Task Episode 1 recap: A robbery gone wrong and a moral dilemma

HBO's Task aired its first episode on Sunday, September 7, 2025. It was a largely uneventful episode, as it slowly set the ball rolling for the entire series. The crime drama miniseries follows a task force trying to track a pair of thieves who target drug houses for cash. The last act of the episode shows us the triggering incident of the entire series, where the group's robbery goes wrong.

As mentioned earlier, the first episode, titled "Crossings," shows the central antagonist and protagonist's daily lives, as well as the antagonist’s methods and family life, which provides insight into his actions in the closing minutes of the episode. The synopsis for Task Episode 1 reads:

"Forced back into the field after a family tragedy, Special Agent Tom Brandis leads a new Task Force investigating a string of robberies."

Task Episode 1 recap:

Here are some of the things that happen in HBO's Task Episode 1:

• Meet Robbie Prendergast

The opening minutes of the first episode are a montage of how FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) and garbage truck driver Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) perform their daily chores. We learn that he is a single father, whose wife has left him, and is currently living with his children in his deceased brother Billy's house. There, Billy's daughter Maeve is taking care of them.

While Robbie is a loving family man, he has a different side. He is the leader of the robbers who target drug houses. He has two accomplices, fellow garbage truck driver Cliff Broward and Peaches. Robbie and Cliff survey these drug houses under the cover of their profession by going through the garbage, and then rob them some days later. They successfully pull off a robbery in the first act.

• Meet Tom Brandis

Mark Ruffalo's Tom Brandis is an FBI agent who is avoiding field duty for a mysterious reason at the beginning of the episode. We also learn that he used to be a priest who gave up his position to become an FBI agent. Then, there is also the issue with his son, Ethan. We learn that Ethan is in prison for a crime he committed within the family. The show hasn't answered what crime Ethan committed, though.

Ethan's actions have also apparently strained the relationship between him and his daughter Emily. These actions have also driven Tom towards alcohol, and it is in such a tough spot that his boss, Kathleen McGinty, appoints him as the head of the task force to arrest their three-man robbery crew.

• The Robbery goes south

The last act of the episode focuses completely on Robbie and his crew's robbery of another drug house. But this time, the occupants fight back. There is a man and a woman in the house, and they are held hostage. There is another man who enters the home, who shoots Peaches fatally. But Robbie and Cliff manage to shoot the man, and they shoot the occupants as well to save themselves.

But before Robbie shot the male occupant, the latter revealed that he had heard the former's voice before. The episode doesn't answer the reason why the man had come across Robbie's voice before; the remaining six episodes will probably answer this mystery. But the most shocking thing occurs as Robbie and Cliff take off their masks and ready themselves to leave the drug house.

They encounter the son of the male occupant, Robbie murdered. Since the kid has already seen their faces, the viewers initially believe that Robbie and Cliff covered their tracks. But after a scene of the task force investigating a crime scene, we see Robbie and Cliff taking the child off to the former's house. As that happens, the episode cuts to black and the credits start rolling.

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What did you think of the premiere episode of the HBO miniseries? If you haven't seen it yet, catch the first episode of Task on HBO Max.

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