Task: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Task: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 22, 2026

Does the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce know about Brad Ingelsby? In much the same way town promoters / boosters may not be exactly enthused about how their burgs are portrayed in shows like Shetland or The Wire (Baltimore), or any number of high profile television properties that emphasize crime in specific locales, Ingelsby seems to want to concentrate on people doing bad things in Pennsylvania, specifically Philadelphia and environs. HBO has already given viewers Ingelsby's Mare of Easttown, which dealt with certain hardcrabble types on the outskirts of "The City of Brotherly Love", an ironic sobriquet if ever there were one considering what happened in that miniseries, or indeed what happens in this HBO miniseries (recently renewed for a second season, unlike Mare of Easttown), which actually takes place largely within the city limits. Much as with Ingelsby's earlier HBO effort, though, a compelling procedural aspect may ultimately take back seat to some at times disturbing character development, and almost exactly as with Mare of Easttown, there's a large ensemble cast portraying a glut of characters, many of whom are going through some kind of transformation, sometimes for the better, at other times, decidedly for the worse.

Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) is a somewhat unkempt FBI agent who has experienced an initially undisclosed trauma, something that has perhaps contributed to his current state of emotional disarray and kind of disheveled appearance. Tom has actually been on leave due to this unexplained event, but he's summoned back to work by his boss Kathleen McGinty (Martha Plimpton), who also seems to be Tom's kinda sorta therapist, or at least someone with whom he can talk. In that regard, though, Tom does get regular counsel from a priest friend of his named Daniel Georges (Isaach De Bankolé). Tom is assigned to investigate a series of home invasion robberies, which is straightforward enough, though in this case the "homes" being invaded are drug centers run by a local biker gang known as the Dark Hearts. A task force is assembled which includes Delaware County cop Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel), Chester sergeant Aleah Clinton (Thuso Mbedo) and Lizzie Stover (Alison Oliver), a newbie Pennsylvania State Trooper. Suffice it to say that all of these central characters have backstories that are doled out throughout the seven episodes of this first season, and a lot of the show's emotional content is wrung from a number of revelations that ensue.

On the criminal side of things, the main culprit here is actually surprisingly sympathetic, all things considered. Robbie Pendergrast (Tom Pelphrey) is a sanitation worker who has had his own family tragedies, the death of a brother and the dissolution of a marriage, and in fact he's living in his deceased sibling's home with his two young kids and his brother's daughter Maeve (Emilia Jones). Maeve is the de facto mother to Robbie's kids, and the "family" dynamic is not exactly functional. Things spiral even further out of control when a Dark Hearts robbery goes spectacularly wrong, leaving several dead and, even more horrifyingly, introducing the young son of some of the victims, a little boy named Sam (Ben Doherty), whom Robbie more or less kidnaps after the mayhem, though for at least somewhat understandable reasons.

The child abduction suddenly thrusts Tom's investigation into a whole new echelon of urgency, but as compelling as that aspect to the show is, it's some of the supposed "sidebar" material that ends up having some of the greatest power. A major "reveal" about Tom and his family is offered in the second episode (interestingly the same episode where Maeve gets completely wise to Robbie's "shenanigans"). That completely unexpected denouement is shocking on its face, but the emotional ripples actually pervade the rest of the series, leading to an incredibly moving scene very late in the proceedings with Tom trying to come to terms with his failures as both a biological and adoptive father, but also offering what seems to be his inveterate ability to summon grace, arguably a vestige from another revelation about the character, namely that he was a former priest.

The final two episodes of this season in particular are propulsive, and often very violent, with a number of characters meeting their demises. Rather interestingly, the whole child abduction element is wrapped up considerably before the season's end, leaving quite a bit of time for various moments of "closure", notably for Tom and Maeve. The series is a real showcase for Ruffalo, whose rumpled persona gives a completely lived in feel to Tom, but the supporting cast (which, as mentioned above, is large) also have great moments to shine. Still, the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce is probably highly unlikely to put this series on any kind of recommended viewing list.

Task: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Task: The Complete First Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO and Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. Captured with the Arri Alexa Mini LF and finished at 4K (both data points courtesy of the IMDb), this is nicely detailed looking presentation that tends to emphasize the gritty life conditions of several characters. As can probably be gleaned by several of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, the grading choices are quite interesting for a procedural thriller like this, with an emphasis on what I'd almost term more neutral tones like beiges, ochres and light yellows. These choices can pervade both brightly lit outdoor and minimally lit indoor scenes. There are some evocative uses of much more vivid tones, as in some red lighting utilized in some club scenes or some of the frequent interstitial cutaways to birds, some of which are very brightly plumed. While there's occasional "shaky cam" to contend with in some of the more fraught action moments, more stationary framings reveal really precise fine detail levels on everything from facial features to textures of outfits.

Task: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Task: The Complete First Season features a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that understandably tends to kick into high gear in some of the chaotic action scenes, including some of the early documentations of the home invasion robberies, but even much later, especially in the last two episodes, where things get increasingly chaotic and violent. A number of outdoor scenes also offer clear engagement of the side and rear channels for ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Task: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: All three discs feature individual episode overviews called Task Unmasked which include behind the scenes footage and some good interviews.

Disc One

• Task Unmasked Episode 1 (HD; 6:12)


• Task Unmasked Episode 2 (HD; 7:02)


• Task Unmasked Episode 3 (HD; 7:49)

Disc Two

• Task Unmasked Episode 4 (HD; 6:36)


• Task Unmasked Episode 5 (HD; 6:37)

Disc Three

• Task Unmasked Episode 6 (HD; 6:56)


• Task Unmasked Episode 7 (HD; 5:59)


• Philly Slang (HD; 2:21) is a fun "quiz" where cast members have to guess what regional slang words mean. New Jersey's Tom Pelphrey is the clear winner, hilariously.

Packaging features a slipcover.

Task: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Of the two Pennsylvania set offerings from Inglesby, I'd personally rate this one as more consistently involving than Mare of Easttown, though it probably suffers from some of the same issues I mentioned in my Mare of Easttown Blu-ray review, notably a veritable glut of characters, seemingly all of whom have some big secret to reveal (that's an exaggeration, but maybe not much of one). That said, the procedural element here is heightened by the abduction of little Sam, and a number of those aforementioned secrets have considerable emotional power. Ruffalo is a standout here, but the entire supporting cast is great. Technical merits are solid, and even without a ton of supplements, Task: The Complete First Season comes Recommended.