Sorry, I know I’m behind, but this is the penultimate episode of the season, so I’m not stopping now. Also, not stopping is Hayes & Ellis because they are this close to cracking the big Russian connection to Saxton. Will we learn who Xavier is and what was in the briefcase exchanged in the sitdown for a whole lot of cash? Like many a DUSTER fan, I’m eager to see.
Now, we knew Sgt. Groomes wasn’t down and out, and always wondered when he would reappear. He does right at the top of the episode, and he is going to surely add a wrench in the works at some point. We will quickly learn that Saxton will put the heat on the trucking protests, for which Ellis is unsure that Izzy is aware she’s even in danger, and he is also unsure to see that Hayes is utilizing Royce’s infatuation with her to her advantage as she gets a tour our the Saxton home. Saxton has plans that put the episode in motion. He needs Ellis to drive him to Las Vegas to meet Xavier with the obtained briefcase, while his other men take care of the trucking fiasco and warehouse security due to the Greek Sal dustup.
As Saxton and his men have to roll out on their assignments, Genesis offers Hayes a ride back to her motel so she doesn’t miss her ‘flight’ and they have a cool 70s women empowerment session along the way. May I say, it is so cool to relive the 1970s through this series. We have the cars, the fashions, the culture, and the issues of the day all laid out, and it helps make this series more enjoyable. Hayes moves on to deciphering the intel she gets from Saxton’s house, and Ellis fails to sway Izzy in her cause. It’s all going to explode before this episode is done. To top it off, Izzy has a fight with Luna, and Luna ends up missing.
Hayes obtained from Royce that the million dollars they needed for the Russian transaction was untraceable money buried in a location only known by the coordinates set in a transmission on a ham radio. She read the tuned-in numbers on the radio in Royce’s room when she was supposed to be in the bathroom. Awan just needs to track the coordinates. The only kink in those plans is that Agent Grant has been trailing Hayes ever since Genesis dropped her off and the motel. And, if you recall, he is working for the mystery man out of Washington that we know as Xavier. Hayes has to do some wild driving to shake Grant off her tail.
A lot is happening. Izzy gets a call saying Mr.Temple wants to meet, thus giving her the impression that negotiations are going to happen. Plus, we learn that Luna decided to hide in the truck of the Duster, which is on the road to Vegas with Ellis & Saxton. Oh, boy! In explaining her situation, Luna states she was just protesting like her mother was about the trucking, and Saxton puts two and two together, thus placing Ellis in hot water.
But where does it all end up? Well, Luna chews Saxton’s ear off about equal pay for women and gets to qawk, as we all do, at Las Vegas in the 70s. They head to the Desert Inn to meet Howard Hughes (Jim Nelis)! What? We get an eccentric, oddball experience with Hughes, which is silly but interesting. We finally get the reveal of what is in the briefcase that Saxton paid big bucks for – a large reel-to-reel audiotape that Hughes, Saxton, and Ellis listen to. Hey, the series is wrapped by now, so I’m going to spoil! It is a recording of President Richard Nixon spelling his guts. He was stupid enough to record it, and someone sold it to the Russians, and someone, meaning Saxton, had to buy it back, at Hughes’ behest, because he has someone who wants the tape. The audiotape does not get to the right person, though, because Greek Sal’s guys gun down the deliverymen.
In a private moment, Hughes talks to Ellis about Joey. Hughes says Joey was a K-29 (our episode title). It is a significant codename for Hughes that means an operation that was undermined by the CIA. He is suggesting that Joey’s death was because of the CIA – and that means Xavier!
Meanwhile, Awan’s tracking leads him and Hayes to an isolated house in the scrublands, and they find an elaborate ham radio, documents with names, and military-grade firearms. The man of the house is Cyrus Baker. He was the one silencing Breen by pretending to be a doctor and giving Breen LSD. Hayes is able to take him out when he surprises them, but he reveals that it is too late because Xavier knows all about them, then, lobs a grenade to end the scene. But Hayes is not safe yet, Xavier orders Grant that there is nothing else to be done. Grant needs to take her out. He awaits her in her motel room to ice her, but Billy chloroforms her at her room’s door first. Oh, nasty, and now what?
We continue the ride next week.
