Recap of Episode 7 of ‘Duster’: Hunting and Eliminating

Jim Ellis and Ezra Saxton are currently driving in the Duster on their way to Las Vegas, just the two of them together. During the journey, Keith David and Josh Holloway, who play the characters Keith David and Josh Holloway, adjust their roles to depict a father-son-like dynamic between the characters. Saxton entertains Jim with tales of his past adventures in Las Vegas, particularly those involving Joey Ellis, Jim’s brother who was associated with Sax’s organization at a high level. These stories reveal Joey as a well-connected individual with immense confidence that appealed to both mob bosses and showgirls. The scene reflects a similar paternalistic vibe from their drive to Tucson in Episode 3 of Duster, where Saxton’s fatherly feelings are evident. However, when prompted by Agent Hayes in his mind, Jim questions Saxton about the involvement of Xavier in their past Las Vegas escapades, leading to a distraction as they discover a stowaway, Luna, who has been hiding in the Duster’s trunk.

Luna happens to be Jim’s secret daughter with Izzy, a long-haul trucker causing significant issues for Snowbird. Luna takes charge of the situation before Jim can interject, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the efforts of hardworking women with children to care for. Her impassioned plea, influenced by her mother’s activism, resonates with Saxton. Their arrival in Las Vegas in the recreated 1970s strip in Duster showcases the attention to detail in the series. Luna’s marvel at the sights prompts Saxton to inquire if it is her first visit before they reach the Desert Inn, where a character resembling Howard Hughes, the iconic resident of the hotel-casino, is introduced.

Jim, Sax, and Luna follow the established protocols, observing the Spruce Goose blueprints in the penthouse suite, before being greeted by a character portraying Hughes, complete with an eccentric attire of a tuxedo and Kleenex box shoes. The revelation that Jim’s brother associated with the wealthy and peculiar Hughes adds another layer of complexity to the story, leaving Jim astonished at the connections his brother had. The encounter serves as a twist in the narrative, highlighting the unexpected ties that Joey Ellis had with influential figures during that time.

Here in Episode 7, as we anticipate the season finale, Duster also gives us some resolution on what’s in the metal suitcase. It’s a reel-to-reel tape, stolen directly from the paranoid files of President Richard Nixon and sold to the Russians, who then sold it to Howard Hughes and Ezra Saxton. The recording’s got Nixon ranting about a plan to prop up Blacks, Latinos, and other people of color as a domestic menace to his bloc of white voters – sound familiar? – and with its delivery to Hughes, he will now forward it to the still-unseen Xavier. But while Luna watches Bullit on the suite’s console TV, the billionaire pulls Jim aside for another mindwarper of a revelation. It wasn’t Saxton who orchestrated the attack on Joey, but the CIA. “It was them,” Hughes says. “It’s always been them. Son, what happened to Joey was entirely their doing.”

While Jim was putting the pieces together in Las Vegas, Nina and Awan were south of Phoenix in Chandler, triangulating a pinging ham radio signal. (You gotta love Duster continuing to center popular 1970s tech.) What they hope will lead them to another link in Ezra Saxton’s operational chain instead reveals a dusty ranch home with a basement full of radio equipment, military armaments, and fatigues emblazoned with the insignia of the US Marine Corps’ 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. A basement? In Arizona? But before they can sort it out, a shifty guy arrives. He konks Awan on the skull with the butt of a pistol, makes a phone call. “A fed in the house…what?…he’s not Black, he’s Indian or Mexican or something…” 

Nina gets the drop on this guy, and shoots him when he turns to fire at her. But as she’s checking on Awan, he’s still grumbling through gurgling blood on the floor. “You fucked up,” the guy sneers at Nina. “Xavier knows about you.” And he pulls the pin on a live grenade. Ka-blamm!

And that’s not all. 

While Jim was in Vegas with Saxton, and Nina and Awan were almost getting blown to smithereens, Billy was following his suspicions about “Nina St. James,” the Russian translator. In another really well-crafted scene featuring Corbin Bernsen and Gail O’Grady, Wade Ellis and Charlotte scramble to put Sax’s chief enforcer off the lie they helped craft for Agent Hayes. Which kind of works. Until Billy’s snooping further leads him to a suddenly awoken from a coma Sergeant Groomes, who spills about Nina’s federal agent status and her surreptitious rendezvous with Jim Ellis. It’s another moment when you know Duster got the right guy to play Billy, because Evan Jones actually makes his character look physically ill at the news of a rat inside Snowbird. “All Jim does is bang birds and drive fast. Why would he do something like that?”

Billy knows how to find his answer. We were already worried for Agent Hayes’s safety, since she was returning to the motel without knowing Grant, her rogue FBI colleague, was waiting inside the room to exterminate her. But instead she is accosted right outside the door, where Billy renders her unconscious with that favorite device of so many 70s and 80s TV shows, a rag doused with chloroform.

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.