The central investigation takes some wild turns, ending up in a place that feels both unexpected and natural for these characters while setting up a Season 2 that's even bigger in scope, drama, and action. That said, the best part of watching Duster, by far, is simply letting it take you along for the ride.

Duster knows exactly what it mainly is, which is a terrific vehicle for Josh Holloway. Rachel Hilson’s chemistry with Holloway is also a win, and sets up a wily criminals-and-cops yarn that delights in period references and music cues and exalts in the kind of car-as-character hero shots that defined a previous TV age.

This is a fun throwback and a return to form for J.J. Abrams.

“Duster” is a mostly straightforward crime thriller, even if it frustratingly veers into conspiracy territory in its later episodes.

Mr. Holloway, best known for playing the character Sawyer in “Lost,” is so good-looking all he has to do is strut, and he does a lot of that, though much of it seems to be in pursuit of making the point (that he’s so good-looking, etc., etc.). He does a bit less acting than Ms. Hilson does as Nina, whose crusade against Saxton is the engine of the storyline and whose partnership with Navajo agent Awan (Asivak Koostachin) is endearing.

It makes for a breezy and tart eight-episode romp even though it encounters a few pacing bumps along the road for both Morgan and executive producer J.J. Abrams.

It wants to be more — more mysterious, more complicated, more feminist, more inclusive — and those impulses move Duster further and further away from any lizard-brain entertainment value it may have had. The imbalance of those component parts results in Duster feeling like one long prequel to the story Morgan and Abrams want to eventually tell.