Erik Oleson is branching out into one of his craziest shows yet withThe Bondsman. Across his 20-plus-year career, Oleson has served as a writer and producer on a variety of major shows, including The CW’sArrow, CBS’Unforgettableand Prime Video’sThe Man in the High Castle. He’s also showcased his talent as a showrunner on large-scale projects with Netflix’sDaredevilseason 3, having even originally been set for season 4 before its cancellation, andCarnival Rowseason 2.
Oleson has teamed with creator Grainger David forThe Bondsman, an energetic mix of the horror-comedy and family drama genres focused onKevin Bacon’s Hub Halloran, a bounty hunter brought back from the dead by The Devil to return escaped demons to Hell, while also wanting to reconnect with his family. Joining Bacon for the ride are country-music-star-turned-actor Jennifer Nettles as his soon-to-be-ex-wife Maryanne, Maxwell Jenkins as his estranged teenage son Cade, Beth Grant as his former bounty-hunting mom Kitty and Jolene Purdy as his Hell handler, Midge.
In honor of the show’s premiere,ScreenRantinterviewed Erik Oleson to discussThe Bondsman. The showrunner talked teaming with David to help develop his original concept for the show further, namely by including more of a mash-up of genres within it, and his excitement about getting to team with Bacon. Oleson also discussed why the show isn’t aSupernaturalclone, and the chances of a season 2 happening for it.
The Bondsman Is Far More Of A Serialized Show Than Its Premise Indicates
“I Just Wanted To Create This Wonderful Escapist Ride…”
As the show marks his first return to the showrunner chair sinceCarnival Rowwas brought to a close, Oleson reflected on how David’s original script forThe Bondsmansparked his interest in doing so. He began by revealing thathe and the creator “ended up redeveloping and writing the pilot together"to bring it closer to what the show is now, as the original script had “a unique tone, a unique setting, and it had a character in Hub Halloran”, who Oleson said already had “Kevin Bacon on the hook”.
Oleson explained that the biggest change he and David ended up making to the originalBondsmanscript was in “creating a unique mash-up of genres” unlike anything the showrunner had seen in the past. “It became the antidote to, I think, how rotten the world is right now for me,” Oleson chuckled. “I just wanted to create this wonderful escapist ride, so here we had the chance to do an original, laugh-out-loud, scream-out-loud mash-up, where you really don’t know what you’re going to get, but you know it’s going to have heart, you know it’s going to have family dramedy, it’s going to have great music, and it’s going to have Kevin Bacon plunge a chainsaw through demonic faces, right? What’s not to love?”
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With a show promising an undead lawful figure hunting down demonic prey, the mind is sure to be immediately drawn tothe likes of the belovedSupernatural,Ash vs. Evil Deadand evenSleepy Hollow. For Oleson and his writers room, they found they were really focused on “figuring out the elements of the long-form demonic mystery”, particularly “how things would tie together” as the show goes on,as he wanted it to be a more serialized show than the “weekly kind of procedural show”.
Yes, there is a procedural engine in terms of Kevin, or Hub Halloran, and his hunting demons. But there’s larger purpose to it, and how that reflects back on him, and what that means about his second chance at life, all of those themes, I think, made it more of a serialized experience for viewers, and a long-form story, as opposed to the Supernatural, weekly kind of procedural show.
Oleson Is Ready For More “Fun WIth Hub Punching Demons”
He Also Has A Few Favorite Demon Fights This Season
As excited as Oleson is for audiences to see the “multi-level and multi-layered character narratives” he and his writers room gave appropriate focus during the show’s development, he also promises “quite a few” demon fights to come fromThe Bondsman. In looking at his favorites,he pointed to a “terrific one” in which demons follow Hub home, which leads to him using the surrounding items to survive, including a chainsaw that bursts into fire as he saws through a demon’s head, and one in which “he’s fighting a demonic cheerleader underwater”.
Oleson praisedBacon for doing “a lot of the stunts for himself”, describing his Golden Globe-winning star as “a bada–” and humorously acknowledging “I don’t think I can hold my breath that long”. The showrunner also went on to explain that the demon fights were all meant to tie into their hopes for audiences to have fun with the show and be unprepared for what they’re about to see, as the “whole idea of the show is to just tune in and just feel like, ‘What am I watching?'”.
In looking to the future, Oleson is certainly hopeful to get the chance to makeThe Bondsmanseason 2, describing himself as “cautiously optimistic” about whether he’ll get the opportunity. He did, however, tease that with season 1,he wanted to “make it as difficult on Amazon as possible to not give me a second season”.
More About The Bondsman
Kevin Bacon stars as Hub Halloran, a murdered bounty hunter who’s 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 down those demons with the help and hindrance of his estranged family, Hub learns how his own sins got his soul condemned – which pushes him to seek a second chance at life, love, and country music.
The Bondsman
Cast
The Bondsman follows backwoods bounty hunter Hub Halloran, who returns from the afterlife for a second chance at life and love, while navigating his past as a musician. As he resumes his work, he discovers his former occupation now involves a supernatural element.
