Created by Grainger David, The Bondsman is the story of an ex-musician turned demon killer who, in the hope of saving his family, got stuck in a dangerous mess. Hub Halloran had stopped expecting anything out of his life, but there were times when some people really got on his nerves, and he lost his composure. Hub, just like any other man, had made quite a few mistakes in the past, but that didn’t mean that he was a bad man. Yes, he had certain traits that made him quite a toxic partner, but he still cared for his people and could do anything for them. So let’s find out what happened with Hub and what sorts of deals and compromises he had to make along the way.
Spoiler Alert
How did Hub make a deal with the Devil?
At the beginning of the series, we saw that Hub Halloran was attacked by a few men who were hired by his nemesis, Lucky Callahan. Lucky was a retired mobster, and he had recently started dating Hub’s ex-wife, which was the cause of conflict between the two men. The two of them believed that they knew what Maryanne wanted, but neither of them ever bothered asking her about it. They kept fighting with each other since the day Maryanne decided to be with Lucky, and their constant bickering became a headache for her. Lucky wanted Hub and his mother, Kitty, to cut all ties with Maryanne, but he knew that it wasn’t possible so long as they were alive. So Lucky used his contacts and hired a few guys to kill Hub, but that’s when the unthinkable happened. After Hub’s throat was mercilessly slit, and he was believed to be dead by Lucky, he somehow miraculously came back to life again. Hub didn’t know how it happened, but he saw his scars heal in front of his eyes. He decided that it was better he didn’t let slip the details of that night, as he was quite sure that even the ones who trusted him would find it extremely difficult to believe his story. Hub stayed in her mother’s garage, and he was trying to get to grips with the feelings that were brewing inside him when a woman came knocking at his door. The woman’s name was Midge, and she told Hub that she worked for the Devil. She told Hub things that, for a moment, made him lose his sanity. Midge said that Hub had died and reached hell when the Devil/Satan/Lucifer decided to spare his life and send him back. She said that if he wanted to live, then he would have to work for the Devil and do as was told to him. Hub didn’t want to sign up for anything that he wasn’t sure about, but he had no other option. He knew that it was a miracle he was still alive, and he got a bit apprehensive about the entire idea of going back to hell again. Hub agreed to work for the Devil, and that’s when Midge gave him his first set of tasks. There were certain demons who had managed to escape from hell and reach the earth; Hub’s task was to find and kill them. It seemed like a simple task, but Hub, at that point in time, had no clue that those frequent demon escapes were a part of a bigger plan.
Was Hub able to stop the demons?
Kitty decided that she would accompany her son on every mission as she believed that her experience in investigative fieldwork could help his cause. Kitty made it very clear to Hub that she didn’t want to know what he had done that got him sent to hell in the first place. Hub and Kitty found out that five demons who symbolically represented spirit, earth, water, air, and fire were going to arrive in his town and try to kill people. Pastor Ron was the first one to be possessed by the demon. Kitty was on good terms with the pastor, and so it was hard for her to comprehend that something like that could happen to the messenger of God himself. Hub realized during his first encounter that the demon would only die if it was shot in the head. The second demon possessed a teenage girl and killed her in the most brutal manner. By the time Hub faced the second demon, he realized that, apart from the person who got possessed by the different demons, there was another victim who got killed by them. Hub couldn’t understand that if the sole motive of the demons was to possess somebody, then why did it kill innocent people? The pattern was followed during the third incident, when the air demon killed a woman. Hub tried contacting Midge and informing her about the issue, and that’s when we came to know that, just like Hub, she also had certain compulsions because of which she couldn’t do anything against the Devil. Midge’s son was diagnosed with cancer back in the day, and she made a deal with the Devil in return for her son’s life. Midge was given the responsibility of collecting souls for the Devil, and over a period of time, she realized what she had signed up for. Hub, through his investigative skills and with the help of his mother, was able to figure out the motives of whatever those demons were. The demons were not acting of their own accord, but together they were trying to get the Shackled Seven (a bunch of fallen angels trapped in hell) released from hell. Hub had been able to stop 4 demons, and he knew that he needed to kill the fire demon at all costs. By that point, Midge had also decided to join forces with Hub and stop the inevitable from happening. But their worst fears came true; Midge just wasn’t able to kill the small boy, whom the demon had possessed. Midge knew that she had to kill the demon at all costs, but still she wasn’t able to pull the trigger. The mission failed, and Hub’s personal life fell apart too, after his mother, Maryanne, and Cade discovered what he had done in the past.
Why did Lucky know about Cheryl Dawson?
Lucky had an idea about what had happened back in the day, which also became the prime reason why Hub was sent to hell. Lucky and Maryanne had just begun seeing each other at the time, and Hub was still not able to cope with that fact. Hub was sitting in a bar when Lucky showed up with the intention of resolving the conflict that existed between them. Hub just couldn’t control his anger, and he ended up assaulting Lucky in front of everybody. Later, on the same night, Hub got drunk, and he decided to teach Lucky a lesson. Deep down, Hub knew that he shouldn’t do anything that he would regret the next morning, but he was able to suppress his conscience. Hub went inside the club, and he easily spotted Lucky, as the latter was wearing his cowboy hat. Hub immediately pulled the trigger, and that’s when he realized that it was not Lucky but Cheryl Dawson, the bartender, wearing his hat. Hub got paranoid, and Cheryl took her last breaths in front of him. Hub then buried Cheryl’s body in his backyard and never told anybody what he had done. Cheryl’s family members kept searching for her body, but Hub didn’t say a word to them. Hub’s family came to know about the fact after Maryanne had decided to come back to Hub. She decided to leave Lucky after Hub told her everything about his deal with the Devil. He told her how Lucky killed him, and how he was given a second life because of the contract he made. But now Maryanne was disgusted at her choice all over again. She’d never expected that Hub could do something like that. Even Kitty, who supported her son at each and every step, told him that he deserved to rot in hell for what he had done.
Will Hub work for Lilith?
So at the end of The Bondsman, Midge and Hub failed to stop the fire demon, and Lilith, the demon, was able to break free from hell and wreak havoc on earth. The irony was that the first human vessel that Lilith took was that of Cheryl’s dead body. Hub and Midge decided to lay a trap for Lilith using the limited knowledge they had about the vicious fallen angel. Hub and Midge knew that Lilith was attracted to music, and so they used speakers, knowing that, just like a dog’s whistle, Lilith would hear the high-range sound and walk straight into the trap. Hub was able to trap Lilith, but then the latter made an offer that Hub wasn’t able to refuse. She told Hub that, if he let her go, then firstly she would let Cheryl live, and secondly, he would be released from the contract he had made with the Devil. Midge knew how demons functioned, and how there was always a hidden sub-clause, which was why she didn’t want Hub to take Lilith’s offer. But getting rid of his guilt was something that was way too alluring for Hub. He let Lilith go, and it didn’t take him long to realize the blunder he had committed.
Lilith had been abused by the Devil in hell, which was why she had come to despise all men. We saw in The Bondsman how she made the men rip their jaws apart in one of the scenes. Hub realized that, by making a deal with Lilith, he had put the entire world at risk. At the end of The Bondsman, Lilith possessed Maryanne and she killed Lucky. Hub was being taken away by the sheriff, as Lucky had provided them with all the evidence that proved the former had murdered people. But just then, Hub saw the raven flying into the club, and moments later he saw a possessed Maryanne walking towards the stage. Lilith, using Maryanne’s body as a vessel, made every man, including Hub’s son, grip their jaws. She looked at Hub and told him that if he wanted his family to survive, then he should agree to work for her. Hub’s family had just started living with him, and Lilith’s arrival couldn’t have come at a worse moment. I believe that Hub will agree to work for Lilith, and in case there is a season 2, we might once again see him in the midst of dangerous demons, carrying out Lilith’s wish.
