Task Season 2: Will It Get the Green Light or Face the Axe?

HBO's 'Task' wrapped its first run with a tidy seven episodes and a finale that actually felt like a finale. Naturally, everyone wants to know: is HBO bringing it back or calling it a day?

Where things stand

Short answer: nothing official. HBO has not renewed or canceled a second season. Even though 'Task' was marketed as a limited series, the guy steering the ship sounds very open to more.

"I'd love to have a chance to do another season of Task."

That comes from creator and showrunner Brad Ingelsby in an Esquire interview. He also made a pretty candid case for why TV suits him: he sees himself more as a character writer than a plot guy, and TV lets him live with a big ensemble in a way a movie usually can't. He specifically called out wanting to keep digging into characters like the Grassos, the Lizzies, and the Aleahs — the kind of breadth you only get on television unless you are Robert Altman.

What the show is

'Task' is a gritty procedural about FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) and his team going after a slick crew robbing outlaw motorcycle gangs. Then a job goes sideways, members of a gang called the Dark Hearts end up dead, and that gang — sitting on its own secrets — starts hunting the thieves to get back what was taken. Things escalate fast.

Cast and pedigree

The series is created by Brad Ingelsby, best known for the HBO hit 'Mare of Easttown' with Kate Winslet. Beyond Ruffalo, the show also stars:

• Tom Pelphrey
• Emilia Jones
• Fabien Frankel
• Thuso Mbedu
• Alison Oliver
• Jamie McShane
• Sam Keeley

The finale and where to watch

Season 1 runs seven episodes and ends with the episode titled "A Still Small Voice." All seven are streaming now on HBO Max.

Bottom line: no green light yet, no ax either. Ingelsby wants back in, and if HBO bites, there are plenty of characters (and messes) left to explore.