HBO‘s next big Sunday night drama Task, premiering Sunday, September 7, is a crime show obsessed with making things right. Struggling trash man Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey) organizes Robin Hood-esque thefts stealing money from drug dens by night to do better — in his mind — by his niece Maeve (Emilia Jones) and kids Harper (Kennedy Moyer) and Wyatt (Oliver Eisenson). Mark Ruffalo‘s haunted FBI agent Tom Brandis is a literal retired priest, struggling with his own ability to make peace with the twisted tragedy that has torn his own family asunder. And throughout the seven-part limited series, characters wonder aloud about the value of the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation, the lessons we can leave or take from our parents, and whether there are some sins that can never be forgiven.
Overall, Task is more ambitious, poetic, and flawed than its spiritual predecessor Mare of Easttown. Writer/creator Brad Ingelsby‘s long-awaited follow-up to the Kate Winslet hit initially splits its narrative between two tender antiheroes fixed on a violent collision course. However, as the series goes on, Task‘s scope spreads out — oftentimes too thin — to show the ripple effect any misdeed can have on a community. Ultimately, Task‘s biggest problem is it’s more concerned with philosophy than pacing; its big emotional climax crescendoes long before the final episode even rolls. Which makes Task, like its characters, a beautiful, human mess.
Like Mare of Easttown, Task is a crime drama set in the rundown suburbs of Philadelphia. FBI agent Tom Brandis is pulled out of the career fair circuit when exiting boss Kathleen McGinty (Martha Plimpton) needs him to head up a Task Force focused on a string of recent home invasion robberies. A group of men in grisly Halloween masks have been hitting up gang houses in the middle of the night, stealing massive amounts of money recently made from drug deals. The bigger problem with this mystery crew’s movements is that they are precipitating a larger crisis by targeting a vicious biker gang/cartel called the Dark Hearts.
As it turns out, the men pulling off these terrifying thefts are the soft-hearted Robbie, his sweet and loyal best friend Cliff (Raúl Castillo), and their incorrigible buddy Peaches (Owen Teague). Abandoned by his wife and mourning the death of his brother, Robbie devotes his life to caring for his children. While it’s soon apparent that it’s his niece Maeve who does the yeoman work of feeding, clothing, and housing the kids, Robbie shows his love with swim trips, jokes, and loving embraces. Robbie isn’t a hardened criminal mastermind, but a dreamer willing to sacrifice himself for those he loves.
Brandis, on the other hand, has to lead a group of young field agents hand-picked by someone else. There’s Lizzie Stover (Alison Oliver), a Lancaster-based State Trooper who brings her emotional baggage and very little discipline to the gig, Aleah Clinton (Thuso Mbedu), a quiet and serious officer from Chester hiding both a traumatic past and tremendously useful skill, and, finally, local detective Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel), who brings a mix of religious skepticism and Catholic guilt to his convos with his boss.
The early episodes of Task position Robbie and Tom on striking parallel paths. Their days overlap and diverge, their moral codes reflect and refract upon one another. As the series wears on, though, focus shifts to antagonists like the brutal Dark Hearts president Jayson Wilkes (Sam Keeley) and his cold-blooded mentor Perry Dorazo (Jamie McShane). The Brandis family’s heartbreaking drama emerges from the fringes of the narrative to supersede the entire plot. Task plays its best, boldest cards too soon, leaving the final episode feeling like an afterthought to tie up loose ends.
At its best, Task is an incredible crime drama about loyalty, love, and forgiveness that thematically evokes the likes of The Departed. At its worst, it’s still a tremendously well-acted drama. Tom Pelphrey devours every scene he’s in, turning Robbie into a modern day folk hero worth celebrating. Mark Ruffalo and Martha Plimpton give the kinds of brilliant, complex performances you expect from them, while the younger cast of up-and-comers deliver on the promise they’ve show in other splashy projects.
Alison Oliver, Thuso Mbedu, Silivia Dioncio, Raúl Castillo and Sam Keeley are all wonderful, but British actors Emilia Jones and Fabien Frankel specifically get to steal the spotlight. Jones continues to corner the market on working class girls she owned in the Oscar-winning CODA and Frankel perfectly channels a specific brand of guy every east coast Catholic girl with cops for cousins will know.
HBO’s Task is not the addictive home run Mare of Easttown was, but it’s arguably a far more profound watch, full of deeper themes and bolder swings. Task often feels less like a show and more like a novel brought to vivid life by its beautiful direction and incendiary performances. This show isn’t perfect, but I keep finding myself willing to forgive Task its trespasses thanks to all of the other miracles it pulls off.
Task premieres on HBO and HBO MAX on Sunday, September 7 at 9 PM ET.