In an unexpected turn of events, HBO's second-highest-rated series of 2025 has been granted a Season 2 renewal. For several weeks this fall, audiences were engrossed by a new crime thriller, Taskm, from the creator of Mare of Easttown, Brad Ingelsby. Set against the backdrop of rural Pennsylvania, this seven-episode mini-series (or at least assumed to be a mini-series) focused on a cat-and-mouse game between a criminal trying to make a better life for his family (Tom Pelphrey) and a self-destructive FBI agent (Mark Ruffalo).
Leading into the series, many had assumed that Task, like Ingelsby's other HBO work, would be a single-season affair. In fact, the show's story teased as such, with the central FBI task force coming together, working on an investigation, and then promptly disbanding all within the show's seven-episode run. That does not look to be the case, though, as the hit crime drama has been given the go-ahead on a Season 2.
During a wave of renewals at HBO, it was revealed that Task was among several other big-name series from the premium cable network to get rubber-stamped for a Season 2 (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Since its release, Task has become one of the best-reviewed shows of the year, ranking as HBO's highest-rated series of 2025 on Rotten Tomatoes. At a glowing 96% on the platform (a mark it shares with fellow HBO show The Rehearsal), it stands behind only Tim Robinson's The Chair Company, which sits at 100% midway through its first season run.
The renewal comes after weeks of speculation over whether the Mark Ruffalo-led drama had a future at the network, with Ingelsby known for not necessarily revisiting his stories once they have completed their first run of episodes.
The Mare of Easttown showrunner has been chattier than usual about the idea of a Task Season 2 since Season 1 wrapped up, though. In an interview with The New York Times, Ingelsby posited that, "If viewers have an appetite for more Task, I would absolutely come back," something he had not necessarily expressed with some of his other shows:
"If viewers have an appetite for more 'Task,' I would absolutely come back. I want to do it as a love letter to the [Delaware County] area, not exploiting it in any way… I want to be able to walk around and not have people throw stuff at me or say, ‘You really did us dirty.'"
He has even discussed a potential Mare of Easttown crossover, joking that he would love to see the Task characters cross paths with those from Mare in a Pennsylvania staple, such as a Wawa convenience store.
Task Season 1 is now streaming on HBO Max. The new series from Brad Ingelsby follows an FBI agent, Tom Brandis, as he is put in charge of a task force looking into a string of home invasions connected to the local drug trade. The series stars MCU actor Mark Ruffalo and Ozark breakout Tom Pelphrey as its two leads, with names like Emilia Jones, Fabien Frankel, and Thuso Mbedu rounding out its star-studded cast.
Task Season 2 Has A Massive Problem To Figure Out
While it is exciting to see a show as acclaimed as Task get the green light for a second season, it comes with a massive hurdle that it will need to get over.
Yes, Mark Ruffalo's Tom Brandis got top billing on the show's first season, but it was Tom Pelphrey's Robbie Prendergrast and his extended family, which included Emilia Jones' Maeve, that stole the show for many people. It was the dynamic between Pelphrey's 'doing for my family' criminal, Ruffalo's grizzled FBI agent, and the rest of the show's central task force that elevated Task from being just another prestige crime thriller.
Sadly, though, Pelphrey's delco-tinged Robin Hood-esque hero died in Task's penultimate episode, leaving a massive hole for the show to fill if it were to get picked up for a second batch of episodes. If the series wants to succeed going forward, it will have to fill Pelphrey's shoes somehow by either introducing new characters or further elevating some of those that were already there.
One way creator Brad Ingelsby could achieve this is through whomever he decides to include on the show's next task force operation, led by Ruffalo's Tom character.
In an October interview with The Ringer, Ingelsby said that if the show were to get a second go-round, he was most excited to "create another set of characters and put them on a task force, and explore their dynamic over the course of a case."
Ingelsby has proven he knows how to introduce a set of characters and get audiences to immediately buy into them, their personal struggles, and how they play into the greater narrative.
So, as the series moves on from characters like Pelphery's Robbie, Fabien Frankel Grasso, and Alison Oliver's Lizzie, Ingelsby will have to bring forth another set of interesting and engaging personalities for fans to latch onto.
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