Signing the informant form comes at a heavy price for Jim Ellis. While his heart told him it was the right thing to do, in Duster episode 2, he became familiar with the challenges involved in the process. Not only was he expected to snoop around on his boss and gather intel, but he also discovered that a cop had seen him with Nina Hayes. The cop, Sergeant Grooms, claimed to be a God-fearing man whose loyalty could be bought with cash. He was clear that if Jim failed to pay him ten grand by the end of the day, he would disclose his secret to Saxton. While Jim tried to dismiss his claim, he quickly figured out that there was no way he could fool Grooms. He agreed to the deal and promised to pay up. Jim didn’t have the money, so he planned the next best thing—blackmail.
Spoiler Alert
How did Jim end up at Elvis Presley’s mansion in Palm Springs?
Jim knew it was impossible for him to get ten grand by the end of the day, so he asked Nina for help, but without any concrete evidence against Saxton, she didn’t think it would be worth her while to get involved in the mess Jim had got himself into. Jim ended up asking Sunglasses for a favor. He was the local mercenary who owned a bowling alley and was a diehard fan of Elvis Presley. Jim knew about his weakness, and he planned the deal accordingly. He asked Sunglasses to come up with a way to ensure Grooms never disclosed his secret, and in return he would get him Presley’s famous blue suede shoes. Sunglasses warned Jim that if he tried to trick him, he would have to pay a hefty price, but Jim guaranteed he would bring him the original.
Before stepping into the role of a mother and all that it entailed, Izzy used to be a regular at Presley’s Palm Springs mansion. She helped Jim figure out the layout of the place so that he could easily get to the shoes. With a rough plan in mind, Jim headed to Palm Springs. He jumped over the fence and entered the mansion. His long locks and his easy breezy attitude helped him blend in with the young crowd partying at the spot. Jim found his way to the office room, and there he spotted the blue suede shoes proudly kept on display. But with the manager in the room, Jim didn’t have any chance of grabbing the shoes and making an escape. The manager, Colonel Tom Parker, didn’t know Jim, but since he looked like someone from the music industry, he didn’t get suspicious. From their brief conversation, Jim deduced that the Colonel was keen on mingling with Adrienne Barbeau, an actor who was auditioning for a show. The Colonel knew the producer of the show and could help her bag the role. So, Jim walked up to Andrienne, shared the information he’d gathered, and encouraged her to shoot her shot, all he wanted in return was for her to lure the manager out of Presley’s home office. His plan worked, and as soon as he finally had the room to himself, Jim grabbed the treasured trophy, put it on, and walked out of the mansion confidently. It took him longer than he’d anticipated, but he kept his end of the bargain, and he was hopeful that it would be enough to satisfy Sunglasses.
Why did Jim murder Sunglasses?
While Jim was busy executing his shoe heist plan, things didn’t pan out smoothly for Sunglasses. Grooms was a pedophile, and Sunglasses used this information to his advantage. He’d gathered photographs of the sexually explicit material that the depraved cop hid at his house and he threatened to expose him if he continued to bother Jim Ellis. Sunglasses had assumed that the hard proof would be enough to keep Grooms in check, but the dirty cop was feistier than he’d predicted.
Grooms grabbed hold of his gun and was about to shoot Sunglasses and his partner, Charlie, but they responded quickly and shot Grooms. And just when they thought Grooms was badly injured, he surprised them. Grooms shot Charlie in the head, but before he could point his gun at Sunglasses, he shot the cop again. Sunglasses was heartbroken, the job was meant to be quick and simple and he didn’t anticipate the tragedy that it would bring into his life. By the time Jim met Sunglasses at the bowling alley, he announced that the price had gone up. The Presley shoes were nothing compared to his loss, so he demanded cash. Now, if Jim had that kind of money, he would not have sought Sunglasses’ help in the first place. So, given his situation, Jim had no choice but to kill Sunglasses. They got into a scuffle; Sunglasses tried to shoot Jim, but he managed to overpower him. Ultimately, Sunglasses’ skull was crushed after he got stuck in the pinsetter’s turret. Jim loaded his body into his cherry red duster and took off. Luck was definitely not on Jim’s side, and his shovel breaking into two was one of the mishaps he had to weather that day. Thankfully, his father came to the rescue. He anticipated something would go wrong the minute he discovered that Jim would be asking Sunglasses for a favor. And when he saw Jim driving away from the bowling alley in his duster, he decided to follow him. Jim’s father had a shovel in his van, and together they successfully buried Sunglasses in the desert.
Did Grooms survive?
Just when Jim thought he had dealt with all his troubles, we witness Grooms regain consciousness towards the end of the Duster episode 2. He used his walkie-talkie to alert his colleagues, and soon an ambulance came to rescue him at the Benson Barn. The ending confirms that Grooms will continue to live, which suggests that Jim will be in serious trouble. This has become way too personal for Grooms, and he will presumably make sure that Jim suffers, just like him.
Is someone in the government involved?
After Nina discovered that Jim was at the scene when his brother died, she confronted him. He didn’t consider that piece of information important. He was more concerned about Grooms at the time, but Nina made it clear that until Jim delivered her something that he could use as leverage, she wouldn’t be able to help him. Nina later interrogated Grooms about the report he had filed after Joey Ellis’ death. While his report stated Joey died in a propane accident, the evidence clearly showed that was not the case. Grooms stated that while he was the one who’d filed the report, he’d received strict instructions from the FBI office, and had filed the report as per their request. Grooms added that the agent’s name was Leland Breen; he was handling Saxton’s case before Nina came onboard. As soon as she had started to dig deep, her squad supervisor, Nathan, advised her to slow down. He strictly warned her not to reach out to Leland Breen, who’d been admitted to a mental institution. But Nina didn’t give up; she approached Leland’s wife even though Nathan had told her not to do so. Mrs. Evelyn Breen refused to talk to her, and she turned out to be quite the racist. Just when Nina started to feel defeated, Awan mentioned that the only way to find out if Joey was killed in an accident or was murdered was by gathering forensic evidence; Nina knew exactly what to do.
Nina had to first establish that Joey’s death was a murder, and while there was not much evidence except the surveillance footage, she decided to break into the police junkyard and take a closer look at the van. She collected evidence for forensic study to help build her case. Even though they didn’t have permission to check the junkyard, Awan helped Nina break in. When he discovered that Nina had taken up the case to bring justice to her father, he realized how personal it was for Nina, and he was all the more determined to help her. Both Nina and Awan were undermined by their White colleagues, and seeing Nina’s confidence in him, Awan felt he could finally prove his worth.
During the ending of Duster episode 2, Mrs. Evelyn Breen contacted someone in the higher-ups to inform him that Nina Hayes was searching for Saxton’s missing files. While we’re yet to be formally introduced to this someone, the ending confirms that he worked for the US government (the shot of the United States Capitol in the background was suggestive of his connection and his reach). While Nina’s determination was undeterred, she had no idea who the people she was messing with were. It was not just Saxton but a whole corrupted racket involving influential politicians who helped keep his operations running smoothly. Jim seems to be out of luck already, and considering that Grooms already knows about his association with Nina and managed to survive, we can already anticipate that things are going to get too bloody too soon!
