The Overlooked HBO Max Series Lost Fans Should Be Watching
The arc of the universe is long, but it always bends towards that "Watchmen" meme. To paraphrase Doctor Manhattan: It's 2004 and I'm watching Josh Holloway play a suave, charming rogue lying to everyone with whom he crosses paths in a series co-created by J.J. Abrams; it's now 2025 and I'm watching Josh Holloway play a suave, charming rogue lying to everyone with whom he crosses paths in a series co-created by J.J. Abrams. In another 20 years, we may very well be putting on our virtual-reality visors in the five minutes of free time a day our AI overlords allot for us — I should mention that, in this hypothetical, everyone's favorite streaming service Quibi has been brought back from the dead — so we can watch Holloway and Abrams reunite on another show all over again.
The parallels between "Lost" and the new HBO Max series "Duster" might seem as if they begin and end here. The castaway series represented one of the last gasps of broadcast TV, featuring a true ensemble cast, a high-concept premise, and a perfect blend of episodic and serialized storytelling that simply can't be recreated these days. "Duster" feels like a throwback in more ways than one, bringing a refreshingly old-school mentality to the digital space in both style and approach. But it still can't escape the veneer of a streaming show that, unlike the popularity of "Lost" in its heyday, seems to have largely fallen by the wayside of the pop-culture conversation.
It's a shame, too, because "Duster" has quite a lot going for it that any "Lost" fan will appreciate. Even beyond Holloway's big comeback, the HBO Max series (now formerly known as Max, thanks to the indecisive decision-makers over at Warner Bros. Discovery) also puts a modern spin on a classic story — an inside man compelled to turn against his (adopted) criminal family. There are complicated and unexpectedly intertwined backstories, characters hiding big secrets, and a twisty plot with several Big Ideas™ in mind. "Severance" will always be the closest thing to a "Lost" heir apparent we'll get, but "Duster" isn't too far behind.
Duster leaves most other streaming shows in the, well, you know
Where James "Sawyer" Ford was an identity-swapping conman with an incredibly troubled past, Jim Ellis is a dutiful wheelman named Jim Ellis in the employ of a crime lord (Keith David's Ezra Saxton) who may or may not be responsible for the abrupt death of Jim's beloved brother. Both characters rely on Holloway's rugged Southern charms to get whatever they need, and both frequently make a living on the wrong side of the law. (Both also have a habit of bestowing nicknames on those they take a begrudging fancy to — "Freckles" made up roughly half of Holloway's dialogue on "Lost," while the similarly endearing "Baltimore" takes its place in "Duster.") But, at the end of the day, all it takes is one stubbornly persistent person caught up in their orbit to reveal far more depth than what appears on the surface. In the case of "Lost," it took a combination of several characters over multiple seasons to steadily wear Sawyer down before we found his heart of gold. In "Duster," it's a much smoother process, and the tenacious FBI Agent Nina Hayes (a scene-stealing Rachel Hilson) plays the biggest role of all.
"Duster" tells a story split between two main protagonists in 1970s Arizona: Jim Ellis and his ties to the Saxton crime family as a trusted driver, and Nina Hayes' attempts to be taken seriously as the FBI's first Black female agent in the field. Naturally, the two end up on a collision course and must reluctantly join forces in the service of a common goal to expose Ezra Saxton. J.J. Abrams and co-creator LaToya Morgan know exactly how to balance both storylines, building out a fascinating supporting cast and hitting on themes that end up perfectly meshing together.
For those who may have missed the show's premiere in May of 2025, now's as good a time as any to jump on board this moving train (or, rather, Jim's red Plymouth Duster that gives the series its title). Three episodes in, the tone and world-building already feel properly established. There are seedy cops bought and paid for by Saxton, villainous henchmen taken right out of the "Breaking Bad"/"Better Call Saul" mold, and even an Elvis-obsessed fixer played by "Seinfeld" alum Patrick Warburton. Hop on and enjoy the ride, folks.
New episodes of "Duster" hit HBO Max every Thursday.