Editor's note: The below recap contains spoilers for Task Episode 1.
Four years ago, Brad Ingelsby's crime drama Mare of Easttown premiered on HBO and quickly became the definition of watercooler television. While the overarching mystery of the series' main murder suspect was answered by the end of its only season to date, the question of whether Ingelsby would deliver a follow-up installment or another project entirely hung over the Delco County-set show in its aftermath. Task, which drops its first episode tonight on HBO, may not be Mare of Easttown Season 2, but it has a lot to offer in its own right — star power, a compelling dual narrative, and a look into a much darker underbelly that Ingelsby's previous series only lightly scratched at. "Crossings," written by Ingelsby and directed by Jeremiah Zagar (Hustle), is an hour that doesn't waste any time setting up its story, as well as the two men who will anchor it.
'Task' Episode 1 Introduces Us to Both Sides of the Law
Tom Pelphrey as Robbie in bed with his kids in Task Episode 1
The sun isn't even up yet, and two very different men are beginning their very different morning routines. For FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), it's a pause to kneel at his bedside in what feels like a regular habit, only to waver over whether he should actually pray. Meanwhile, Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey) wipes the sleep from his eyes before checking on his children. Tom wakes himself up for the day by dunking his face in a sink full of ice water, then heads to the career fair where he attempts to appeal to college grads. Robbie manages to down a quick cup of coffee before joining his friend and co-worker, Cliff Broward (Raúl Castillo), on their route collecting garbage. The way the two sneakily sift through trash belonging to specific houses, though, doesn't seem like a part of their job description; neither does the way they show up at said houses once night falls, carrying loaded guns. By comparison, Tom's evening is more uneventful, as he pours vodka into a Phillies novelty cup and ultimately passes out in his recliner.
Both men are feeling adrift, but for wholly different reasons; we learn that Tom was a priest for eight years before joining the FBI, but he hasn't been in the field for a while. Whether his current assignment was self-inflicted or not remains to be seen, but there's also tension at home, too, between Tom and his daughter, Emily (Silvia Dionicio), which is partly linked to some legal trouble that her brother, Ethan, has gotten into — and the family lawyer's insistence that Emily provide a helpful statement ahead of sentencing. Whatever happened with Ethan, Tom's keeping his distance from his son as well, only stopping at the prison to drop off a suit for him instead of staying for visitation hours.
As for Robbie, this single father is entertaining fantasies of having enough money to buy his own private island and pondering the possibility of opening himself up to love again. The same can't be said for Robbie's friend and cohort, Peaches (Owen Teague), who's just proposed to his girlfriend and is all smiles when Robbie and Cliff show up at his place. The three plan to rendezvous later that night for what seems to be another planned robbery of one of the houses they've been staking out — but that means Robbie has to leave his kids in the care of his 21-year-old niece, Maeve (Emilia Jones), who's tired of being taken for granted, especially when Robbie and Cliff head out with a lie in their mouths about seeing "old friends." When Robbie, Cliff, and Peaches show up at the drop house they've targeted to rob, it's clear they've done this enough times before that Robbie even has a pre-job routine of calming his racing heart — but as they approach the house, it's masks on and guns out. The plan is straightforward from that moment on: tie up the house's occupants at gunpoint, secure any money within, and get out of Dodge. It all goes off without a hitch.
'Task' Episode 1 Ends With a Task Force Formed and a Robbery Gone Wrong
Fabien Frankel, Thuso Mbedu, Alison Oliver, and Mark Ruffalo in Task Episode 1
Martha Plimpton in Task Episode 1
Tom Pelphrey and Raul Castillo in Task Episode 1
Emilia Jones in Task
Fabien Frankel and Alison Oliver in Task Episode 1
The next morning, Tom's phone is buzzing with a text from his boss, Kathleen McGinty (Martha Plimpton), an FBI bureau chief who bears shades of Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) in telling it straight. She breaks the bad news to Tom first: come September, she's being "forcibly retired" in favor of fresh blood, but that's not the reason she's summoned him. Tom's needed back in the field, despite his protests — and our knowledge of the fact that there's definitely a lot going on at home.
The FBI is on to Robbie's crew, as well as the fact that they've been hitting up drug houses, many of which are linked to members of a motorcycle gang called the Dark Hearts. Tom already recognizes the name from his time in the Violent Crimes unit, and they have a reputation for escalation. In the wake of nine total robberies, a task force has already been assembled for Tom to lead over the next four weeks. Pennsylvania State Trooper Elizabeth Stover (Alison Oliver), Chester Sergeant Detective Aleah Clinton (Thuso Mbedu), and Delco County Detective Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel) have all been tapped as part of the team, but Tom's not thrilled by the lack of experience in their files. Their official headquarters are a "lovely little stash house" confiscated by the Vice squad out in Kennett Square, which Tom spends most of his time attempting to spruce up before the rest of the task force rolls up. Meanwhile, while swimming in the quarry with Cliff and Peaches, Robbie gets a text from someone named "MZ" about a new house to hit up.
Later that night, Maeve brings a date home, only for their hookup to be thoroughly ruined by Robbie jumping out of her closet. Uncle and niece finally have it out about a lot of things — the fact that Maeve allowed Robbie and his kids to move in with her after his wife left him, and that she feels she's not even allowed to be an independent adult because she's been saddled with babysitting duty while he and Cliff are doing whatever they're doing in the dead of night. The lies are racking up, just like they did with Billy, Maeve's father and Robbie's brother, before his death. The next morning, Tom assembles the members of his new task force; Lizzie is, to put it mildly, a hot mess, and spends most of the meeting arguing with her ex-husband on the phone about how to divide their possessions, while Aleah and Anthony are a little more organized in terms of being up to speed on the case. That's not to say Tom is an improvement over the younger investigators, since he drinks enough later on to end the night needing to be carried to bed by Emily and Daniel (Isaach De Bankolé), his old friend from the priesthood.
Robbie's crew descends on their latest target, but things don't go according to plan from minute one. Peaches loses his gun in the struggle to tie up the house's occupants, Deric (Dominic Colón), a part of the Dark Hearts, and his wife, the former recognizing Robbie's voice even if he can't immediately place it to a name. There's also no money to speak of, no matter how desperately they ransack the house, and when Eagle, a fellow Dark Hearts member, shows up, all hell breaks loose. When the smoke clears, multiple people lie dead‚ including Peaches, Deric and his wife, and the Dark Hearts club member, but Robbie and Cliff can't stick around, swiping a heavy duffel bag and turning to run — until a small voice behind them stops them in their tracks. "Did you hear fireworks?" a young boy (Ben Lewis Doherty), asks from the hallway, wrapped in his own comforter, and a stunned Robbie lies through his teeth. As Tom and the task force descend on the crime scene in the early hours of the morning, sifting through the carnage, they realize that someone is missing from the house — Sam, the boy whom Robbie seemingly had no choice but to bring home with him.
