Task has just wrapped its seven-episode run on HBO Max and has cemented itself as one of the best shows of 2025. Photo: HBO.
Less than two months removed from the 2025 Emmys and we already have frontrunners for several of its major categories.
It’s not hyperbolic either: Brad Ingelsby, the writer behind Mare of Easttown, has returned to HBO and delivered a masterstroke with his freshman effort Task. His skill with the pen is unmatched.
Task’s premise is simple: a team of cops and federal agents are brought together to form a task force to bring down a group of home invaders who are raiding drug houses and stealing money from a local biker gang.
What elevates this from a typical cop or FBI show is its characters and the subplots attached to them.
First up, we have Tom Brandis, the task force leader.
Tom, played by Mark Ruffalo, is a former priest turned FBI agent who employs people to the bureau. He is the adoptive father of Emily and Ethan, the latter of whom is in a juvenile justice centre.
Reluctantly, Tom is tasked with leading the squad to take down the home invaders led by Robbie, played by Tom Pelphrey.
Robbie is a garbage man whose brother was murdered by the biker gang he robs from.
Robbie lives with his niece, Maeve (Emilia Jones), who is essentially the carer of Robbie’s two kids and is unaware of his nightly activities.
Tom, Robbie and Maeve are the main three characters of this series and are its heartbeat.
Ruffalo, Pelphrey and Jones bring to life seven episodes of incredible writing with an absolute masterclass of character acting. Ruffalo and Pelphrey, in particular, will be the leaders in the Best Actor in a Limited Series – Drama category come next year’s award season.
The two each deal with their demons in different ways: Tom with alcohol and near neglect of his daughter, while Robbie breaks into drug dens and steals money.
But the art in the writing isn’t how they escape their vices or each other during a cat-and-mouse game, it’s the moments of humanity where we, as the viewers, ask, ‘What would we do if we were in their shoes?’ It’s akin to Kate Winslet in Brad Ingelsby’s first series with HBO, Mare of Easttown, which saw Winslet nab her first Emmy win.
The series isn’t the easiest watch, however.
Some of the things we are forced to watch, whether it be the inner workings of biker gangs, the results of drug use and alcoholism or even the grounded violence, are brutal.
The show is better for it, but come the back half of the series, it is understandable why every episode wasn’t released at once.
For seven weeks, my mother and I would get on the couch, interested to see how this show would turn out. It’s not common for us to share interests in TV or movies, but in this case, we were both enthralled.
The writing transcended our individual interests and instead provided a series that had me locked in harder than any other show this year.
The only criticisms I have come from episode five and a single plot beat that was used as a misdirect.
It took me reading an overview to understand its intended purpose, and I don’t believe the show did a clear enough job of rectifying or clarifying this point.
Task is top-tier TV. Between Task, The Pitt, Peacemaker, The White Lotus and Bookish, I genuinely believe that HBO Max is the best-value streaming service in terms of quality this year.
Task is streaming on HBO Max in Australia.
