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DEBORAH PRUMEssays, Stories, Thoughts on Writing, Book and Movie Reviews Author: DEBORAH PRUM
Welcome to First Kiss and Other Cautionary Tales, a podcast where you can listen to observations on the quirkiness of life, hear short fiction read by a short person, and listen to book and movie reviews. Language: en-us Genres: Comedy Fiction, Fiction, TV & Film, TV Reviews Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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PODCAST-TASK-TV SERIES
Friday, 24 October, 2025
PODCAST-TASK-TV SERIES If you’ve read very many of my movie reviews, you’ll know that I love dark movies with redemptive underpinnings. The seven-episode TV series, Task, fits the bill. This crime procedural was written by Brad Inglesby, who also penned Mare of Eastown. Both series do a brilliant job of capturing gritty blue-collar life. Mare of Eastown is a mystery that keeps viewers in suspense, eager to discover the big reveal at season’s finale. The plot of Task is character driven; there’s no mystery to be solved. Instead, Inglesby creates narrative tension by exploration of the inner workings of his characters via back story and dialogue. For me, this worked. By episode one, I felt great empathy for several individuals and cared about what happened to them. The plot: unknown men commit a string of violent robberies that target drug houses of a fierce and powerful gang. As the violence escalates, police and FBI officials worry that an all-out gang war will ensue, endangering the public. The FBI chief, played by Martha Plimpton, insists that Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) head up a task force comprised of three newbies to find the perps. In the middle of trying to deal with his own unspeakable tragedy, Tom begs the chief to find someone else. He’d rather be spending his time day drinking and bird watching, his current methods of coping. But the chief prevails. Tom is stuck with organizing a ragtag team of newbies: Grasso (Fabien Frankel), is a brash guy with mobster vibes, not anybody I’d let babysit my goldfish. Alison Oliver plays Stover, a young state trooper who hasn’t gotten over the trauma of a past incident. Her own colleagues ridicule her on a regular basis. The third is Aleah Clinton, played by Thuso Mbedu. This investigator knows what she is doing and is good at it, but is underestimated and unappreciated by just about everyone, including her law enforcement associates and the criminals. Tom Pelphrey, delivers a powerful performance as Robbie, a man with a good heart who can’t help himself from making awful, terrible, forehead-slappingly bad choices. I found myself yelling, “DON’T DO THAT!” at the screen quite a few times. I am a fan of Mark Ruffalo and have watched most of his movies. His nuanced and multi-faceted rendering of Tom Brandis is his best performance to date. Brandis is an ex-priest who went into law enforcement. In addition to fighting his own demons, he’s walked alongside his parishioners and members of the community as they struggle with grief and loss. Brandis is a wounded healer who approaches the world with enormous compassion. The chemistry among the actors in this ensemble cast is among the best I’ve seen. They portray both intense love and soul-scorching hatred in an understated way. No overacting was allowed on this set. Despite being nuanced, some scenes just plain sizzle. I wish the movie had spent more time unpacking the character of Maeve (played by Emilia Jones). She is Robbie's niece, a twenty-something woman who is saddled with the care of Robbie’s small children. All she ever wants to do is live a quiet life. But Robbie’s erratic behavior de-stabilizes and endangers her every day. Albeit damaged, Maeve is the moral compass of the story. She resists Robbie’s pressure to engage in criminal activities, faces down the bad guys who are after Robbie, and puts herself at great risk while trying to protect Robbie’s kids. Her uncle’s chaos lands Maeve in the crosshairs of the FBI investigators, who don’t offer her support or protection, but instead threaten to put her behind bars. Just a warning, there’s lots of violence in this film. I walked out of the room on several scenes. And, as you might expect, there’s enough profanity to set your hair on fire. Even though I have difficulty engaging with slower paced movies, one situation captured my heart so completely that I...
