Minor glitches for the end of episode one.
After receiving lots of praise and lots of goodwill at HBO Mare of Easttown, Brad Inglesby returned with WorkA new crime miniseries for the network starring Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey about a group of thieves and the task force that hunts them down.
Work is about an FBI task force assigned to investigate robberies taking place in rural Pennsylvania. The task force is led by Ruffalo’s Tom Brandis, an alcoholic and former priest turned FBI field agent who, trust me, doesn’t have the time or patience to be on the task force right now due to his adopted son’s impending sentencing for the murder of his wife. this is the top I am trying Being there for his other adopted daughter and his biological daughter, but largely failing in this endeavor as well. The task force is designed as a distraction for Tom, an easy case of home invasion robberies to get him back on track after working as an FBI job fair recruiter after the murders. Of course, nothing can be that simple, and the investigation proves to be more complex than initially reported.
what makes Work The work is so good that it gives equal screen time to Robbie Prendergrast, mastermind of thieves by night and ragpicker by day. Despite the criminality of his plan, the writing allows the audience to become quite sympathetic to his plight. When one of his robberies goes horribly wrong, resulting in four people being killed, a child is kidnapped after seeing their faces, And With bags of fentanyl stolen instead of cash, Robbie finds himself struggling to stay above water. This is on top of a local motorcycle gang searching for a missing child and their missing product.
Seven episodes long, Work This is a miniseries that knows exactly where its end game is and doesn’t waste a minute in filler or meandering. Everything in the show is in service of the characters, and as the walls close in around Robbie and his family, whether it’s from the Task Force or the Dark Hearts MC, the stakes always seem to get higher in every episode. Each episode is at least partially written by Brad Inglesby, and he somehow manages to balance the serious and lost personas with an optimistic and humane tone. We understand everyone’s motivations and worldview, even if we don’t agree or sympathize with those characters.
To tell such a focused story, you have to not only understand the characters, but also support them despite their situation and/or decision. In this case, the show is surprisingly elevated by a stellar cast doing A+ work. But a special shout out to Pelfrey as Robbie. Despite being the morally ambiguous and criminally inclined half of the two leads, there is a warmth and presence about her that makes us understand her motivations. He’s a family man who has been dealt a lot of bad hands in life and may not be able to fully justify his actions, but enough that we understand why he’s doing what he’s doing (keeping it vague, but it’s more complicated than I’m making it out to be here). Many of the scenes involving Robbie are spectacular and full of nature and love, and there is ultimately a warmth that surrounds his character. He is not a wicked or bad man; In fact, he is quite caring, but he has found himself in an incredibly bad situation.
The show also reminds us that Mark Ruffalo is a talented actor. After playing the Hulk for over a decade and giving, shall we say, mixed performances mickey 17 Earlier this year, you might have forgotten that Ruffalo is a talented actor and this show allows him to expose a side of him that we haven’t seen in years, I would say now. The supporting cast also does great work, whether it’s Emilia Jones as Maeve Prendergrast, Robbie’s niece, Jamie McShane as Perry Dorazo and Sam Keely as Jason Wilkes, a high-ranking member of the Dark Hearts MC, Thuso Mbedu as Aleh Clinton, Alison Oliver as Lizzie Stover and dragon house Fabian Frankel as Anthony Grasso as members of the task force.
When it comes to next year’s awards season, expect Inglesby, Pelphrey, Ruffalo, and Jones to be recognized for best writing and acting, respectively. Work is a sharp, well-written, engaging crime thriller that balances consistently high-level tension with individual character moments that feel earned and genuine. This is a strong recommendation from me and one of the best shows of the year. Despite being an entertaining crime thriller, this is a show that is ultimately about family, the baggage that comes with it, and the lengths one will go to for one’s family.
