# The Bondsman - Great Gaming Fodder tags: #thoughts/TV ![[The Bondsman (title illo).jpg]] So, on the advice of a friend, I started watching *The Bondsman* on Amazon Prime. At its core, it's a story about a bail bondsman (bounty hunter, except not nearly as cool as you're thinking) who gets himself into some shenanigans, gets killed, sent to hell, and brought back to hunt down demons who've escaped from the pit and send them back. It's set in North Georgia—not in rural North Georgia, just less urban, semi-suburban North Georgia—and stars Kevin Bacon. I suppose I should say "starred" Kevin Bacon because, two months out, it's already been canceled after the first season ended on a massive cliffhanger. Absolute bullshit, but that's what I've come to expect from modern streaming services. God forbid they have something that's good. We can't have that. What struck me from the very beginning is that it's set in the area where I grew up, effectively northern Georgia, outside the downtown space of Atlanta, south of the foothills that start into the Appalachian, near a ton of lakes and streams, small towns with bail bondsmen and the local Methodist church, wooded back roads that would creep city dwellers out to drive down at two in the morning, but we used to blast down at 110 with guys in the back of a pickup truck. That's my youth—the people and places that they show in the course of the horrible, nasty, demonic infestation that ensues. Those are people and places I know and grew up around. It's all incredibly familiar. The most hilarious part is that Kevin Bacon is the spitting image of my cousin, Jim, who not just looks but sounds like him. In fairness, pretty much all of my family has a strong Southern accent, except for me. It's a long story. I'm sure that some of you who have heard me but never met me personally still have trouble believing that I live in the South and grew up here. Sometimes, so do I. I do love a good horror story. And *The Bondsman* is, essentially, a horror story about demons, but it's also comedic. It doesn't shy away from moments of comedy, and they land at appropriate places to cast contrast on the horrific misadventures which you get to watch in gory detail. The protagonist really does come across on multiple levels as a character which I would write up and play in a tabletop RPG.[^1] I'll leave it to the climax for you to figure out all of the things that that implies, but I love it so. We are never going to see the second season of this show, nor find out what really happens after the significant cliffhanger. But in a sense, that's better if you are someone who is looking for inspiration for your own stories or your own games. The best inspiration comes from things that are somehow incomplete, because there's a compulsion there to complete them. A bad story, poorly executed but with a brilliant premise, is great gaming fodder. A great story with great execution that is left incomplete is great gaming fodder. A mediocre story that leaves you saying, "I could do better than that," is great gaming fodder. *The Bondsman* is great gaming fodder—and great TV. You should go watch it.  [^1]: Figuring out exactly which game I would do him in is an entirely different thing and probably worthy of an entire article all its own. That's something for another day.