HBO's Task: FBI agent and thief in a family-focused crime drama

HBO’s new seven-episode limited series Task, created by Mare of Easttown writer Brad Ingelsby, premieres Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, on HBO and the streaming service HBO Max, with new episodes airing weekly at 9 p.m. Eastern through Oct. 19. The crime drama, set in the suburbs of Philadelphia, pairs an FBI agent and a seemingly ordinary family man in a cat-and-mouse pursuit that quickly becomes a family story as much as a procedural.

Mark Ruffalo stars as Tom Brandis, a former Catholic priest turned FBI agent who is called out of a quieter role to lead a low-profile task force investigating a string of violent robberies. Tom Pelphrey plays Robbie Prendergrast, a Delaware County trash collector who, along with coworkers, has been targeting drug stash houses and stealing from a motorcycle gang known as the Dark Hearts. As the thefts escalate and a job goes wrong, what began as small-time robberies threatens to trigger gang violence and upend both men’s families.

The series foregrounds family dynamics and grief alongside the investigation. Ruffalo’s Brandis is marked by a personal tragedy that has strained his relationships, including with his adopted daughter, while Pelphrey’s Robbie...