Mare of Eastown, which starred Kate Winsletwas as a small-town Pennsylvania police detective, a terrific crime drama. A detective story, made the most of both its characters and its locations.
Writer-creator Brad Ingelsby leaned into the miniseries, or limited series. And was a one-time story, even the most central characters might die at any point, raising the tension considerably. With its settings, its accents, and its deeply drawn, deeply flawed people, Mare of Easttown was a very memorable HBO drama. But now Ingelsby is back with The Task, a new drama set in Pennsylvania. Once again, we get references to Wawa and Scrapple, visits to Rita’s Water Ice, and lots of Delaware County — or “Delco” — back roads and thick accents. It’s a seven-part drama starring Mark Ruffalo.
Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), a former priest turned FBI agent turns out, is a lot more complicated than it seems. Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey), a thief turned garbage collector, come from two different worlds but face similar internal struggles. As the case unfolds, a clash is inevitable.
Task has a lot of tension, and action, and conflict … but it also has a lot of heart, and deeper meaning. The drama headlines faith and death, love and duty, family and responsibility, and deeper meaning, outweighing the mystery and its actions.
Worthwhile to watch the entire seven-part drama, get into the ideas and the emotions in Task end up outweighing the mystery and the action, and they linger.
The series arrives every Monday with a new episode on HBO Max and HBO, in the original language with Hungarian subtitles and dubbing.
Recommender: Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 