Mini-series - 7 episodes
Watch the trailer
Created by: Brad Ingelsby
Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Thuso Mbedu, Raúl Castillo, Jamie McShane, Silvia Dionicio, Owen Teague
Rated: TV-MA
Plot
In the working class suburbs of Philadelphia, an FBI agent heads a task force to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspecting family man.
Verdict
This is such a great show, and every performance is impressive. I had concerns after the first episode, but each episode gets better. While it starts with a group of thieves and a task force chasing them, this explores relationships, taking time to build these characters. That's what gives their plights resonance. Nearly everyone is in a tough place, dealing with loss and regret; just trying to survive and make things right. What's right depends on your perspective, and it's never an easy path.
Watch It.
Review
Ingelsby also created Mare of Easttown (2021).
The first episode starts out slowly, but it's laying the groundwork for the series and introducing the characters. It's intentionally confusing, providing pieces of character information with no context. FBI field agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) has a messy home life with a son in prison. He was on desk duty, but he gets an assignment tracking a group robbing stash houses. That group is led by Robbie (Tom Pelphrey). I have to guess the two will cross paths eventually this season.
I wondered why Brandis is cleaning up this condemned house. It's going to be the base of operations for this task force. I guess they're using it due to the location.
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| Mark Ruffalo plays Tom Brandis |
The first episode is muddled and unclear. I assume the intent is to provide fragments that will be explained later. HBO typically releases a mini-series every year. That's included Mare of Easttown, Watchmen, and Chernobyl.
The final sequence of the first episode is better, setting up the plot of the season. Robbie and two accomplices try to knock off another drug house and it gets complicated. Of course there's a kid, that's nearly a trope. I was concerned with the first episode, wondering if the season would get better. It definitely does.
Robbie takes the kid. We know why, but what's going to happen? There's no way that goes well. Someone is going to come looking for the kid. Tom and his task force as well as the Dark Hearts motorcycle gang knows there is a leak as Robbie is singling out the gang's stash houses. Who would leak that information knowing the repercussions? Robbie's niece Maeve (Emilia Jones) realizes Robbie is into something with this kid, Sam, he drops off. Tom's family situation also comes into focus. The first episode generated a lot of questions, using lots of misdirection. The second episode finds a footing. The story pieces come together, and the tension really starts to drive. Robbie's brother Billy was a Dark Heart, and he was killed by the gang.
The task force initially suspects a rival gang, but Robbie did this for revenge. They get a lead on Robbie's group because one of them was running his mouth about money. Maeve is taking care of Sam, and through that we glimpse her childhood with how she takes care of Sam, providing him with support she didn't have. It's easy to guess Meave had it tough growing up. She came out a better person than she should be.
Robbie realizes the club and task force are after him. He plans to flee but getting the funds together proves to be an issue. The local Dark Hearts club is also facing leadership issues with the parent club not happy about the string of robberies. Tom begins to doubt everyone on the team, suspecting one of them is the leak.
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| Tom Pelphrey plays Robbie Prendergrast |
Episode five provides information on the leaks, both the task force and in the Dark Hearts club. This episode ends on a cliffhanger with Robbie, the task force, and the Dark Hearts converging at one spot. Pelphrey's performance this season is worth watching by itself, but the show does a great job of developing all the characters just enough to distinguish them.
Episode six feels like a finale with a shootout in the woods. It's intense with so many people splitting up and creating various fights and shootouts. There are casualties on all sides. Robbie stated he had a plan, but this episode makes us wonder how that's working. Tom thinks he knows the leak.
The unresolved issue from the previous episode is the money. The task force and Dark Hearts are both trying to track it down which connects directly with people leaking information, but this episode really is about the characters. This show at its core is about people dealing with pain and regret. Many of these characters are driven by trying to reconcile and address that, making things right.
My hopes were tempered by a muddled first episode, but the very next episode is really good and the show only gets better. While the finale for most shows is the shootout, with this show it's a precursor. The finale is personal issue resolving and characters finding direction. With how intense this show can be, the final episode provides great closure.
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