Fans of “Mare of Easttown” rejoice, showrunner Brad Ingelsby is back with another prestige crime drama on HBO, and after watching a screener of the premiere episode last night, I’m safely on the hook for this seven-episode series.
Once again, Ingelsby (“Out of the Furnace”) returns to his native Pennsylvania that he knows so well; small, working-class towns populated by gritty, flawed and complex characters. But this time, instead of Kate Winslet’s small-town homicide detective, he’s following FBI agent Tom Brandis, played with a pained expression by a graying Mark Ruffalo, who has recently suffered an enormous loss and is reluctantly heading up a task force to stop a small gang of criminals robbing trap houses in Delaware County — drug spots used by a notorious local biker gang. As the bodies pile up, the FBI becomes worried about a turf war erupting, and Ruffalo is placed in charge of three young, fresh-faced newbies who are annoying right out of the gate.
Ingelsby is blessed again with another excellent ensemble cast highlighted by four-time Academy Award nominee Ruffalo (who was in the theater program at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach with a friend of mine); the always brilliant stage veteran Martha Plimpton as his flinty, wisecracking supervisor; a charismatic Tom Pelphrey as the leader of the small, close-knit group of strongarm criminals who are sanitation workers by day, and an excellent Emilia Jones (“Coda”) as his punkish young niece dying to fly the coop. In the first episode, we also get a glimpse of reliable Ivorian character actor Isaach de Bankolé as a priest friend of Ruffalo’s from a former, more philosophical life.
One of the first things I noticed about “Task” is that it appears more artfully shot than “Easttown,” with nicely composed images by director of photography Alex Disenhof that occasionally recall the earth-toned hues of David Fincher movies. While “Task” already feels a bit darker than “Easttown,” it offers a similar formula of cat-and-mouse crime procedural with powerful family dramas unfolding at home for the two leads, Ruffalo and Pelfrey (the cat and mouse respectively), each of whom recently suffered major personal losses and are on a collision course due to their moral choices.
Among the reasons I appreciate Ingelsby’s work is not only his attention to specificity of place and his excellent ear for dialogue, but he knows how to craft a compelling narrative through carefully revealed details, often conveying years of backstory through subtle manipulation of tone – a glance or expression, minimal dialogue. And of course, there are his deeply human characters, more dimensional and fleshed out than most you’ll see on TV. I’ve only watched the first episode, but it seems safe to say that fans of legendary HBO shows like “The Wire” and “The Sopranos” will want to jump on this train.
The production notes say that Ingelsby looked to Michael Mann’s “Heat” when writing this show, so one can expect the rhythm and energy of this thriller to keep a pretty good pace.
“Task” premieres on HBO and Max on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. EST. Below is the official trailer for the show.
