HBO is doubling down on one of its biggest recent hits, and the creative team behind the cameras for Season 2 of Task is making a statement all its own.
The network has set an all-women directing lineup for the second season of its critically acclaimed crime drama, with returning director and executive producer Salli Richardson-Whitfield joined by Georgie Banks-Davies, Clare Kilner and Kitty Green to helm the show. The series is currently in pre-production.
Richardson-Whitfield is no stranger to breaking barriers behind the lens. She made Emmy history as the first Black woman nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series, recognized for her work on HBO and Adam McKay’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. Now, under a multi-year deal with HBO that has been in place since 2020, she brings that same energy back to Task while also continuing her run as executive producer and director on The Gilded Age.
On screen, Season 2 brings a stacked new ensemble alongside returning star Mark Ruffalo. Ruffalo reprises his role as FBI agent Tom Brandis, now heading up a new task force. The deeper the operation runs, the harder it becomes to tell who is really the target. Mahershala Ali joins as Eddie Barnes, a seasoned DEA agent whose unit puts him on a collision course with Brandis. Edgar Ramirez plays Miguel Contreras, a devoted family man and DEA second-in-command, while Harry Melling, Adam Nagaitis and Aminah Nieves round out the new additions as DEA and FBI agents with distinct personalities and loyalties.
The first season of “Task” holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it “unrelentingly bleak but equally riveting.” It ranks among HBO’s top three fastest-growing debut seasons, which makes the Season 2 creative choices feel less like a risk and more like a flex.
Brad Ingelsby returns as creator, writer, showrunner and executive producer. Paul Lee, Mark Roybal, Jeremiah Zagar, Ruffalo and Ron Schmidt also executive produce, with Nicole Jordan-Webber and Karen Wacker serving as co-executive producers.