Task TV Review: Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey are sensational in a crime drama from the creator of Mare of Easttown

Plot: Set in the working class suburbs of Philadelphia, an FBI agent heads a Task Force to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspecting family man.

Review: While Taylor Sheridan has become the hot ticket creator on the small screen thanks to his range of crime-centric and historical dramas, Brad Ingelsby has quietly joined him amongst the best writers and showrunners working today. After his big screen projects Out of the Furnace and Our Friend became buzzy independent projects, Ingelsby delivered the powerful HBO series Mare of Easttown starring Kate Winslet. Rather than expand that acclaimed limited series with a second season, Ingelsby has created another Pennsylvania-set crime drama that is just as engrossing with another stellar cast. Task follows a similar look at small-town dynamics between law enforcement and criminals that embraces the unique Philadelphia accent in a story that fits perfectly alongside Mare of Easttown. Led by fantastic performances from Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey, Task is another instant classic that will have audiences glued each week to find out where this story goes.

Task follows three sets of characters whose stories are interconnected in ways that become devastatingly evident as the series progresses. Opening with FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), we see the priest-turned-investigator returning to the field after an extended sabbatical necessitated by a personal tragedy. Brandis’s superior, Kathleen McGinty (Martha Plimpton), puts him in charge of a new task force investigating a string of armed robberies of drug houses in the area. Tom’s team consists of three low-level officers from the tri-county area, including Grasso (Fabien Frankel, Aleah (Thuso Mbedu), and Lizzie (Alison Oliver). As the quartet investigates the thefts, we learn more about Brandis’ home life, directly influencing how he handles being back on active duty. It is a fascinating balance that echoes the personal and professional worlds Kate Winslet explored in Mare of Easttown. With extra weight packed on and a quiet sadness, Mark Ruffalo once again shows his deep talent at playing realistic characters who carry so much and are constantly on the verge of breaking. The entire task force team seems like a ragtag bunch, but they develop into a solid crew under Tom’s leadership.

The other side of the investigation gets equal screen time as we follow Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) and Cliff (Raul Castillo), a pair of garbage men perpetrating thefts around town. Stealing from criminals for their own gain seems like a solid plan, but when their biggest score goes awry, it puts them in the crosshairs of local biker gang, The Dark Hearts, from whom they have been stealing. Like Tom, Robbie has his own personal challenges at home as he tries to raise his young kids with the help of his niece Maeve (Emilia Jones). Maeve has aspirations for her own life without helping Robbie, while Robbie has ulterior motives for his crimes. Tom Pelphrey has had a remarkable streak of performances in recent years in Ozark, Love & Death, Mank, Outer Range, and his shocking nude scene in the series A Man in Full. Pelphrey is every bit as good in Task as Robbie, a parallel to Tom Brandis, but on the opposite side of the law. As Robbie tries to figure out a seemingly impossible situation, Pelphrey digs into the character’s psychology while keeping his actions believable and realistic. Pelphrey shares many of the best scenes in the series with Emilia Jones, as the pair are highlights of the series.

The third side of the story follows the members of the Dark Hearts who try to figure out who is stealing from them while also evading the FBI. All three stories are intrinsically connected, and the narrative weaves multiple reveals, twists, and mysteries through the entire seven-episode run. There are several tense moments in the first three episodes that I was not sure would go the way they do, but the unexpected nature of the narrative comes from the lack of pretension. Task presents the events as realistically as possible rather than trying to turn this into an action or suspense-oriented drama. The natural tension built is far more interesting and makes Task feel like a suburban twist on Michael Mann’s Heat. Much like Heat, the limited interaction between Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey keeps their stories building as independent narratives, with their eventual confrontation all the more powerful. I found myself deeply invested in these characters, especially when we dig into who they are as people beyond the central crimes at the core of Task.

Jeremiah Zagar directs four of the seven episodes, and Salli Richardson-Whitfield helms the other three. Brad Ingelsby wrote all seven episodes, and Dave Obzud shared a story credit on three. With a mildly sinister score from Dan Deacon, Task has no opening credit sequence and jumps right into the story with little fanfare. There is so much happening in each hour-long episode that Ingelsby wastes no time giving us plot and character elements to dig into. Task takes the best things from other series and combines them into a solid series I did not want to end. There are a few weak moments in the series, with my biggest complaint being that we do not get more time to dig into each character and the tangential parts of their lives that led them to where this series begins. With supporting turns from Mireille Enos, Phoebe Fox, Isaach De Bankole, Elvis Nolasco, Owen Teague, Sam Keeley, and Jamie McShane, more individuals in this ensemble could have warranted additional backstory. Brad Ingelsby develops each character enough that we care about them and want to know more. Some of these references sometimes feel like they could have been explored further, which seems like something is lacking in the finished episodes.

Task is strong for every minute of the seven-episode run. If Mare of Easttown and Heat were combined, the result would be Task. There are hints of Sons of Anarchy and a little bit of True Detective mixed in, but with an everyman quality that Brad Ingelsby has mastered. This series has so much to appreciate, but it starts with the perfectly cast ensemble led by Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey, giving performances that will rank amongst the best of their careers. Task is a crime series as much as a character drama that will have you invested from the opening minutes through the gutpunch of a finale. Part of me would love for Brad Ingelsby to develop a multi-season series, but I think he operates best like a novelist with self-contained tales that boast concrete endings. Task is another win from the reliable stable of dramas on HBO and one of the year’s best series.

Task premieres on September 7th on HBO.