[This story contains spoilers from season one of The Bondsman.]

For Kevin Bacons Hub Halloran in Prime Videos new horror series, The Bondsman, theres not much that the beer-guzzling law enforcer is asking for with his small town life in Grantville, Georgia.

Hubs desires can actually be condensed down to four things: protection for his churchgoing mother Kitty (Beth Grant); a reconciliation with the ex-wife hes still in love with, Maryanne (Jennifer Nettles); respect from his teenage son Cade (Maxwell Jenkins); and a forever kept secret of an act of evil albeit, a tragically accidental one that the loaner bondsman hopes will stay a secret for the rest of his life. But Hub learns in the opening scene of the satirical-horror fest that some entity from another realm is watching mortals in their most egregious life mess-ups, to enact possibly no redemption for wicked acts, just punishment delayed. And thats exactly what Hub gets when attempting to arrest two criminals who have escaped bail, but who end up catching the bondsman off-guard, shooting him with a shotgun blast (a bulletproof vest saves his life) and then ultimately slitting his throat with a knife. This is the end of good old Hub. Or is it?

After being a dead body stuffed in the flimsy wall of a cheap motel for a day, the audience soon finds out what otherworldlyentity has been keeping tabs on Hub none other than devil himself. Satan allows Hub to breathe again, but not for any charitable reason. The devil has a job for the bondsman todo, which is tocapture and sendback demonswho have escaped from hell (captured inmates, if you will), and send them back to their torturous damnationforever. What will Hub get for agreeing to do the devils bidding? Nothing much. Hell just get to live out his life to whatever the original termination period is, and his soul will return back to hell as punishment for his earthly misdeeds. Refuse, and back to hell he goes!

When I read this script and when I talk to people about it,I would say, Well, its about this guy whos dead and he comes back from the dead, and he finds out that hes going to hell. And that hes now become a bondsman for the devil, Bacon tells The Hollywood Reporter. People would be like, What! What are you talking about?(Laughs)

Bacon says that what he really loved about the show was taking that really insane premise, but then you add to it a show thats really about a family trying to hold itself together. Its about a guy who has messed up in his life and is trying to redeem himself for the mistakes that hes made, he says. Some have been mistakes of just vanity and stubbornness. And some of the mistakes are of actual blood on his hands, and hes got demons floating around in his soul, as well as on the ceiling or climbing the walls or whatever.

And yet, amongst all of that, there is a certain sense of humor to it, which I think is really kind of fun.

Erik Oleson,showrunner and executive producer of the Bondsman, told THR that the series is not just another take on horror, demons and the devil, but that it should be looked at as more of a mash-up.

The world is hurdling off of a cliff, Oleson says. I wanted to write something that would be fun to watch, fun to make and fun to write. There was a terrific original script by [creator, writer, executive producer] Grainger David. Blumhouse was attached to it andthey had Kevin Bacon interested. And I was like, Wait, I get to have Kevin Bacon hunting demons with Blumhouse? Yes please, Im in!

Kevin Bacon in The Bondsman. Prime Video When describing the series, Oleson acknowledges, There are a lot of demon hunting shows; theres tons of movies and things. It is a genre unto itself, right? But what makes our show a fun, unique and original ride is in the mash-up of combining that with the family dramedy, Appalachian noir, a country music story and, oh yeah, Kevin Bacon putting chainsaws through the faces of demons. Like all that mix makes it a fun, hopefully original ride. You really dont know whether youre going to laugh out loud, scream out loud, or look at whoevers watching it with you on the couch and say, What the fuck? That was fun!

He continues, Thats honestly what I want to write right now. Ive written some heavy shit in the past and right now the world is heavy enough. I just want to write something that is fun.

For pious viewers who may traditionally shy away from the horror genre, The Bondsman may surprise with some very tender and spiritual moments. Bacon says audience members will not have to wonder where god is (although its the devil, not the Creator, who seems to be dealing out punishment to Hub).

Hub says with a little bit of a smirk on his face, Im not the churchgoing type, Bacon explains of his character. I thought a lot about this. Clearly Kitty, his mother, is a very religious, spiritual person. She has relationships to the church, shes been kicked out of one of her of her favorite churches because Hub would show up there during sermons and try to find people he was looking for as a bail bondsman, and grab them out of the church and disrupt everything. They gave her the boot, so she has a lot of feelings about that towards him.

He continues, I think he isnt necessarily agnostic or anti-religion,I think he just doesnt really want to think about it.Hes somebody who has wants to do whatever, play guitar. I dont have time for God in my life. I want to just get this bad guy. I gotta bring him in, I cant be bothered with this on a Sunday. He doesnt want to go to church. He wants to sit around and drink beer and watch TV.

Yet, in an episode seven scene, Pyralis, when all hope seems to be gone for Hub and his family, and the world is facing extinction, theres a tender moment where Hub, Kitty, ex-wife Maryanne and son Cade embrace, for maybe the last time, and then pick up their instruments and play an emotional version of a spiritual hymn called Will the Circle Be Unbroken. Maybe Hub does actually want redemption in the middle of a storm filled with turmoil and darkness?

I love that, Bacon responds. It is interesting that you bring it up, and youre the only person who has brought up this piece of it. In the course of the show, he starts to question his own doubts about the existence of god. And that is kind of an interesting arc for the character of Hub because, listen, it just stands to reason that if there is a devil, obviously its gotta be a god. Otherwise, it doesnt work. So, I think that by the time he gets to that part of the show, hes starting to definitely question his dismissal of things of the spiritual nature. I think hes also starting to realize that he needs to find some kind of redemption, some kind of forgiveness.

Bacon with Jennifer Nettles in The Bondsman. Prime Video Music has always been the one thing that this family has agreed on, says Bacon, who has a backstory. Kitty in my mind, started playing and probably taught Hub, or maybe his father that we never talk about, but his fathers not around, he shares. Hub taught his son his musical influence. With Maryanne, their relationship is built on music. So the idea that we would break into song at that moment in the story, its the penultimate episode and the shift is really hitting.

Bacon, a musician who has been a part ofThe Bacon Brotherswith brother Michael since 1995, thought of the song for the scene, which he performs with Sugarland singer Nettles.

Its a cover and its a very popular song thathas been covered many, many times by a whole bunch of different artists across various genres, and Jennifer Nettles just gave it a little bit of a spin, taking it into a darker more minor-key place, he says. I think its a really nice moment because theres all this insanity going on around this show and then it just kind of stops. They look at each other and they start playing together. Its an important moment.

Oleson says that one of the other biggest draws to The Bondsman was Bacon and Nettles creating several new songs for the series. The pair released an eight-song EP of mostly new country originals.

The music was a pleasant surprise and big draw for Bacons interest, too, but for an actor who has starred in many horror films and series throughout his career, there needed to be something really unique to entice Bacon to The Bondsman. He found that uniqueness in Hub.

Listen, Im not interested in the guy who is just a straight up hero, Bacon explains. Why do that? I mean my muscles arent that big; Im not that guy, right? Someone who is just going to come and walk in the bar and kick everybodys ass.

I need someone who is complicated and flawed and has some darkness and some weakness, he says. That is what I am interested in. If the guy is going to be a hero, I want him to be complicated.

The Bondsman is now streaming all eight episodes on Prime Video.