Yesterday, speaking to a theater of assembled Los Angeles-based media, Casey Bloys, the CEO of HBO and Max content, revealed a big presentation that included updates on” “Euphoria,” and upcoming seasons of “Big Little Lies,” “The White Lotus,” and “The Penguin.” Also joining Bloys at one point was writer/showrunner/producer Brad Inglesby, the creator of the Emmy-winning series “Mare Of Easttown” starring Kate Winslet.
Next up for Inglesby is “Task,” an HBO drama series set in the working-class suburbs outside of Philadelphia, “Task” which follows an FBI agent (Mark Ruffalo) leading a task force meant to tend to a string of drug-house robberies led by an unsuspecting family man (Tom Pelphrey). Emilia Jones, Alison Oliver, and Owen Teague also co-star
Inglesby wrote “Task” and executive produced alongside directors Jeremiah Zagar (“We The Animals”) and Salli Richardson-Whitfield (“Winning Time”). Yesterday, it was announced that Martha Plimpton and Mireille Enos (“World War Z”) have joined the cast.
While Inglesby didn’t address any details about its connection to “Mare of Easttown,” Mark Ruffalo already let the cat out of the bag earlier this year, revealing the show takes place in the same universe and same Philadelphia area with the possibility of a team-up coming sometime in the future. And he did slyly tease some connections.
“It was shot in Delaware County, Pennsylvania— the same place we shot ‘Mare Of Easttown,’” he said. “A few different areas, but generally the same spots.”
“Task” was inspired, in part, by some of the stories law enforcement officers told Ingelsby in the past and also by his personal life.
“[One] plot line was based on my uncle. He was a priest. He left the priesthood. And then we learned about chaplains who worked with the FBI, and they went to mass casualty events to console,” he explained. “And so we thought that was an interesting character to start with, a guy who lost his faith. What’s the journey to come back to it in some way? How or why? How do you make sense of suffering in the world? So that, to me, was a really compelling character that we hadn’t seen before. And how do you have a collision course between these two characters, the trash [drug delivery] guys, and then our FBI agent, played by Mark Ruffalo?”
Middle-class disenfranchisement and the working class fit into the milieu just like they did in “Mare Of Easttown.”
“Every time I try to get away from working-class stories, I seem just to get pulled back in,” he admitted. “And I think it’s because of how I was raised, the people I grew up with. And it’s interesting to see how the show will play now; I am interested in the aftermath of the election and the voting that happened, especially in my own state. Because I think many individuals are expecting a different path here, I’m wondering if they will be surprised by what happened to Trump in charge. And I think what always interests me about these stories is trying to portray them with a lot of empathy and humanity, to really get into the emotional ties of the working class people and to portray them with courage and honor.”
As for the eleven-million-dollar question about a second season of “Mare Of Easttown?” Inglesby said he hadn’t cracked a story and doesn’t know how to move forward.
“I don’t know,” he started. “Look, as I said, I think the key with ‘Mare Of Easttown’ is that the emotional story or the emotional journey Mare went on was so rich,h and like I think this show is so rich and the emotional journeys that we take these characters on. I think with Mare, you’d have to give her some space to build up another kind of emotional trauma or decision or something.”
“It would be hard to jump back in with Mare and compete with losing a son,” he said of the tragedy that marked the first season and that Winslet’s character eventually moved past. “And that was always a thing that I struggled with Mare; how do you compete with that? And so, if there’s a way to do that, if there’s a way to come back to Mare where she has something else to deal with that we feel is equally compelling emotionally and would be able to bring the viewer back in I’m always open to revisiting Mare.”
“I love that character. I love Julianne Nicholson’s character; I love Jean Smart’s character. So, I would welcome the chance if we could craft the story from it,” he added.
Inglesby said he still has “a couple of movies” that he’s working on but loves writing TV “because you get to spend time with characters, and I think that’s what I love to do most. And you get to explore the secondary characters in a way you don’t have time for in a movie.”
Maybe a second season of “Mare Of Easttown” becomes the mooted ‘Mare’ and “Task” crossover series? The road seems like it’s already being paved for it. And well, wee would be here for it. – Additional reporting by Gregory Ellwood.
