Duster season 1 premiere ending explained: How did Agent Nina Hayes convince Jim to become an FBI informant?

The Duster season 1 premiere brings crime, drama, and a fast car to Max, set against the backdrop of the 1970s American Southwest. It premiered on the streaming platform on Thursday night, May 15, 2025, introducing a getaway driver for the mob and a young FBI agent duo, played by Josh Holloway and Rachel Hilson.

Holloway's Jim Ellis and Hillson's Agent Nina Hayes work for people on different sides of the law. Jim is a getaway driver for kingpin Ezra Saxton (Keith David), while Nina is an FBI agent who wants to take down Saxton and his illegal operation. To do that, Nina wants to sign Jim as an informant, but he isn't eager to do so.

Nina ultimately convinces Jim to become an FBI informant after bringing up CCTV footage linking Saxton to Jim's brother's death. However, Jim has another reason for accepting Nina's proposition.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for the Duster season 1 premiere. Reader's discretion is advised.

---

Duster season 1 premiere ending: Nina brings up Jim's brother's death to sign him up as an FBI informant

Jim Ellis in the Duster season 1 premiere (Image via Max)

Ahead of the Duster season 1 premiere, it was teased that Agent Nina Hayes and Jim Ellis would be the duo to watch in the series, as they team up to take down the Al Capone of the Southwest, Ezra Saxton. However, what wasn't mentioned was how Nina would try to convince Jim to switch his loyalty and snitch on his crime boss employer.

Nina trying to sign Jim as an FBI informant is at the heart of the Duster season 1 premiere. She thinks that threatening Jim would do the trick. Despite being new at her job, Nina has made a lot of progress in the Saxton case, upping her confidence. On her second day on the job in Phoenix, she decides to approach Jim with an offer.

After knowing that Jim is the driver of the cherry red Duster who smuggled the human heart for Saxton's son, Royce, she feels she has enough proof to investigate Jim. That's what she tells Jim, explaining that there is incriminating evidence against him unless he becomes an FBI informant. Nina also tries to use Luna, Jim's daughter, who calls him "uncle," to encourage him to accept her proposal.

Being an informant means he won't go to jail and will be able to spend time with Luna. However, Jim is loyal to Saxton, and he tells Nina he isn't a snitch. Defeated, Nina has no option but to give up, at least for the moment. With an FBI agent on his tail, Jim plans to go away for a while. He doesn't want to be the person to get Saxton caught.

Jim lines up another job for Mad Raul in Mexico, which involves a blood pact. Nina, however, doesn't want to give up on signing Jim up just yet. She discovers that Jim's brother, Joseph "Joey" Ellis, passed away. He's a former military man, but he died while working for Saxton. Based on security footage of the van explosion that killed Joseph, Nina suspects that Saxon had him assassinated.

Nina tries to convince Jim to be an informant (Image via Max)

Armed with this footage, Nina approaches Jim again. She's imploring Jim's brotherly bond with Joey, thinking that it would compel Jim to switch his loyalty and seek revenge. At the end of the Duster season 1 premiere, Jim signs Nina's FBI informant form, but he says a disclaimer. He's not signing it because he believes Saxton had his brother killed. He says:

"I'm not signing this because you threatened me, or charmed me, or because I think Sax did it. I'm signing it to prove that he didn't."

---

Duster season 1 premiere reveals the reason Agent Nina Hayes is targeting Ezra Saxton

Throughout the Duster season 1 premiere, it's clear that Agent Nina Hayes will do anything to take down Ezra Saxton. Even with her job being on the line, she continues to follow the lead as new evidence against Saxton arrives. Her decision to go after Jim, despite a colleague warning her against it, is another testament that she's serious about the case.

Moreover, early in the Duster season 1 premiere, it's established that Nina asked to be assigned to Phoenix, and specifically to handle Saxton's case. Later scenes reveal that she has an ulterior motive for targeting Saxton. Her father, Virgil, once worked for Saxton in Philly after the war. He ran a numbers racket for Saxton from his corner store.

Agent Nina Hayes (Image via Max)

However, after knowing how Saxton cracked people's heads when they couldn't pay their debts, Virgil wanted out. So, Saxton had Nina's father killed, and ironically, she tells Jim that it happened the same way Joey was killed. With her father's backstory, it's understandable why Nina is going after Saxton with all her might.

---

Who saw Jim and Nina at the end of Duster season 1 premiere?

At the end of the Duster season 1 premiere, during Jim and Nina's covert meeting for him to sign the papers to become an FBI informant, someone is watching from a distance. It's Sergeant Groomes, a local Phoenix police officer likely on Saxton's payroll. Earlier in the episode, he's seen taking an envelope, likely filled with cash, from Jim.

During Jim and Nina's meeting, Groomes is eerily parked at a distance, looking at them through his binoculars. Whether he has been following Nina or Jim, or he happens to be in the area during the meeting, it doesn't matter anymore. Nina and Jim's secret arrangement is already blown, and if Groomes is truly one of the police officers on Saxon's payroll, it can make things complicated for Jim.

As teased in the show's synopsis, things will turn "from awful to wildly, stupidly, dangerously awful" for the getaway driver and the FBI agent. Groomes knowing their secret arrangement is just one factor that could put the two in hot water before they can even truly start their investigation on Saxton.

---

Catch the first episode of Duster season 1 streaming on Max. New episodes will be released every week on Thursday evenings.