HBO Max's 'Task' Thrives on Emotional Conflicts of Interest

HBO Max's 'Task' Thrives on Emotional Conflicts of Interest

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We’re three episodes into HBO’s Brad Ingelsby’s ( Mare of Easttown ) series Task , and what I love about it — besides Tom Pelphrey’s kind eyes and soft beard (it just looks soft, OK?) — is how deeply it pulls at us emotionally. It’s not just about moral gray areas. Task often asks us to root for characters who make bad decisions for good reasons, pulling both them, and us, into impossible binds.

Take Tom Pelphrey’s character, Robbie Prendergrast. He’s introduced as part of a three-man crew robbing stash houses. Robbery isn’t great, sure, but he’s targeting drug dealers. He’s also a trash collector who’s clearly been screwed by the system. His wife left him, his brother was murdered, and he’