Vitals

Keith David as Ezra “Sax” Saxton, ruthless but complex Arizona crime boss

American Southwest, Summer 1972

Series: Duster
Episode: “66 Reno Split” (Episode 1.08)
Air Date: July 3, 2025
Director: Darren Grant
Created by: J.J. Abrams & LaToya Morgan
Costume Designer: Dayna Pink

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Just because Duster was unfortunately canceled by HBO Max after its first season finale aired two months ago today doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten about it. Luckily, the showrunners told a comprehensive story in the first season that generally concluded Keith David’s arc as the charismatic crime boss Ezra Saxton.

In the season finale, “66 Reno Split”, Saxton confronts the newly hired interpreter he had quickly grown to trust, only for her to reveal herself as FBI agent Nina Hayes (Rachel Hilson), seeking revenge for the death of her father whom Saxton had killed nearly twenty years earlier. When Sax tries to explain that her father had actually been an informant, she doesn’t want to hear it: “you just want to justify killing a man and destroying his family for greed—for vanity—just so you could be king shit in the neighborhood!” to which Saxton coolly replies, “two things can be true at once.”

Another informant enters the works when Jim Ellis (Josh Holloway)—Sax’s driver and Nina’s contact—speeds onto the scene, only for Sax to have him stuffed into the truck of his own titular Plymouth Duster. Saxton then takes the wheel and drives Jim to his own “bespoke adventure,” delivering him to a vengeful gangster named Greek Sal (Jack Topalian) in exchange for the infamous Nixon tapes.

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What’d He Wear?

One guarantee about Keith David is that he’s always gonna be the coolest guy in whatever he’s in, so of course costume designer Dayna Pink dressed Ezra Saxton to peacocking ’70s perfection, making his last stand in “66 Reno Split” decked out in ochre-forward suede, silk, scaled leather, and plenty of gold jewelry.

Sax’s distinctive sports coat is light tobacco-brown suede, accented with darker brown leather trimming the collar and pockets. Its fashionably wide notch lapels are faced in the darker leather, while the self-faced lower halves are reinforced with darker-threaded stitching. Brown leather-covered buttons—two at the front and three decorating each cuff—stand out against the suede body. Set-in breast and patch hip pockets are trimmed with a strip of leather across the top, while extended leather straps hang from the hip pockets—each finished with a vestigial polished gold-toned buckle. The jacket is completed with double side vents.

His short-sleeved tan knitted pullover shirt is patterned with spaced-out vertical cables. The quarter-zip placket is trimmed in darker brown suede, following the edges of the extremely wide-pointed ’70s “disco collar.” Sax keeps the brass zipper open at the top to show his silk day cravat, a multi-toned gold, orange, and tan geometric print that ties the whole look together.

Sax wears a dazzling set of trousers, patterned with bold tan and muted navy stripes in gradating widths, enhanced by the trousers’ wide twill weave that converts the shadow stripe into a complex plaid-like effect. Burgundy bar stripes bisecting the widest portions of the tan stripes add to the complexity. These flat-front trousers are styled with side pockets and follow a natural flare toward the bottoms, which are finished with permanent turn-ups (cuffs).

He holds up the trousers with a wide belt of brown exotic scaled leather, which closes through a polished gold-toned square single-prong buckle.

Sax’s bicycle-toe shoes are crafted from two-toned exotic skins likely intended to mimic—or perhaps even use—alligator or crocodile leather. The cream-colored vamp is designed with large rectangular scales across the instep, framed by finer pebble-grain textures around the light-brown sides and heel. They’re styled as monk-strap loafers, with a narrow strap and small gold-toned buckle detail high across each instep, though the formality is undercut by the flamboyant material. The soles are dark leather with a low stacked heel, balancing flash with wearability. His socks are a light taupe-brown.

Sax wears his usual array of gold jewelry, stacking two gaudy bracelets on his right wrist and hefty filigreed gold rings on the ring and pinky fingers of his right hand, echoed by a relatively more subdued gold pinky ring on his left hand with a single diamond in a raised basket-style setting. He also typically wears a trio of gold necklaces and pendants, though these remain all but covered by his silk cravat.

We get a great close-up of Sax’s watch, an all-gold Rolex Datejust—though, like Jim Ellis’ black-dialed Datejust, it appears to be a replica Rolex fastened to an aftermarket bracelet. With its 36mm yellow-gold case, fluted bezel, and champagne-gold dial complete with non-numeric hour indices and cyclops-magnified date window at 3 o’clock, the watch echoes a ref. 1601 Datejust that would have been contemporary to the early ’70s.

The bracelet is constructed of narrow single links, each with a double indent toward the center that reflects the aesthetic of the five-piece “Jubilee”-style bracelet which has been associated with the Datejust since its 1945 introduction.

For the confrontation that extends out into the Arizona desert, Sax wears his usual gold-framed sunglasses with a squared aviator-style silhouette.

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The Car

Sax finally gets to drive the eponymous muscle car in the season finale, having bundled Jim into the trunk of his own cherry-red 1970 Plymouth Duster 340 to deliver him at the rendezvous with Greek Sal.

Plymouth launched the Duster in 1970 as a sleeker two-door spin on its entry-level Valiant, sharing the A-body platform but reimagined from the cowl back with curvier fastback lines and a more aggressive stance. The Duster carried over the Valiant’s slant-six and small-block V8s, but the standout was the 340 cubic-inch high-compression V8, underrated at 275 horsepower though widely believed to top 300.

With a Carter AVS 4-barrel carb, dual exhausts, and a free-flowing intake, the 340 was a lively small-block also found in the ’Cuda, Road Runner, and Challenger. Combined with a shorter 108-inch wheelbase and lighter curb weight, the Duster 340 was a true sleeper—nimbler than its heavier muscle competitors. To mark it out, Plymouth badged these as the Duster 340 with bold “340” quarter-panel decals, “dust trail” stripes, and the option of a four-speed Hurst-shifted manual—the very setup seen in Jim Ellis’ black-striped “Rally Red”-painted Duster.

As Duster co-creator LaToya Morgan told Eric Francisco for Esquire, they wanted a car with “personality”—a reputation for being fast and good, but not as overexposed as other muscle icons. Picture car coordinator Ted Moser sourced four different examples to play Jim’s red-and-black ride. Josh Holloway recalled that each had quirks—spongy brakes, jumpy throttle, or missing gears—requiring him and stunt driver Corey Eubanks to adapt. One was dressed as the “hero car”, complete with Hurst shifter and Midland CB radio for close-ups, while the others were fitted with automatics and stunt rigging.

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The Gun

During the meeting with Greek Sal, Sax pulls a blued Smith & Wesson Model 10—the same revolver he had drawn when hiring Nina on the fourth of July. The gun can be identified by its half-moon front sight, the under-barrel lug that locks the ejector rod, and Smith & Wesson’s flatter-profile cylinder release latch. Unlike the four-inch barrels commonly issued to police, Sax’s Model 10 has a longer six-inch tube that adds both reach and intimidation.

The Model 10’s lineage dates back to 1899, when Smith & Wesson introduced its Military & Police revolver alongside the then-new .38 Special cartridge, soon to become the law enforcement standard. With its double-action/single-action operation and six-shot swing-out cylinder, the so-called “.38 Hand Ejector” established the template for the quintessential service revolver of the 20th century. When Smith & Wesson shifted to numbered model designations in the 1950s, the .38 Military & Police became the Model 10, though it remained essentially the same trusty sidearm throughout its long service life.

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How to Get the Look

Ezra Saxton’s pure 1970s swagger mixes flash with funk in his leather-trimmed tobacco suede sport jacket, layered over a tan cable-knit zip polo opened to show off a silk day cravat and tucked into bold plaid flared trousers, held up with a wide exotic leather belt that coordinates to his croc monk-strap loafers, plus plenty of gold jewelry pushing into full peacock mode.

• Light tobacco-brown suede single-breasted 2-button sport jacket with wide notch lapels (and dark-brown leather collar), welted breast pocket (with dark-brown leather welt), patch hip pockets (with dark-brown leather welts and gold-toned decorative buckles), 3-button cuffs, and double vents
• Tan spaced cable-knit short-sleeved polo shirt with dark brown suede-trimmed collar and quarter-zip placket
• Gold, orange, and tan geometric-printed silk day cravat
• Tan and navy shadow-plaid (with burgundy bar stripe) twill flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and flared cuffed bottoms
• Brown scaled leather belt with gold-toned squared single-prong buckle
• Brown-and-cream scaled leather bicycle-toe single-strap monk shoes
• Light taupe-brown cotton lisle socks
• Gold-framed rectangular aviator-style sunglasses
• Two gold plated bracelets
• Two large filigreed gold rings
• Gold textured pinky ring with basket-set diamond
• Rolex Datejust ref. 1601 gold wristwatch with fluted bezel and champagne dial (with 3 o’clock date window) and gold-finished aftermarket bracelet

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Do Yourself a Favor and…

Check out the series, streaming on HBO Max.

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The Quote

Some plans require risk. And sacrifice.