Task

If I was to describe this show to a complete stranger I think I’d say “masterful”. Historically I think this is what HBO does best, getting somebody like Inglesby who’s a working class bard( I also do see the connective tissue between this & mayor of eastown, very much about working class communities & people surviving in 2025 America) who cares about the small stuff so much that it makes the big stuff work as well that he gets to create & write a show like this, a elevated crime show that everyone involved just knew how to take pretty much a piece of pulp but put it on the top shelf as this is in every sense elite TV manufacturing, it just radiates prestige TV in every way to me! Pretty sure the comparison is “HEAT” not just in the crime sense but mainly the character study sense, funny enough both do present their two leads as these like outsiders that the only thing they connect with is the work but I’d say the main difference is Ruffalo’s & Pelphrey’s characters are just broken, they don’t wanna achieve professional perfection they just wanna heal personal wounds that could not be more well done if they tried. These types of stories work on TV cause of the richness & depth that everyone has to play with here. Across the board the performances are a stand out. Ruffalo just gives such a soulful performance, at first I was a bit sceptical as his character has gone through trauma but then you find out he’s been a priest for 8 years & that just freshens up that trope, it makes everything more intriguing with his character & like I said Ruffalo’s performance is pretty great and I’ve never quite seen him do a performance like this( if you have a look at his last couple roles as well he’s either playing dress up in the superhero stuff, playing trump very annoyingly or being this snivelling Buffon, this performance couldn’t be more different to any of those) but it’s Tom Pelphrey who steals it for me, he’s truly fantastic from start to finish & he has such Charisma that you NEED for a role like this. I loved him in Ozark but this performance takes the cake & then some, it’s one of those performance where I’m just like you’re possessed, like you’re wearing this characters skin, just unreal! It’s also such a beautiful portrayal of that macho man but he’s such an emotionally venerable person & then you are not prepared for Emilia Jones in this as well, she’s actually amazing & I just didn’t know this was a part of her game and she’s also got that I got old way to Quick Look in her eyes, her character is so fierce wrapped up with yearning & heart. Incredible really & that accent is on point! All the details feel so so specific that this place feels so lived in. It is so cliche but genuinely the Delco setting feels like another character.( eastown makes quick cameo too, nice little touch) The way it’s shot is kinda so specific, it’s so green & rustic but then also has this haunted vibe going for it, some of the POV shots are just fantastic. Has an incredible authentic vibe too it, just a great sense of depicting community & characters within it too. You got two incredible parallel narratives( two dads as well) that doesn’t necessarily have twists but more narrative developments that you just don’t see coming & the way that they play out is part clever but also the plot strands are so brilliantly sequenced together that you’re just constantly surprised. It’s fucking brilliant to watch! One of the best shows from last year! BRAVO