Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey) has had a troubled past. His wife took off about a year ago, leaving him to raise their two young children (Kennedy Moyer, Oliver Eisenson) on his own. They live with his 21-year-old niece Maeve (Emilia Jones), who’s often saddled with watching the kids, though she’s still trying to figure her own life out ever since her father, Robbie’s older brother, was murdered almost a decade earlier.
Robbie and his friends Cliff (Raúl Castillo) and Kenny aka “Peaches” (Owen Teague) work as garbage collectors in Philadelphia, but this has been more of a cover, so that they could stake out and rob trap houses, just as they are flush with cash from large drug deals. So far, they have hit nine of these drug houses, seven of which have belonged to motorcycle gang Dark Hearts. However during their latest home robbery, things go horribly wrong. Instead of an empty house, they find several armed gang members, and are forced to kill their way out. They also discover a 6-year-old boy named Sam (Ben Lewis Doherty), who has now seen their faces, and must be dealt with in some way. To make matters worse, the bag of cash they thought they stole, was actually filled with millions of dollars worth of uncut fentanyl, and now they need to find a way to quickly dispose of that as well.
Meanwhile, FBI field agent and former Catholic priest Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) had been taking some time off ever since his wife was murdered. He lives with adopted daughter Emily (Silvia Dionicio), and has a bit of an estranged relationship with his older biological daughter Sara (Phoebe Fox) due to the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death. Tom is having a crisis of faith and reevaluating his life when he’s called back into work by boss Kathleen McGinty (Martha Plimpton). He is assigned to lead a new task force to look into the home invasions, starting with finding the missing boy. His new team includes rookie State Trooper Lizzie Stover (Alison Oliver), no-nonsense Chester city Sergeant Detective Aleah Clinton (Thuso Mbedu), and experienced Delaware County Chief Detective Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel). As they begin their investigation, Dark Hearts leader Perry Dorazo (Jamie McShane) and protégé Jayson (Sam Keeley) also start hunting for whomever has been robbing their trap houses, and they suspect there is a mole inside their gang who has been leaking information about their operation.
The first season of Task starts out strong, jumping right in with these characters as Robbie and his crew plot out this latest heist. Despite his actions, Robbie is a devout family man who cares about his children, and we learn more about his motivations as the season progresses. We are also introduced to Tom, and can immediately see that something is weighing on him. He, too, is a family man, but he has gone through a major hardship, and now has a decision to make regarding the person who murdered his wife. For both of these men, the viewer is not initially given a lot of details about their backstory, and instead this is slowly revealed over the course of the season, sometimes through the use of flashbacks.
The series has this backdrop of a crime detective thriller, with several twists and turns. Both the motorcycle gang and the task force may have moles within their organizations, leaking things to the other side, so there is this constant mystery of who can be trusted. There are several tense moments throughout the season as characters come face to face, unaware that they are in contact with the enemy. The characters are connected in various ways that is slowly revealed.
However, at its core, the first season of Task is much more of a character-driven drama, exploring the lives and hardships of these characters, especially Robbie and Tom, as they deal with themes of loyalty, family, loss, justice, vengeance, and redemption. Their paths will ultimately cross as the case plays out. And we see that the lines between bad and good often fall more into a grey area. While Robbie and Tom are the main focus, the series also explores the dynamics of the lives of those in the motorcycle gang, as well as the relationships that start to form between the members of the task force, which brings some humor at times.
I binged my way through all seven episodes of the first season via this DVD release, and overall I enjoyed it. I found the series to have some interesting and complex characters, and solid acting. At times it felt like things may have been stretched out a bit longer than they needed to, but I was happy that the season felt like it told a complete story, and didn’t end on some big cliffhanger. That said, I was surprised to discover that the show had already been picked up for a second season. I’m not sure if this is going to be more of an anthology in the vein of True Detective, with a different case, detective and task force each season. It really felt like there wasn’t anywhere else to go with these characters, as they completed their redemption arcs.
Warner Bros. has released this first season of Task on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital. We were sent the DVD release for review. The DVD picture quality is generally clean and solid. While I got used to it quickly, it definitely lacks that extra level of clarity and detail that you got with the original presentation on HBO/HBO Max. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and utilizes the surround channel to provide an immersive experience, especially in some of the outdoor scenes in the woods.
The first season’s 7 episodes are split across 3 discs, which reside on a swinging tray inside a standard-sized DVD case. Our review copy did include a slipcover. The bonus material consists of a 6-8 minute behind-the-scenes discussion for each episode as well as a fun Philly Slang game with the cast.
What’s Included:
- Episodes: (7:07:38)
- All 7 episodes of the first season:
Disc 1 (3:06:44): “Crossings”, “Family Statements”, “Nobody’s Stronger Than Forgiveness”
Disc 2 (2:03:01): “All Roads”, “Vagrants”
Disc 3 (1:57:53): “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a river.”, “A Still Small Voice” - 480i / Anamorphic Widescreen 2.00:1
- Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Task Unmasked (47:27)
The cast and crew delve into the characters, themes and storylines of each episode. They also discuss the casting, costumes, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with creator/writer/ executive producer Brad Ingelsby, executive producer Mark Roybal, executive producer/director of episodes 1, 2, 5 & 7 Jeremiah Zagar, costume designer Meghan Kasperlik, executive producer/director of episodes 3, 4 & 6 Salli Richardson Whitfield, and stars Mark Ruffalo (“Tom Brandis”/executive producer), Alison Oliver (“Lizzie Stover”), Thuso Mbedu (“Aleah Clinton”), Fabien Frankel (“Anthony Grasso”), Tom Pelphrey (“Robbie Prendergrast”), Emilia Jones (“Maeve Prendergrast”), Raúl Castillo (“Cliff Broward”), Silvia Dionicio (“Emily Brandis”), Sam Keeley (“Jayson”) & Jamie McShane (“Perry”). These can be found on the discs with their related episodes. Play All on each disc, or select from: - Episode 1 (6:14)
- Episode 2 (7:05)
- Episode 3 (7:52)
- Episode 4 (6:38)
- Episode 5 (6:39)
- Episode 6 (6:58)
- Episode 7 (6:01)
- Philly Slang (2:24)
Writer/creator Brad Ingelsby and stars Mark Ruffalo, Thuso Mbedu & Tom Pelphrey have fun quizzing one another to see who can identify the most Philly slang terms.
Extras:
Final Thoughts:
Overall, the first season of Task does a nice job of telling a complete story over the course of the season, and taking the various characters each on their own arc. It features a strong cast and is interesting both visually and story-wise. My only complaint was that it probably could have been a bit shorter and tightened up. I’m not sure where this series goes for its second season, but you don’t have to worry about being left hanging. Warner Bros’ DVD release looks decent for a DVD, and sounds decent, but I’d recommend opting for Blu-ray release if possible for the added clarity. The discs also contain some solid bonus featurettes. The release is worth a look for fans of the genre/cast.
Task: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray]
(as of June 1, 2026 21:17 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Task: The Complete First Season
(as of June 1, 2026 21:17 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
