tries to be something it’s not. It just also happens to be more of a B-grade B-show. It’s not great at being a fun, 70s crime drama thriller, but it’s not bad at it either.
This eight-episode series follows Josh Holloway as the generically named Jim Ellis. You might remember Holloway from ABC’s Lost where he played Sawyer. The character he plays on Duster is a driver for a crime syndicate, and he’s pretty much the same character as Sawyer, but in the 70s and driving a red Plymouth Duster. I don’t think that Holloway is a fantastic actor by any means, but he excels at portraying the cool antihero type, and he’s a good fit for a show that has the feel of a pulpy comic book brought to life on the small screen.
Our story has Ellis teaming up with a FBI agent named Nina Hayes, who provides him with evidence that the crime boss he works for, Saxton, actually might have had his brother killed. While working as an informant for Hayes, the two find out that the conspiracy behind what’s truly going on runs far deeper than what either imagined. This is all really, really basic cliché crime show stuff. It’s done in a totally acceptable way, but it’s nothing to write home about.
The look of the show, as well as the rest of the cast who populate its world, is probably Duster’s biggest strength. Keith David plays the crime boss, and he’s one of those actors who even if you don’t know his name, you recognize him since he’s been in so many things. He’s really well cast here. He might not ever feel like a serious sinister threat, but he feels perfect as the deep-voiced crime boss in a more trying-to-be-fun-not-prestige-TV show like this one.
Eight episodes definitely feels long for a show like this. I think there’s enough here for maybe five solid episodes. Even though the characters find themselves in different situations as they get further wrapped up in the mystery of everything, I think Duster needed to be condensed. It’s a show that feels more fun than actually interesting (especially story wise), and I think it would’ve worked better shorter had it been less concerned with telling such a long, cliché story.
Duster wasn’t picked up for a second year, but it still works basically fine as a standalone season. Are questions left unresolved? Definitely yes. But I think I felt so lukewarm about the story that I don’t really mind that I’ll never know what happens with it. This is more of a just enjoy the ride type of series that you’ll forget about a couple weeks after watching it.
Overall, I guess I liked Duster. I didn’t dislike it. It’s not a passionate liking I feel for it. It was fine. There are way worse shows you could watch than this one.
Grade: 6.5/10