The original post: /r/television by /u/Shell_fly on 2025-10-14 21:15:21+00:00.
Task has been described by journalists as “relentlessly bleak,” and it has been so refreshing to watch a prestige drama that actually delivers on that promise of a hopeless, gritty atmosphere. The characters operate in a world irreversibly bogged down by poverty and crime, and as such behave appropriately for people living under those conditions. Anger, sorrow, regret, and revenge are the primary emotions on display throughout the show, with little room for hope and humor. When humor does come, it’s quick and fleeting in order to cope with hopelessness and depravity ever present.
Contrast this with The Last Of Us season 2, where we were given jarringly inconsistent tones and atmosphere in a world that should have been bleaker still. Out of place humor reminiscent of young adult television, lighthearted quips and reactions in the face of human baseness, unbelievable actions by characters living in a world where humans are tearing each other apart even in the face of an existential threat - so much of this stuff just felt at odds with the tone and feel of the world we were introduced to in season 1.
I wish Mazin had been more “relentlessly bleak” in season 2 instead of focusing so much on breaking somber moments with teen drama level humor and playfulness. The earth overrun by murderous factions and hivemind infected should NOT feel less hopeless and unforgiving than the Delaware County, Pennsylvania depicted in Task. Sadly, it does.