The dynamic duo revving up ‘Duster’s’ 1970s crime scene

I'M an absolute sucker for a TV series or movie that is set in the '70s. Just the aesthetics alone are a vibe.

- DEBASHINE THANGEVELO

That was one of the reasons that I started watching the crime thriller Duster, which is co-created by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan.

The other is that the series is helmed by Lost star Josh Holloway as Jim Ellis and Rachel Hilson as Nina Hayes.

Set in the Southwest in 1972, the premise centres on the FBI's first black woman agent, Nina Hayes (Hilson), fresh out of training from Quantico, taking on the mammoth task of bringing crime syndicate boss Ezra Saxton (Keith David) to book.

She is laughed at by her sexist peers. But Nina has two things in her favour: she's got the smarts to get the job done, and she is fuelled by revenge. This is personal for her.

Jim is her way in as he’s Ezra’s trusted getaway driver.

In a recent press junket, ahead of the series dropping on Showmax, Morgan, Holloway and Hilson unpacked their thoughts on it.

On the title of the show, Morgan revealed: “The Duster is a really cool car. They only made it for about six years, so we wanted something really iconic for this show. We thought about the Aston Martin that Bond has or the Mustang that Steve McQueen has, and we wanted something iconic for this, so Duster it is.”

The co-creator also shed light on what inspired the storyline.