The creator of 'Mare of Easttown' returns with a cat-and-rat game between tortured parents.

BarcelonaTwo fathers, both with obvious problems, on opposite sides of the law. This is, in essence, the scheme of Task, the new series from the creator of Madre of Easttown (2021), Brad Ingelsby, who hopes to repeat the success of that miniseries with another story about characters with a very heavy burden. This isn't the only element shared by both productions. Task, which arrives this Monday on HBO, is also set in suburban Pennsylvania, specifically the city of Philadelphia.

Mark Ruffalo, who previously starred in HBO's The undeniable truth (2020), plays the role of Tom Brandis, an FBI agent and former chaplain, who must return to the front lines when he is assigned to lead a team that must stop a series of violent robberies taking place in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Brandis is not going through his best moment and this is reflected in his physical appearance, rather neglected, and in the relationship with his daughter, quite tense, due to a traumatic experience: the death of his mother and the imprisonment of his son. The man Brandis must hunt, Robbie Prendergast (Tom Pelphrey), is also in the doldrums: his wife has left him, and he must raise his two children, although most of the work is done by a niece, Maeve (Emilia Jones), who feels overwhelmed by a responsibility that does not correspond to her. In this scenario, Robbie, who during the day works as a street sweeper, sets up a small gang that is dedicated to attacking the houses of a group of bikers who traffic drugs.

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Let the state of Pennsylvania be the backdrop for the story, as it was in Madre of Easttown, it's no coincidence. Ingelsby grew up and both series are connected to a world that the creator knows firsthand. In the case of Task, the screenwriter also drew inspiration from close stories, such as that of his uncle, who was a priest, like the character of Tom. "My uncle was a priest, and he ended up leaving the priesthood. I was very interested in the idea of faith and its relationship with faith, the idea of having it and losing it. All of this builds the character of Mark [Ruffalo] and what his idea of faith is in the midst of a tragedy," Ingelsby explained to the digital CosellerAlthough the screenwriter claims he never writes characters with an actor in mind, he admits that Ruffalo was soon at the top of the list of dream actors to play the role.

As for Tom's nemesis, it was more difficult to cast the right actor, as someone was needed who fit the role of the thief, but also believable as a loving father. The man chosen was Tom Pelphrey, a face not well known to the general public, although he was recently nominated for an Emmy for best guest actor for OzarkDuring the presentation of the series, Pelphrey explained that the main reason he became interested in the project was his wife, actress Kaley Cuoco, very popular thanks to her role as Penny in The Big Bang theory. "He wanted something to read and I said, 'I have this script [Task]”. It was read to him and he said, ‘This is one of the best television scripts I’ve ever read,’” he recalls.

Finding the right two actors for both roles was essential for a show that relies heavily on audiences connecting with two men who barely share the screen. “The tension of the story is this: On the one hand, you want Robbie to get away, and on the other, you want Tom to win. But you also know that both can’t happen,” Ingelsby explains.