HBO’s seventies cosplay crime thriller TV show Duster recently aired its eighth and final episode of its debut season.

As you’d expect, the show ended with a cliffhanger with the hopes of a second season to continue the saga of FBI agent Hayes and criminal wheelman Jim Ellis.

Throughout the season, I kept wondering how they would tie up so many loose ends and plot lines. It turns out it’s pretty easy, just include a big shootout and end those complicated storylines with a single bullet.

This paragraph will discuss the massive bomb dropped at the end of the show concerning Jim’s dead brother, Joey. If you don’t want the twist to be spoiled, scroll to the following paragraph. 

Throughout the entire show, we’ve been hearing about how great Jim’s brother is and would have continued to be if he hadn’t smoked near propane, or been double-crossed by Saxton, or assassinated by the CIA.

Well, as it turns out, none of that mattered because Jim isn’t dead – apparently. Everyone thought he was dead, including Howard Hughes, but it turned out to be a hoax. Joey, the famed good brother, is living under the name Xavier. 

Another character name that seems to be pulling the strings long enough to reach the White House. But is he a good guy pretending to be bad, or a good guy who went bad? That’s the cliffhanger, as now Hayes and Jim will have to continue their investigation and dive deeper.

Other spoilers and unresolved plot lines included Saxton, who saved Royce’s life by taking two to the chest. The show made it seem like he died, but later, Jim mentions that Saxton is at the hospital instead of the morgue.

Then there’s the cowboy suit at the White House who should be in trouble for sending a nerdy, corrupt FBI agent to do his dirty work.

Not to mention the lack of investigation into the fact that FBI agent Nina Hayes has killed multiple people, including a fellow agent, and isn’t under investigation. Justified or not, that’s not protocol.

It was disappointing that the season finale of a show marketed as a “car show” didn’t feature a cinematic car chase scene. Nobody even breaks the speed limit. No big car chase involving the Plymouth Duster, no big car stunt – nothing.

The most we got to see was some sloppy peel-outs on dirt and an AMC Matador crashing through a gate and tackling a bad guy.

The big shootout was shot poorly with terrible sound effects that made .44 magnums and .45 autos sound like a .22 knocking out beer bottles.

I’ll give it points for one realistic moment involving the cartoonishly evil Billy character, but otherwise, this was B-movie-level filmmaking.

My expectations for the TV show Duster were not overtly high. I expected good music, great leather blazers, and some decent car action, considering the budget and talent behind the wheel, like legendary stuntman Corey Eubanks.

But what I got was lazy writing that drags its feet instead of moving the plot forward. The characters that appear cool from a distance lack personality and charisma. Slow-paced car chases and rolling shots. Except for two impressive rollover crash car stunts involving characters that didn’t matter to the plot.

My opinion still stands. The show wasted its potential.