Task Episode 1 Review: Cops, Criminals, and Characters You Can’t Ignore
Image Courtesy of Warner Bros
While scrolling through YouTube, a trailer for a new HBO series popped up in my recommendations, and I decided to give it a shot. I quickly noticed that everyone’s buzzing about it being from the creators of Mare of Easttown—which, confession time, I’ve never seen (so forgive me if that’s a crime). What really pulled me in was the casting of Tom Pelphrey. If you’ve seen Ozark, you know just how unforgettable his role was. He wasn’t around for long, but his arrival—and heartbreaking exit—was some of the show’s most powerful storytelling. Seeing him in this trailer had me hooked right away. The series premiered on September 7 and will run for a total of eight episodes, so let’s dive into the first one.
The episode kicks off by introducing us to the two leads: Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), an FBI agent living with his daughter Emily, and Robbie Pendergrast (Tom Pelphrey), a garbage collector raising his two kids, Wyatt and Harper, along with his niece Maeve.
At first glance, it feels like a standard “cops and robbers” setup, but the show wastes no time hinting that it’s going to dig much deeper than that.
Both men are lost in their own ways, weighed down by personal struggles. Tom’s son, Ethan, is on trial for something we’re not told about yet, leaving a cloud of tension hanging over his family. Robbie, meanwhile, is a single father just trying to keep things together after the loss of his brother.
The show does a great job of drawing parallels between them: both are grinding through daily routines, both are clinging to family in different ways, and both are defined by grief and responsibility. But while the similarities are striking, the story makes it clear that these two are heading for opposite sides of the same conflict—and that’s where the tension really simmers.
The supporting cast is just as compelling. Maeve, Robbie’s niece, might be one of the most relatable characters in the episode. She feels stuck raising kids that aren’t hers, torn between her loyalty to Robbie and her desire to live her own life.
On the flip side, Emily, Tom’s daughter, mirrors Maeve in an unexpected way. She’s not weighed down by siblings, but she is stuck caring for a father who’s unraveling. Both young women feel trapped, just in different cages, and that parallel feels like it’s going to matter down the line.
This first episode takes its time—lots of character-building, plenty of world-setting—but it never drags. Instead, it feels like the kind of slow burn that rewards patience. By the time we get to the burst of action near the end, you’re already invested in these characters, and that payoff lands harder because of it.
If this is how the show is starting, then the ride ahead looks like it’s going to be something special.
Episode one has already hooked me, and I’m genuinely excited to see where things go for Tom, Robbie, and the rest of the cast. The premiere does a great job laying the groundwork, and if this balance of character depth and simmering tension keeps up, we might be looking at one of HBO’s standout dramas of the year.
Episode one is streaming now on HBO Max, with episode two dropping tonight at 9:00 p.m. So if you haven’t jumped in yet, now’s the perfect time to catch up before the story really takes off.
