Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for Task Episode 5.
Every successful television show has some element of realism that viewers can connect to. Even if you’ve never been in a specific type of world, you need to be able to understand a character’s motivations. It doesn’t matter if a show isn’t technically based on a true story; this type of authenticity can truly draw a viewer into the narrative. HBO’s new hit series, Task, has managed to take us into the lives of both an FBI agent and the criminal he’s pursuing, in a way that is simultaneously gripping and adrenaline-inducing. But there’s one element of the drama that is even more captivating than these two protagonists: the Dark Hearts motorcycle gang that has become the big villain of the series. What’s even more intriguing is that the biker gang was inspired by real people.
What Is ‘Task’ About?
Task follows Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), who is assigned to head up an FBI task force in Delaware County, outside Philadelphia. Along with his three new team members, Tom must catch a crew of thieves who are robbing local drug houses. We also meet Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey), a single father and the thief that the task force is trying to catch. Both of these men have good hearts, but they’re also carrying a ton of emotional baggage. The two men’s fates cross when Robbie and his friends end up killing three members of the Dark Hearts biker gang during a robbery gone wrong. In the aftermath, Robbie kidnaps a young boy named Sam (Ben Doherty) from the house because he just can’t stomach killing a child — even if he is a witness to the shooting. Tom makes it his mission to find the missing boy, but the case plunges him even further into the dangerous world of the Dark Hearts.
‘Task’s Dark Hearts Are Partly Based on a Real Motorcycle Gang
One of the most terrifying parts of Task is the Dark Hearts biker gang, with the inciting incident of the series being Jayson Wilkes’ (Sam Keeley) murder of Robbie’s brother, Billy (Jack Kesy), who was a member of the Dark Hearts himself. They’ve built a drug empire, and they don’t want anyone messing with it, which makes them even more dangerous. Although Billy’s death initially sparks Robbie’s quest for revenge, the Dark Hearts have only increased the series’ body count in recent weeks. Episode 4 ends with Jayson murdering Robbie’s friend and accomplice, Cliff Broward (Raúl Castillo), while Episode 5 sees local chapter president of the Dark Hearts, Perry Dorazo (Jamie McShane), drowning Eryn (Margarita Levieva), Jayson’s wife, when he discovers she’s been secretly working with Robbie. At this point in the series, it seems there are really zero lines this gang won’t cross.
Task creator Brad Ingelsbywanted to use a biker gang as the ultimate villain, akin to Sons of Anarchy, per an interview with Indiewire. When he was first creating the show, he thought back to his days growing up in Chester County, which is about 30 minutes away from where Task is set. When he was a kid, there was an infamous motorcycle gang called the Warlocks, which served as a jumping-off point for the creation of the Dark Hearts. But Ingelsby found that it was difficult to write three-dimensional characters that really spoke to the type of bad guy that he was trying to bring to life. Ingelsby said he “didn’t want to lean into that stereotypical [gang] ” that’s been depicted so often in movies and television — but then a surprising connection helped flesh out the Dark Hearts and its members.
‘Task’s Authenticity Stems From a Secret Consultant on the HBO Drama
Executive producer and director Jeremiah Zagar was involved with developing Task, alongside Ingelsby, who noted to Indiewire that what was missing from early drafts of the series was “the realism of that biker gang, and what they did, the specificity of how they did it, and the specificity of culture.” In a moment of serendipity, Zagar ended up reconnecting with a friend of his who he had known from his days growing up in South Philly. Although they hadn’t spoken in two decades, the friend revealed that he had actually been in a biker gang for many years. Zagar invited him to be a consultant on the show, and this is what led to the realistic thread running through Task.
Initially, his friend did not want to even reveal his identity, since some of his legal issues relating to the gang were still pending, and he was trying to keep a low profile. But by the time Task‘s first episode was released in September, the credits listed Carim Mow as the invaluable consultant who had cracked the code of how to write Task‘s biker gang. Zagar explained that Mow was able to express “a love for this culture in this community, a sense of brotherhood and purpose that we didn’t get from the cops because he was inside that gang, and those were his family.” Zagar felt like Mow was the perfect resource to lean on to make sure the writing felt true to life, and said Mow often visited the set to help inform the actors about “the guns that they use or the drugs that they sold, or the way they sold those drugs… with such specificity and knowledge and intimacy.” Each of these details, no matter how minor, helped to transform the Dark Hearts from a group of actors into a terrifyingly believable gang.
Mow was able to ensure that Task captures the community and family-like bonds that are often found in these types of groups. It’s easy to see that there’s a shadowy connection between them that’s illustrated whenever the Dark Hearts are on the screen. Sure, they’re incredibly violent and definitely straight-up criminals, but the code they use to protect each other is a fascinating one. Ingelsby and Zagar, with Mow’s help, were able to depict this group as a tight-knit family instead of stereotypical, one-note villains. There are only two episodes left in the season, but Task has already proven that by using real-life inspiration for their storytelling, Ingelsby, Zagar, Mow, and the rest of the creative team have created something incredibly powerful.
New episodes of Task air on Sunday nights on HBO and are available to stream on HBO Max in the U.S.
- Release Date
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2025 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Jeremiah Zagar
