Within five minutes of The Bondsman introducing its main character, Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon), he dies. And there’s no question about it. The man’s throat is slit from end to end. When he unexpectedly revives, he zooms right off to give his would-be killers a piece of his mind. But the obvious question looms: what the hell just happened? As it turns out, hell does play a rather large part in Hub’s story.
Created by Grainger David and brought to Prime Video by the horror heads at Blumhouse Television, The Bondsman is a high-energy supernatural thriller with a small-town Southern twang. It’s much in the vein of Stan Against Evil or Ash vs. Evil Dead, with Bacon’s middle-aged reluctant hero squaring off with the forces of darkness that’ve put him in their sights. In this case, Hub’s actually in cahoots with the devil—using his bail bondsman skills to track down escaped demons and return them to the underworld.
It’s not a job he chooses for himself, and the terms are non-negotiable, as explained by Midge (WandaVision‘s Jolene Purdy), his liaison to his new “employer.” Their company, of course, is really a front for Satan; one of the show’s running gags is that it operates like a sleazy pyramid scheme and relies on the most annoying technology possible, including incessant spam, 1-900 numbers, and fax machines.
Midge and Hub share a moment between co-workers. © Prime VideoWhile Midge’s main purpose is to appear when Hub (and the audience) need more exposition, The Bondsman does take care to flesh her out and give her some specific motivations of her own. That’s also the case with the show’s other supporting cast members, especially Beth Grant (Donnie Darko) as Kitty, Hub’s tough but kind mother, and Jennifer Nettles (The Righteous Gemstones) as Maryanne, the oft-exasperated ex-wife Hub still loves.
With just eight episodes that run between 25-30 minutes each, The Bondsman moves fast but uses well-chosen flashbacks to fill us in on how Hub got into this predicament in the first place. Who was behind the murder attempt? We learn that quickly. We get some layered backstory on why someone wants him dead. We also eventually get the full story on why Hub, who’s rough around the edges but seemingly not a truly bad guy, went straight to hell when he died.
The demon-slaying scenes are extremely fun (the CG is definitely lower-budget, but it fits the grungy vibes of the show), and The Bondsman also incorporates a larger cosmic mystery for Hub to puzzle through. But the show is really about a man sorely in need of redemption who gets an unexpected shot at it. Hub regrets messing up with Maryanne, and he’s starting to lose touch with their teen son Cade (Lost in Space‘s Maxwell Jenkins), especially since Maryanne has moved on with new guy in town Lucky (Justified‘s Damon Herriman), whose sketchy past sets Hub’s teeth on edge.
Though his time back on Earth is compromised by his dangerous new gig—and complicated by other factors, like local cops who grow increasingly suspicious of the weird crime scenes popping up around town—Hub soon realizes he’s been given a gift. There are serious strings attached, yes, but it’s worth it for the opportunity to make sure his loved ones know how important they are to him. It gives The Bondsman, which devotes a lot of screen time to murderous monsters, some surprising emotional grounding.
© Prime VideoAlso, and this is no small thing, but The Bondsman has a blast incorporating music into its storyline, with well-executed needle drops, a key setting in the town’s honky-tonk, and a subplot about Hub’s failed music dreams—a big part of why his marriage with Maryanne fell apart. It feels organic to the setting rather than shoehorned in, and since Nettles just happens to be a renowned country artist, the show wisely makes great use of her powerful vocals in several different contexts.
And while this is a spoiler-free review, we will say that The Bondsman ends its final episode with quite a few dangling threads. Some viewers might find this frustrating; others might see it as a hopeful sign that Hub and company may return for more devilish dealings. Count us in the latter category; we’d happily watch Kevin Bacon kick more demon ass in any future seasons to come.
All eight episodes of The Bondsman hit Prime Video April 3.
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