WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Duster season 1, episode 1.

1970 cherry red Plymouth Duster as a tribute to his fallen brother, who died years before. Nina Hayes, a revolutionary FBI agent fresh out of Quantico, realizes that Jim's brother isn't actually named James and didn't truly die during the Vietnam War.

By the end of Duster season 1, episode 1, Nina convinces Jim to reluctantly sign a form that would officially make him an FBI informant. Nina shows Jim some compelling evidence that suggests that Joey didn't die the way that Jim thinks he did, which raises his suspicions against Saxon. After hearing Saxon say that killing Bob Temple would have been easier than having Jim go through the trouble of framing him, Jim decides he has to figure out whether Saxon was truly involved. It's a shot in the dark that Jim is willing to take because of how much he still loves and misses Joey after all these years.

A Phoenix Police Report Claimed Joey Ellis Died From An Accidental Propane Explosion

Nina Discovered Footage Of The Van Explosion That Didn't Look So Accidental

After Nina and Awan do some detective work in the FBI archives, they discover from their coworker Jessica-Lorraine Simes (played by Sofia Vassilieva) that Joey Ellis was killed by an accidental propane tank explosion on North 83rd Street in Phoenix, AZ. Nina tries to acquire the case files on Saxon Ellis, which were produced by a former FBI agent named Leland Breen. Nina discovers at the end of Duster season 1, episode 1, that all the files are mysteriously missing. Nina does make a breakthrough, however, when Awan finds security tape of the van that Joey was in when he died.

Because of Nina's personal vendetta against Saxon, which she reveals to Jim at the end of Duster season 1, episode 1, she doesn't buy that Joey's death was an accident. She uses this information to convince Jim to go undercover as a mole in Saxon's ranks, since he becomes too curious to let Nina's possible lead slide. Nina and Jim will work together against Saxon in Duster season 1, but for different reasons. Jim's only concerned with learning the truth about Joey's death and is determined to prove Nina's theory wrong that Saxon had anything to do with it.

Nina Hayes Finds Video Evidence Suggesting That Joey Was Assassinated By Ezra Saxon

She Thinks There's No Coincidence That Joey Died While Working For Saxon

Nina's digging into the FBI archives comes off as disregarding the orders of an FBI superior, Agent Grant (played by Dan Tracy). Because of this, Nina's boss, Abbott, informs her that she will be transferred to a field office in Butte, Montana, which, to Nina, is a career death sentence that will take her very far from Saxon.

Not only does Nina believe that Saxon actually killed Joey in Duster but she also suspects that Leland Breen, the person overseeing the Saxon case, may have covered it up.

The fact that Nina's digging into the FBI's past is getting her transferred should be a red flag that something fishy is going on within the ranks of Phoenix's FBI division. Nina secures Jim as her informant and avoids getting transferred, but is also digging herself a deeper hole in a potential conspiracy.

It's important to note that because Nina has the primary motive to bring Saxon to justice, not avenge Joey's death, her reasoning could be flawed or biased. However, she points out a blatant disparity between the cause of death reported in the Phoenix PD police report and the security footage of the van explosion.

The source of the explosion clearly came from underneath the van, making the information in the report – that Joey was smoking with leaky propane tanks in the van – doubtful. Not only does Nina believe that Saxon actually killed Joey in Duster, but she also suspects that Leland Breen, the person overseeing the Saxon case, may have covered it up.