Kevin Bacon is back – and this time, he’s taking names for the Devil.

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The Bondsman, the latest offering from Blumhouse Television, is a wild ride through twangy horror, slow-burn intrigue, and family dysfunction, all wrapped up in eight breezy 20-30 minute episodes. Streaming on Prime Video, the series blends horror, action, and comedy with a distinctly Georgian twang, but despite some standout performances and genuinely fun moments, it occasionally struggles to settle on a tone.

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Bacon stars as Hub Halloran, a down-on-his-luck bail bondsman who gets killed by a couple of redneck thugs in the show’s opening minutes. But death isn’t the end for Hub – he’s resurrected by the Devil and forced to work as Hell’s bounty hunter, tasked with recapturing demons that have slipped loose from the underworld.

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Of course, there’s a catch: Hub’s own soul is stained by something bad enough to land him in Hell in the first place, and part of the mystery of The Bondsman is watching Hub piece together the sins that damned him.

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Hub’s life was already a mess before he died. His ex-wife Maryann (a charming-as-cornbread Jennifer Nettles) and teenage son Cade (Maxwell Jenkins, solid and sincere) have moved on, shacking up with Lucky Callahan (Damon Herriman), a reformed Bostonian gangster who’s obsessed with the Red Sox and trying to leave his violent past behind. 

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Lucky runs a local bar in this small Georgia town where Maryann sings, showcasing Nettles’ real-life pipes in some standout musical moments. Her dream of making it big in Nashville was once Hub and Maryann’s shared goal, but now it’s Lucky helping her and Cade chase that dream.

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If that weren’t enough to complicate Hub’s afterlife, there’s also his fiery, no-nonsense mother Kitty, played with steel-spined wit by Beth Grant. She’s a highlight every time she’s on screen, delivering zingers with dry southern charm and giving Hub grief at every turn. 

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Meanwhile, Jolene Purdy steals scenes as Midge, a cog in the Devil’s shady pyramid scheme built on collecting souls. Her character adds a layer of sinister bureaucracy to Hell’s operations, and it’s a treat to see Purdy and Grant share the screen again for the first time since Donnie Darko.

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The Bondsman takes inspiration from genre favorites like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Ash vs. Evil Dead, blending monster-of-the-week thrills with an overarching mystery. The demons Hub is hunting aren’t random – they’re part of a larger plan, and by the time the season reaches its bloody, action-packed crescendo, the pieces of that puzzle start to click into place. The last few episodes ramp up the stakes and end on a cliffhanger that leaves Hub and his dysfunctional family in one hell of a tight spot.

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When The Bondsman is firing on all cylinders, it’s a blast. Bacon plays Hub as a lovable screw-up, a guy who tries hard but just can’t get out of his own way. He’s a deeply flawed hero – dim-witted, impulsive, and prone to metaphorically (and sometimes literally) shooting himself in the foot. But his heart is in the right place, and Bacon infuses Hub with a down-home charm and world-weariness that makes you root for him, even when he’s making terrible decisions.

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Where The Bondsman stumbles is in its tone. It swings wildly between gritty horror, dry or dark comedy, and heartfelt southern drama – sometimes in the span of a single scene. One moment, Hub is knee-deep in gore, battling a demon with a shotgun or a chainsaw. The next, he’s trading quips with Kitty or getting misty-eyed about his failed marriage. The show’s tonal whiplash can be jarring, and it often feels like it’s trying to be too many things at once.

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Despite those tonal inconsistencies, The Bondsman has a lot of potential. At its best, The Bondsman leans into its southern gothic weirdness, fully embracing its twisted mix of action, horror, and offbeat humor. Not to mention, the family dynamic between Hub, Mary Ann, Cade, and Kitty is compelling, and the mystery surrounding Hub’s past adds a layer of intrigue that keeps the plot moving. 

If The Bondsman gets a second season – and it absolutely should – it has the chance to refine its identity and find a stronger balance between its many moving parts. The groundwork is there for something truly great, and if the show can embrace its strengths and tighten up its tone, it could become a cult classic.

 

For now, The Bondsman is good but not great – an entertaining, devilishly fun ride that’s worth sticking with, especially for Bacon’s committed performance and the promise of more mayhem to come. Here’s to hoping Hub can keep his head above hellfire long enough to give us a few more seasons of over-the-top demon-slaying, and southern-fried chaos.