Incredible surprise crossover between Mare of Easttown and Task

Creator Brad Ingelsby brings together his two HBO crime series, paving the way for an astonishing shared universe in Pennsylvania.

We didn’t see it coming!

Julianne Nicholson, freshly nominated for an Emmy Award for Paradise, will join season 2 of Task… by reprising her role as Lori Ross, Mare’s best friend (whose son was involved in a murder case), a character that won her an Emmy, in Mare of Easttown in 2021.

Until now, there was no indication that the two series officially shared the same universe. Certainly, they are both created by the same screenwriter, Brad Ingelsby, and take place in the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia. But this arrival of Lori in the Task landscape confirms for the first time a real crossover between the two HBO crime dramas.

Plot details remain under wraps and it’s unclear why Lori will be there. But its presence is obviously not insignificant. It opens the door to a meeting between FBI agent Tom Brandis played by Mark Ruffalo (in Task) and Easttown police detective Mare Sheehan, played by Kate Winslet.

Moreover, for several months, Winslet and Ingelsby have regularly discussed the possibility of a season 2 of Mare of Easttown, although it was originally conceived as a mini-series. The actress recently confided that she thought this return would take place, with filming which could begin as early as 2027.

We do not yet know if this season 2 of Task, officially announced by HBO, is supposed to serve as a framework for a season 2 of Mare of Easttown at the same time.

The synopsis of this second season simply indicates that Tom Brandis will take the lead of a new investigation unit, whose mission becomes more and more complex as the lines between the criminals and their pursuers blur. The whole question will now be whether Mare Sheehan will be involved in the investigation in one way or another…

For now, the rest of the cast brings together Mahershala Ali, Harry Melling, Adam Nagaitis, Aminah Nieves and Edgar Ramirez.

No date yet.