The Bondsman Season 1 finale revealed that Kevin Bacon's Hub killed Cheryl (played by Kathrine Barnes), but the truth had been hidden from the audience this whole time.
Why Did Hub Killed Cheryl in The Bondsman?
The new action-horror series on Amazon Prime Video follows Bacon's Hub, a demonic bounty hunter who makes a deal with the devil to come back from the dead and rid the world of various supernatural presences.
A key part of this story is the demon queen Lilith. Lilith takes the corporeal form of Cheryl, using her body as a host for the demon lord's hell-bending spirit.
One of the key points of The Bondsman's Season 1 finale was the reveal that Kevin Bacon's Hub was behind Cheryl's death earlier in the season.
Cheryl being killed was a big moment for the show, as it opened the door for the demonic Lilith to come to Earth and threaten humanity's very existence. Ridding the world of Lilith becomes Hub's sole purpose for the rest of the show, which makes the reveal that he had killed the young woman a little ironic.
Hub was the author of his own proverbial demise, being the one to set the quest to exorcise Lilith from the world in motion in the first place.
However, the exact reason that Bacon's demon-hunting bondsman killed the character may confuse audiences.
Throughout the show, Bacon's Hub is driven by his desire to enact revenge on his ex-wife's boyfriend, Lucky Callahan (played by Mortal Kombat 2 actor Damon Herriman).
Season 1 kicked off with Lucky killing Hub before the grizzled bounty hunter would be resurrected and forced to serve the devil's interests in his second lead on life. But as a part of this, Hub develops a personal agenda to get revenge on the man who sliced his throat in the first place.
And that is where Cheryl comes into the picture. Hub accidentally kills Cheryl after he mistakes her for Lucky and shoots her in a spout of revenge-fulled rage.
Cheryl had been wearing a hat similar to that of Lucky at the time, and Hub let the idea of taking down his ex-wife's boyfriend cloud his judgment, shooting before confirming the person he was going to kill was, in fact, Lucky Callaghan.
Talking about the reveal that Hub was the one behind Cheryl's death, Bacon told The Wrap, "[Hub's] a selfish or self-involved kind of guy," and even though he admitted he killed Cheryl to his family in the Season finale, "he's still holding onto the idea that he's not the bad guy here:"
"He makes a selfish choice at the end of the season in a lot of ways and it’s very in keeping with who he is. He’s a selfish or self-involved kind of guy. Yes, he’s heroic, but it’s that combination of being so stubborn and selfish and flawed that I liked about the character. Admitting [killing Cheryl] to his family is a big moment, but he’s still holding onto the idea that he’s not the bad guy here."
Series creator Erik Oleson said he "wanted to go to a dark place with [the reveal]," and this is what they came up with:
“I really wanted to go to a dark place with it and so did Kevin Bacon. I will say that there was initially some pushback from some nervous executives but ultimately I said that it was important and they backed the play. Everybody who’s reading the scripts is always worried about building a barrier to entry to the audience or turn turning off the audience. And ultimately, as we talked it out, they became completely supportive of it."
Hub quote/unquote gets the devil off his shoulder, though, as the character ensures in his final deliberation with Lilith that she leaves Cheryl's body and lets her survive.
Lilith eventually yields, leaving Cheryl behind without any knowledge of the events that led to her death. This could play a big part in any potential future Bondsman stories, as either Huyb comes clean about the secret behind her death or she discovers it for herself.
