Mark Ruffalo’sTaskIs HBO’s Darkest Crime Drama Yet
If you thought Mare of Easttown was gritty, HBO’s new series Task takes things even deeper into the shadows. From creator Brad Ingelsby, who gave us Mare , this latest drama trades a whodunit murder mystery for a raw, unrelenting cops-and-robbers chase. And at the center of it all is Mark Ruffalo, playing one of the darkest roles of his career.
Ruffalo steps into the shoes of Tom Brandis, a former Catholic priest turned FBI agent who has been shattered by a personal tragedy. Once a man of faith, he’s now a broken figure, reassigned to desk duty and job fairs, carrying grief like a permanent weight. But when a string of violent stash-house robberies catches the FBI’s attention, Brandis is reluctantly pulled back into action, asked to lead a makeshift task force—the inspiration for the show’s title.
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From the very first scenes, you can feel the signature Ingelsby touch: the muted gray palette, the heavy themes of generational trauma, and a world where the line between good and bad is blurred beyond recognition. What makes Task compelling isn’t just its bleak setting outside Philadelphia, but its focus on flawed, layered characters who are both victims and perpetrators of cycles they can’t seem to escape.
One of the strongest storylines belongs to Robbie, played by Tom Pelphrey. By day he’s a garbage man, a local guy just trying to provide for his kids. By night, he’s leading robberies of drug dens run by a biker gang. Robbie isn’t portrayed as a heartless criminal; he’s gentle at times, haunted by regrets, and desperate to fix his life. That duality makes him a fascinating counterpart to Ruffalo’s Tom. Both men are deeply flawed, both carry enormous pain, and both are looking for freedom—whether from poverty, grief, or their own past mistakes.
The ensemble cast adds even more depth. Alison Oliver plays Lizzie, a shaky state trooper; Thuso Mbedu portrays Aleah, a survivor of domestic violence; and Fabien Frankel shows up as a sharp-looking detective with hidden insecurities. Together, they make up Brandis’ uneven, barely functional task force. Their lack of coordination becomes dangerous when one of Robbie’s robberies spirals out of control, leaving bloodshed behind and drawing the biker gang into the story with menacing force.
It’s worth noting that Task isn’t an easy watch. There’s no comic relief, no lighthearted moments to break the tension. The show has been compared to The Wire in its refusal to sugarcoat reality. Every scene drips with moral complexity—characters we want to root for make terrible choices, while villains reveal slivers of humanity. Ruffalo’s performance is intentionally subdued, even schlubby, as if the weight of his character’s failures has seeped into his very posture. In contrast, Pelphrey’s Robbie is magnetic, oscillating between tender father and explosive criminal, a performance already being called star-making.
What keeps Task from being unbearably grim is its momentum. Each episode drives forward with tension, pitting Tom and Robbie on a collision course. Every step Tom takes toward catching Robbie mirrors Robbie’s desperate push toward freedom. It’s not just about crime and punishment—it’s about whether either man can outrun his past.
Dark, unflinching, and emotionally charged, Task may well be the most somber show on TV right now. But in its bleakness, it delivers something gripping and human—reminding us that even in the shadows, people are searching for redemption.
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