Inside 5 minutes of The Bondsman introducing its most important character, Hub Halloran (Kevin Bacon), he dies. And there’s no query about it. The person’s throat is slit from finish to finish. When he unexpectedly revives, he zooms proper off to present his would-be killers a chunk of his thoughts. However the apparent query looms: what the hell simply occurred? Because it seems, hell does play a slightly giant half in Hub’s story.
Created by Grainger David and dropped at Prime Video by the horror heads at Blumhouse Tv, The Bondsman is a high-energy supernatural thriller with a small-town Southern twang. It’s a lot within 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 of their sights. On this case, Hub’s truly in cahoots with the satan—utilizing his bail bondsman expertise to trace down escaped demons and return them to the underworld.
It’s not a job he chooses for himself, and the phrases are non-negotiable, as defined by Midge (WandaVision‘s Jolene Purdy), his liaison to his new “employer.” Their firm, after all, can be a entrance for Devil; one of many present’s working gags is that it operates like a sleazy pyramid scheme and depends on probably the most annoying expertise doable, together with incessant spam, 1-900 numbers, and fax machines.
Whereas Midge’s most important goal is to look when Hub (and the viewers) want extra exposition, The Bondsman does take care to flesh her out and provides her some particular motivations of her personal. That’s additionally the case with the present’s different supporting forged members, particularly Beth Grant (Donnie Darko) as Kitty, Hub’s powerful however sort mom, and Jennifer Nettles (The Righteous Gem stones) as Maryanne, the oft-exasperated ex-wife Hub nonetheless loves.
With simply eight episodes that run between 25-Half-hour every, The Bondsman strikes quick however makes use of well-chosen flashbacks to fill us in on how Hub acquired into this predicament within the first place. Who was behind the homicide try? We study that rapidly. We get some layered backstory on why somebody desires him lifeless. We additionally finally get the complete story on why Hub, who’s tough across the edges however seemingly not a really dangerous man, went straight to hell when he died.
The demon-slaying scenes are extraordinarily enjoyable (the CG is unquestionably lower-budget, however it suits the grungy vibes of the present), and The Bondsman additionally incorporates a bigger cosmic thriller for Hub to puzzle by way of. However the present is admittedly a few man sorely in want of redemption who will get an sudden shot at it. Hub regrets messing up with Maryanne, and he’s beginning to lose contact with their teen son Cade (Misplaced in House‘s Maxwell Jenkins), particularly since Maryanne has moved on with new man on the town Fortunate (Justified‘s Damon Herriman), whose sketchy previous units Hub’s tooth on edge.
Although his time again on Earth is compromised by his harmful new gig—and complex by different elements, like native cops who develop more and more suspicious of the bizarre crime scenes popping up round city—Hub quickly realizes he’s been given a present. There are critical strings hooked up, sure, however it’s value it for the chance to ensure his family members know the way necessary they’re to him. It provides The Bondsman, which devotes loads of display screen time to murderous monsters, some stunning emotional grounding.

Additionally, and that is no small factor, however The Bondsman has a blast incorporating music into its storyline, with well-executed needle drops, a key setting within the city’s honky-tonk, and a subplot about Hub’s failed music goals—an enormous a part of why his marriage with Maryanne fell aside. It feels natural to the setting slightly than shoehorned in, and since Nettles simply occurs to be a famend nation artist, the present correctly makes nice use of her highly effective vocals in a number of completely different contexts.
And whereas this can be a spoiler-free assessment, we’ll say that The Bondsman ends its ultimate episode with fairly a couple of dangling threads. Some viewers would possibly discover this irritating; others would possibly see it as a hopeful signal that Hub and firm might return for extra devilish dealings. Depend us within the latter class; we’d fortunately watch Kevin Bacon kick extra demon ass in any future seasons to return.
All eight episodes of The Bondsman hit Prime Video April 3.
Need extra io9 information? Try when to anticipate the newest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on film and TV, and all the things it’s good to find out about the way forward for Doctor Who.
Trending Merchandise
MSI MAG Forge 112R – Premium Mid-Tower Gaming PC Case – Tempered Glass Side Panel – ARGB 120mm Fans – Liquid Cooling Support up to 240mm Radiator – Vented Front Panel
HP 15.6″ Touchscreen Laptop, Intel Core i3-1215U Processor, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Numeric Keypad, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Long Battery Life, SD Card Reader, Windows 11 Home, Alpacatec Accessories, Silver
NZXT H5 Stream Compact ATX Mid-Tower PC Gaming Case – Excessive Airflow Perforated Tempered Glass Entrance/Aspect Panel – Cable Administration – 2 x 120mm Followers Included – 280mm Radiator Help – Black
ASUS 15.6â Vivobook Go Slim Laptop, Intel Dual Core N4500, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, Windows 11, Star Black, L510KA-ES04
15.6” Laptop computer 12GB DDR4 512GB SSD, Quad-Core Intel Celeron N5095 Processors, Home windows 11 1080P IPS FHD Show Laptop computer Laptop,Numeric Keypad USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.2, 2.4/5G WiFi
HP Latest 14″ Ultral Gentle Laptop computer for College students and Enterprise, Intel Quad-Core N4120, 8GB RAM, 192GB Storage(64GB eMMC+128GB Micro SD), 1 Yr Workplace 365, Webcam, HDMI, WiFi, USB-A&C, Win 11 S
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 14 Laptop computer, 14.0″ HD Show, Intel Celeron N4020, 4GB RAM, 64GB Storage, Intel UHD Graphics 600, Win 11 in S Mode, Cloud Gray
Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo, K1 RGB LED Backlit Keyboard with 104 Key for PC/Laptop(White)
LG 27MP400-B 27 Inch Monitor Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Display with 3-Side Virtually Borderless Design, AMD FreeSync and OnScreen Control â Black
