Task Introduces Mare-Style Mystery With Informant Reveal

WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Task episode 3!HBO’s hit new crime thriller series Task serves as an unofficial follow-up to Mare of Easttown, which has led to some varying response to the two shows’ different styles and formulas. Both Task and Mare of Easttown are HBO crime dramas created by Brad Ingelsby, with settings in the outskirts of Philadelphia, intense familial drama, and dark, complex tragedies at their center.

However, while Mare of Easttown was a tense murder mystery at its core, Task departs by following a cat-and-mouse formula. Rather than the suspense around discovering who the killer is and why they did it, the 2025 series’ suspense is built around wondering how Tom will catch Robbie and what those consequences will yield for Task’s main characters.

Both Mare of Easttown and Task are critically acclaimed series, holding an impressive 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, though Task has struggled a bit more with audiences’ response. While Mare has a 94% score from audiences, Task currently has a 61% rating, reflecting some wider complaints about the follow-up. One common complaint has involved departing from Mare’s murder mystery formula. However, Task episode 3 now helps ease those criticisms.

The Mystery Of Task’s Inside Informant Gives It A Mare-Style Mystery

The end of Task episode 3 finally raises a compelling mystery for the hit HBO series: who is the informant in Tom’s task force? It’s revealed that one of Tom’s own team members has been feeding information about the “Halloween crew” robberies directly to their rival Dark Hearts gang, which puts their investigation and efficiency in capturing the criminals first in jeopardy.

In Task episode 4 and beyond, Tom not only has to contend with the fact that he didn’t realize he had a mole on his own team, but has to figure out who it is. We know it isn’t Mark Ruffalo’s Task character who is informing, which leaves only three possible suspects: Delaware County’s Detective Anthony Grasso, Chester’s Detective Sergeant Aleah Clinton, and Pennsylvania State Trooper Lizzie Stover.

With the unidentified informant, Task finally has a new mystery for audiences to theorize about while adding another anxiety-inducing layer to its story. Before episode 3, a common complaint about Task was that it lacked the engaging, masterful, twist-filled story that was derived from Mare of Easttown being a “whodunit” mystery.

While Task isn’t a “whodunit” mystery at its core, the series now introduces that element to its wider “howcatchem” plot. With only four episodes left of Task’s seven-episode miniseries, however, it likely won’t be a mystery that drags out as long as it took for Mare of Easttown’s ending to reveal the killer.

That said, while the inside informant’s identity is now Task’s biggest unsolved mystery, it isn’t the only significant question we still need answers to. Task has still yet to explain what happened to Robbie’s wife and why she left their family, and there’s little known about what happened to Maeve’s mother. However, these mysteries aren’t what make Task such a compelling series.

Task’s Cat & Mouse Format Is Better Than Another Whodunit Murder Mystery

Had Task been another murder mystery in the same vein as Mare of Easttown, it’s hard to believe it would have been as effective. The HBO thriller series would inevitably be at a disadvantage with its mystery, detectives, and familial drama being so much more closely compared to those of Mare of Easttown.

By following a cat and mouse format, Task distinguishes itself from Mare of Easttown while still maintaining the fundamental aspects of its success: a strong idea, masterful storytelling, a Philadelphia-area small town setting, compelling characters, and a suspense-filled crime plot. By avoiding the murder mystery route and only following Tom and the task force’s perspectives, Task provides a more refreshing and novel follow-up to Mare.

Mare of Easttown was a lightning in a bottle series, which is a big reason why it’s such a relief that HBO has yet to go down the road of making Mare of Easttown season 2. Task is a better alternative, as it contains so many of the elements that made Mare a success, yet doesn’t try to copy or completely emulate the 2021 Emmy-winning series.

Task is something new and different, which is exactly what the TV slate needs. We don’t need a slightly different take on Mare of Easttown’s murder mystery again. What we need is something like Task inverting that formula and tackling a cat and mouse story à la Heat, No Country for Old Men, and Columbo.

Task teases us with dark mysteries, such as the informant, but overall remains true to the inverted detective story approach. In some ways, using this formula for Ingelsby’s Mare of Easttown follow-up is a bigger risk than telling another murder mystery, and that gamble is paying off with the 2025 HBO miniseries‘ slow-burn plot.

Who Is Most Likely The Informant On Tom’s Task Team

The three suspects for the informant on Tom’s team are Lizzie, Aleah, and Grasso, with each potentially having reasons to tell the Dark Hearts inside intelligence. Lizzie is going through a breakup with a man named Eddie, who could potentially be related to the Dark Hearts. We also know she “froze” and struggled with her state patrol team, which could have inspired a connection to the gang.

Task episode 3 reveals Aleah was in an abusive relationship prior to the series’ start, and there’s always the possibility her ex has a connection to the Dark Hearts. However, Aleah seems like the least likely suspect, which, ironically, puts even more suspicion against her.

The most likely suspect based on what the HBO series has revealed so far is Fabien Frankel’s Anthony Grasso. He comes off as an extremely likable character, which seems like a way to disarm audiences and make everyone trust him before pulling away the sheets and revealing him as the traitor.

Additionally, before Grasso left Lizzie at the bar in Task episode 3, he made a speech about how she makes him believe there are still a few honorable cops left. That comment seemed to have a personal origin, so he may have secretly been referring to himself as a “dirty” cop for working with the Dark Hearts.