'Secrets of the Hells Angels' tells true stories about the country's most notorious motorcycle gang

“Exterminate all the brutes!” In these words, borrowed from those of Joseph Conrad Heart of DarknessHunter S. Thompson completed his violent, macabre 1967 book Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. Thompson had spent months with the outlaw biker gang, and his persistence finally paid off when the members gave him a brutal beatdown (which, Thompson being Thompson, he seemed to enjoy a bit). The Gonzo King had gotten closer to the Angels' inner sanctum than anyone else, a feat that A&E's new docuseries Secrets of the Hells Angels (Sunday premiere) is trying to reproduce itself in a smaller, safer and gentler way.

The Angels, founded in 1948 in San Bernardino County in a climate of postwar disillusionment and rebellion, have often presented two very different public faces. We're just a fun-loving motorcycle club, says one. The other is more honest. Murder, rape and drug dealing have long been widely recognized as part of the Angels MO. That's what the new series is dealing with, at least the premiere episode available to reporters. As Thompson discovered more than 50 years ago, you deal with these people at your own grave risk.

The first episode, “Hell's Agent,” tells the story of Jay Dobyns, a big, burly ATF agent who infiltrated the Angels in Arizona and nearly lost his mind and soul. Dobbins, along with fellow agent Jenna Maguire (who plays Dobbins' old lady), receive their assignment in the wake of an all-out brawl and shootout between the Angels and the rival Mongolian gang in the middle of a casino in Laughlin, Nevada. left three dead in 2002. (Surveillance video of the fall shows a war zone of leather, punches and bullets; this was not a good day to try your luck at the slots). Dobbins describes the byzantine process by which one earns one's official Angels patch — as he says with grave anger, “For an organization that doesn't want to live by rules, it has a lot of rules” — before detailing the caper that finally won the gang's trust: With the help of fellow ATF agents and some scraps from a local butcher shop, Dobbins faked killing a Mongol and took credit for the kill. This is the kind of initiative that Angels appreciate.

Dobbins' story has the makings of a stretched-out feature film, full of psychological tension (Dobbins digs into how hard it is to live life as a rogue biker without starting to think and feel like one) and plenty of action. Think Donnie Brasco on a Harley. As it is, the episode boasts a fairly typical A&E aesthetic, with talking heads (including former members and chapter presidents), flashbacks, and a steadily building narrative. The big takeaway here is the ATF footage, which shows everything from Dobbins' interactions with the Angels he's trying to impress to the behind-the-scenes preparation for the fake Mongol assassination, which plays like a Hollywood stunt (swipe the body here! Gut the blood there!).

Future one-hour episodes will cover topics such as an Angel conspiracy to kill Mick Jagger (the Angels were responsible for the stabbing death of concertgoer Meredith Hunter at the Rolling Stones' infamous 1969 concert at Altamont Speedway, after which Jagger was critical of the Angels and vowed never to use them as security again) and the trials of Noel Barger, the ex-wife of Angels kingpin Sonny Barger. With a history that stretches back 76 years, and with chroniclers like Thompson letting loose and poking fun at their mythology, Angels seems to have no shortage of stories, if not secrets, to fill the small screen. Despite the famous check, their legend has not yet been exterminated.