Brad Ingelsby has outdone himself with Task, his Mark Ruffalo-led crime drama series that is arguably better than his Emmy-winning claim to fame, Mare of Easttown. In a streaming landscape that offers what feels like a new crime drama every week across all platforms, Task stands above the rest for its rich storytelling, outstanding performances, and multidimensional character development.
Ruffalo is back in his non-MCU element as the egoless FBI field agent Tom, who operates out of the Philadelphia branch. Stricken by an unfathomable personal tragedy, Tom pours himself into a missing child's case along with three inexperienced but determined local law enforcement officers. On the other side of the action is Robbie, played by Ozark standout Tom Pelphrey, a good guy making a dishonest living just trying to keep his head above water.
The way that Ingelsby, who penned the entire series with assistance from police advisor David Obzud, parallels and connects the two separate stories of these two grieving men is a feat in and of itself. Combine this with thoughtful direction, engaging cinematography, immersive verisimilitude, future Emmy-nominated performances, and a truly epic music score by Dan Deacon, and you get one of, if not the, best drama series of 2025.
Task Is Exceptional On Every Level With Performances That Make It An Elite Crime Series
There are so many scenes in Task that make you feel like you're watching one of several familiar TV classics. There's a True Detective tone quietly simmering throughout the entire series, as well as moments reminiscent of Sons of Anarchy, Ozark, The Last of Us, and even The Bear. That's not to say that Task overly relies on past successes. Instead, it achieves the elite quality of these celebrated series through its unrelenting focus on character and story.
Ruffalo's Tom could be anyone's best friend with a calm yet no-nonsense energy that could rival Robin Williams' Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. Settled down from his eccentric characters in recent films like Poor Things and Mickey 17, Ruffalo is so impressively engrossed in his deeply conflicted and suffering character, commanding an onscreen presence with what appears to be so little effort on his end. It's his most grounded performance since Spotlight.
Task features a true ensemble, all extremely deserving of recognition. After Pelphrey's happy-go-lucky troublemaker Robbie, played with a captivating yet unstable electricity, Jamie McShane may be the series standout as the Whitey Bulger-esque Perry. McShane has been on a television tear this year, appearing in Bosch: Legacy, 1923, and Wednesday before rising to the Task. He's long overdue for some Emmy acknowledgment.
But it doesn't stop there – Emilia Jones of Best Picture CODA acclaim, Saltburn breakout Alison Oliver, Game of Thrones alum Fabian Frankel, rising Irish actor Sam Keeley, The Woman King's Thuso Mbedu, and Owen Teague, a fellow alum with McShane of Netflix's Bloodline, all deliver some of their greatest work. Child actors Kennedy Moyer and Ben Lewis Doherty also make outstanding professional debuts.
Task's Great Dialogue & Narrative Construction Sets It Apart From Most New Releases (In Any Genre)
The whole time you're watching Task, you may feel like you know where things are going because they're all such strong foundational choices for the story. The characters are refreshingly human, with a vast array of weaknesses and vulnerabilities, rather than being larger-than-life archetypes in a stale game of cops and robbers. I wish this degree of depth were achieved in most other modern releases because the atmosphere that Task creates is wildly and uncommonly human, and not in a forceful, all-encompassing "slice of life" type of way.
Task feels like definitive television, establishing the highest bar of what audiences should continue to expect from their streaming content. It's on-brand HBO through and through, instantly joining the ranks of the network's all-time greatest series like The Penguin and The Night Of. Ingelsby is a master of crafting self-deceptive characters, largely those who use alcohol and substances as a crutch for their shattered lives. The same "dust yourself off" crawl from a dark place to a brighter day fueled his Ben Affleck movie on resilience, The Way Back.
That said, Task doesn't fall into easy tropes of bright-eyed optimism. In fact, it beautifully and reasonably balances the scales of hope and despair so that we never escape reality. When we meet these characters, most of them feel like they're at the end of their line, a thousand miles past the point of jaded. In some cases, those who stray too far off their path, those vagrants, end up with no route home. Those who deserve answers don't always get them. The shot that is worked for tirelessly doesn't hit or isn't taken. There are no heroes or villains, just desires and consequences.
Task employs these and more unavoidable authentic rules of life into the fabric of its story world, cementing it with such a convincing sense of visceral realism, while also appealing to intellect through wise dialogue and intentional camerawork. Every last frame becomes naturally compelling and leaves viewers wanting more after seven episodes. Task proves that the HBO + Ingelsby formula is one of modern television's safest bets. It's hands down the best drama series of the 2026 Emmy pool and a can't-miss show this September.
The series premiere of Task releases on Sunday, September 7 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
Task
- Release Date
- 2025 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- HBO
- Directors
- Jeremiah Zagar
Cast
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Tom -
Tom PelphreyRobbie
WHERE TO WATCH
Task is a crime drama set in the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia. It follows an FBI agent leading a task force to stop a series of violent robberies orchestrated by a seemingly ordinary family man, unraveling the complexities behind his dual life.
- Everything about Task is exceptional from creative & technical standpoints
- Task has phenomenal acting performances across the board
- The writing sets Task apart from the vast majority of modern series
- Some plot elements are predictable but the way the story is told is Task's true triumph