Frightful fun
Summary
The Bondsman is very similar to Supernatural (with more graphic violence) but it has the right amount of comedy, action and drama to keep things entertaining. The brief runtime of each episode guarantees it never overstays its welcome and by the end of episode 8 I was hungry for the next season.
Plot: Hub Halloran, a murdered bounty hunter, is back from the dead after being resurrected by the Devil to trap and send back demons that have escaped from the prison of Hell; by chasing them down, Hub learns how his own sins got his soul condemned.
Review: If you enjoyed the show Supernatural then I think you’ll find The Bondsman right up your alley as it is a little similar. Kevin Bacon plays bounty hunter Hub Halloran who is killed, but brought back by the Devil to do his work and send any escaped demons back to Hell. It goes more for action and comedy rather than horror but The Bondsman isn’t short on gore with jaws being torn off, plenty of graphic kills and a high bodycount.
Bacon makes Hub likeable despite some mistakes he’s made in the past and he has the everyman charm to make us still root for him. I love Beth Grant who plays Hub’s mother Kitty Halloran; she has some of the best lines even though she’ll always be that idiot passenger in Speed who tries to get off the bus.
Each episode is around 30 minutes or less so it’s well paced with plenty of fun characters to go along with some of the darker elements of the story.
There are some cool visuals, and the demons look freaky too although I wish we got to see them in their more monstrous forms rather than the human. I’m also not a huge country music fan so I could have done without that, but it works for the story and is an important element.
It’s very much open for season 2 which I hope comes soon as it ends with a massive cliffhanger.
Overall, The Bondsman is hugely entertaining with the right amounts of comedy, action and gore to keep things interesting. Kevin Bacon never disappoints but it’s Beth Grant who nearly owns the show.