With The 1-2 Punch of "The Pitt" And "Task" This Year, HBO Reminded Everyone That It's Still King Shit Of TV Land
The seventh and final episode of "Task", a limited series about a FBI task force investigating a slew of biker stash house robberies starring Mark Ruffalo and written by "Mare of Easttown" creator Brad Ingelsby, aired last night and the show immediately became one of the best miniseries that HBO has produced this century. Buoyed by stellar writing, sublime acting from an international cast, and terrific direction, the nail-biter delivered on its early promise and stuck the landing in a highly-emotional and stunning finale. In nine months, "Task" is a slam-dunk to land several Emmy nominations for acting as well as nods for writing and directing thanks to the incredible work by the creative team.
Ruffalo plays the depressed and heavy-drinking priest-turned-FBI agent Tom Brandis. He's dealing with the fallout of a brutal family tragedy and working the job fair circuit when he's summoned to head up the four-person task force by his gruff superior Kath McGinty (Martha Plimpton, turning in some of the best work of her 44-year career). The other three LEOs are total strangers to him and each other--jittery state trooper Lizzie Stover (Irish actress Alison Oliver), tightly-wound city detective sergeant Aleah Clinton (South African actress Thuso Mbedu), and on-the-ball county detective Anthony Grasso (English actor Fabien Frankel).
The crew is trying to figure out who keeps ripping off drug houses belonging to the menacing Dark Hearts motorcycle gang and its psychopathic hierarchy. Viewers learn very early on that garbageman Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey, in a star-making turn) and two of his cronies (Raúl Castillo and Owen Teague) are responsible for the rip-and-runs and what exactly Robbie's non-financial motive is. But one stick-up job goes sideways, resulting in multiple dead bodies and Robbie taking impromptu custody of a newly-orphaned, towheaded young boy named Sam that causes major friction with his niece Maeve that he lives with (Sam is played by Massachusetts native and my friend's son Ben Doherty, who goes toe-to-toe with co-stars who have been acting for decades; English actress Emilia Jones is nails as the mullet-coifed Maeve).
The butchered score kicks off a chain of events that leads to a slow-boil involving lunatic bikers, duplicitous associates, a satchel of fentanyl, and a possible badge-wearing mole. Each episode brilliantly ups the tension and keeps you guessing about who is playing who, with Brandis casting a wary eye in several directions. The melancholy fed is also dealing with major family issues under his own roof, adding to his stress level and booze intake.
The cast is peppered with a motley crew of incredible character actors that make up the scary and dangerous Dark Hearts. Jamie McShane is dynamite at playing shady scumbags and his performance as Perry Dorazo is top-notch. Irish actor Sam Keeley expertly conveys danger as the increasingly paranoid Jayson Wilkes. And Southie mug Brian Goodman is also scary as biker gang leader Vincent Hawkes.
"Task" weaves in Catholic themes of redemption, forgiveness, and guilt but without ever getting religious or preachy. The cast also deserves major props for nailing the DelCo accent. Like the Boston accent, it's one of the toughest for actors to pull off. The payoff viewers get from the finale is well-earned and powerful. This limited series is one of the best HBO has ever made and gets my highest recommendation.
I've never really been one for medical shows despite seeing every episode of "M*A*S*H" about eight times because adults used to run the show. No disrespect but I never watched "E.R." or "Chicago Hope" or "Scrubs". I watched the first few eps of "The Knick" after its original airing and it was pretty good but once it was canceled, I tapped out. And that was it for quite a while.
Until earlier this year, when I kept hearing good shit about about HBO's "The Pitt", a hyper-realistic, real-time hospital drama set in an underfunded Pittsburgh emergency room. All episodes had already dropped when I decided to give it a whirl, thinking I might get through one episode of a show about a place that nobody ever wants to find themselves in. Instead, I banged out all 15 episodes of Season One over the course of three late nights, my jaw agape at the amazing television I just witnessed. And I knew it was going to rake in some awards.
Hospital show vet Noah Wyle won an Emmy thanks to his outstanding performance as Dr. Michael "Robbie" Robinavitch, the quick-on-his-feet, ruggedly handsome, COVID-traumatized quarterback of the ER. Katherine LaNasa also won an Emmy for nailing her role as his health care consigliere and levity-providing head nurse Dana Evans. And the show deservedly won Best Drama as well.
"The Pitt" is no soap opera like "Grey's Anatomy" and the medical gore thankfully doesn't approach the levels that "The Knick" did. However, the show is an emotional roller coaster. I found myself cracking up at the witty workplace banter one minute but then crying my eyes out two minutes later when the show circles back to one of its patients (and I think most viewers will be emotionally moved by some of the plot lines and visuals that will remind them of situations from their own lives).
The sizable cast doesn't have a weak spot in the line-up and it was great to see Shawn Hatosy (Dunphy in OUTSIDE PROVIDENCE) win an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Two of the residents are portrayed by the daughters of incredible and accomplished actors and turn in fantastic work. Taylor Dearden plays fan favorite and on-the-spectrum Dr. Melissa King--her father is Walter White himself, Bryan Cranston. Fiona Dourif portrays Dr. Cassie McKay and is the offspring of legendary character actor Brad Dourif (Billy Bibbit, Doc Cochran, voice of Chucky).
If you're looking for a new show to watch, you can't do any better than "The Pitt". Fortunately, we won't need to wait long for the highly-anticipated Season 2, which drops in January.