HBO's Crime Thriller Reaches Full Suspense

WARNING! Major SPOILERS ahead for Task episode 2!HBO’s new crime thriller series, Task, is finally getting deeper into its investigation and suspense, which is certain to hook audiences after just two episodes. Serving as somewhat of a spiritual successor to HBO’s Mare of Easttown, which was also created and written by Brad Ingelsbey, Task simultaneously follows a ragtag FBI task force in Delaware County, Pennsylvania and the crew robbing local drug rings that they’re investigating.

The cast of Task is led by Mark Ruffalo as FBI agent Tom Brandis, with Tom Pelphrey starring as the leader of the “Halloween crew,” Robbie. In addition to the investigation, Task puts significant focus on the difficult home and family lives of Tom, whose wife recently died while their son is in prison for her homicide, and Robbie, who is raising his two young children alongside his niece after his brother’s murder and his wife leaving him.

Task’s promising reviews have amounted to an impressive 89% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, highlighting the bleak but engrossing cat-and-mouse story and compelling cast performances. While some crime thrillers take a bit longer to lay the groundwork before picking up in momentum, Task will have audiences hooked after just two episodes.

Task Episode 2 Is When The Investigation & Suspense Truly Pick Up

While Task episode 1 and its ending are more focused on introducing the characters and their personal dilemmas, the series really hits the ground running in episode 2. Not just due to the suspense of the Dark Hearts biker gang and their menacing members Jamie McShane’s Perry being introduced, but also because of Robbie’s anxiety with hiding Sam and Tom’s stress in organizing the team to find Sam.

Additionally, the rest of Task’s major characters get more story and drama to work with in episode 2. Maeve actress Emilia Jones also gets to shine in one of the series’ most compelling sequences yet as she contends with giving Sam (and, consequently, her uncle) up to the police or abetting a kidnapping by keeping Sam at home with them.

The sequence in which Maeve sends Sam into the store to be found by the police, only to find him back in her car because he was afraid without her, leads to another fantastic, anxiety-ridden sequence as she must hide Sam while the task force is searching vehicles. Though Task’s Tom Pelphrey gives an engrossing performance, episode 2 arguably makes Jones the most compelling of Robbie’s side of the story.

Another top-tier episode 2 sequence deals more with the familial drama of Task, specifically in regard to Tom and his daughters, Emily and Sara, discussing the death of their mother, Susan, at the hands of their bipolar son, Ethan. The tension at the dinner tables rises with just as much dread as there was waiting for the police to find Sam in Maeve’s car, with years’ worth of resentment and unspoken feelings being unleashed among the Brandises.

By Task episode 2’s ending, we have the majority of the moving parts of the investigation and crimes, family dynamics for Robbie and Tom, and backstories needed to be fully invested. Of course, episode 2 still leaves room for plenty of twists, turns, and tragedies to come in the HBO crime thriller, making it one of the network’s most engrossing TV shows in years.

Task Episode 2 Proves The Series Is Just As Good As Mare Of Easttown

As an Emmy-winning smash, hit with critics, and success with audiences, Mare of Easttown still stands out as one of HBO’s best TV shows of all time. After the miniseries ended in 2021, the search for a similar series on HBO came to an end this year with Brad Ingelsby’s Task, which is set within the same universe as Mare.

The worry, of course, was whether Task would be able to live up to the high standards set by Mare of Easttown. While Task episode 1 was a bit slower to start, episode 2 proved without a doubt that Ingelsby’s follow-up is an incredibly worthy successor.

Not only does it maintain the Philly area culture and setting, incredible cast performances, and intense family drama, but Task also sets itself apart by being a compelling cat-and-mouse chase rather than a Mare-style whodunit murder mystery.