Warning: This post contains spoilers for the premiere of Task.
It’s set in the working class suburbs of Philadelphia. It revolves around a troubled detective reeling from a devastating family tragedy. It follows the twisting investigation into a shocking violent crime. Is it Mare of Easttown? No, it’s Task.
More than four years after Mare took the prestige TV world by storm, creator Brad Ingelsby is back with a new limited series crime drama that’s likely to entice fans of its predecessor. Starring Mark Ruffalo as ex-priest-turned-downcast FBI agent Tom Brandis and Tom Pelphrey as blue-collar family man and part-time thief Robbie Prendergrast, Task is a cops and robbers story that empathizes with both men at its center.
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“I just think we don’t get to see enough blue-collar stories,” Ingelsby told the Washington Post. “I really don’t. I just feel like that’s a section of people, a class of people, that get overlooked. And when they are in things, they aren’t given the care and consideration and complexity that I think they deserve.”
But where Mare was a whodunnit, Task is more of a cat-and-mouse thriller—a switch-up that the series premiere, which aired Sunday on HBO, quickly made clear. Following an opening montage that highlighted some apparent similarities between the lives of its two main characters, Episode 1 of Task set the scene for an inevitable showdown between the pair.
By the end of the hour, Tom had been assigned to lead a task force responsible for tracking down the perps behind a string of gangland drug-house robberies, the most recent of which turned deadly and resulted in the deaths of three associates of a local biker crew known as the Dark Hearts as well as one of the burglars’ own accomplices. Of course, we the viewers already know unassuming garbage man Robbie and his best friend Cliff (Raúl Castillo) are the culprits Tom has been charged with hunting down.
“The tension of the story is that you care about both of these guys,” Ingelsby told the Hollywood Reporter. “You want Robbie to get away and you want Tom to get a win. But you know that can’t happen.”
Here are five of the biggest questions we have after watching the Task premiere.
What did Tom’s son do?
We know that Tom’s son Ethan did something terrible that has not only put a strain on Tom’s relationship with his teenage daughter Emily (Silvia Dionicio), but tore Tom up to the point that he’s been on hiatus from working in the field and drinks to forget his troubles every night. We also know that whatever crime Ethan committed “occurred within the family unit” and that the judge will place a lot of weight on any family impact statements given at the sentencing hearing, which could result in anywhere from five to 15 years in prison. What horrible family misfortune has Ingelsby cooked up this time?
What happened to Robbie’s brother?
Robbie’s brother Billie is dead, a situation that’s led to him living at Billie’s old home with his own two young children, Harper (Kennedy Moyer) and Wyatt (Oliver Eisenson), and 21-year-old niece Maeve (Emilia Jones). However, there’s definitely some tension between Robbie and Maeve over who the house actually belongs to, and it’s clear Maeve knew her dad was mixed up in some bad stuff. Surely we’ll soon learn more about the role Billie’s death has played in all of this.
Read More: Task Is Another Excellent Crime Drama From the Creator of Mare of Easttown
Why did Tom leave the priesthood?
It’s clear from Tom’s interaction with his priest friend Daniel (Isaach De Bankolé) that he’s experiencing a crisis of faith in the wake of the tragedy that’s befallen his family. But it’s still unclear what exactly led him to make the transition from clergyman to FBI agent years prior.
Why did Deric know Robbie’s voice?
During the robbery-gone-wrong, Dark Hearts member Deric (Dominic Colón) tells Robbie he recognizes his voice despite the fact that he’s wearing a Halloween mask to hide his face. Deric also appeared to be suspicious of Cliff and Robbie when they picked up his trash a few days prior. To try to connect a few dots here, could this mean that Billie was involved with—and perhaps murdered by—the Dark Hearts and that’s why Deric has previously come in contact with Robbie?
What’s going to happen to Sam?
After realizing that Deric’s son Sam (Ben Lewis Doherty) was in the house while the murders were going down, Robbie brought Sam back to his own place to buy him and Cliff time to figure out what to do. Since Sam has seen their faces, they obviously can’t just let him go if they want to get away with their crimes. But judging by his relationship with his own children, Robbie certainly doesn’t seem like someone who’s capable of killing a kid. Talk about a dilemma.