‘Mare of Easttown’ and ‘Task’ Are Officially Colliding in HBO’s Biggest Crime Drama Crossover Yet
Fans of HBO’s prestige crime dramas have spent years wondering if the network’s gritty, working class corners of Pennsylvania might someday overlap. Both ‘Mare of Easttown’ and ‘Task’ were created by Brad Ingelsby and are set in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, which only fueled that speculation among devoted viewers.
The similarities between the two shows go beyond just their setting. ‘Mare of Easttown’ premiered on HBO in 2021 and starred Kate Winslet as police detective Marianne Sheehan investigating the murder of a teenage mother, while ‘Task’ became one of last year’s biggest hits for the network. Until recently, though, nothing officially tied the two together.
That changed on July 9, when HBO confirmed that Julianne Nicholson will reprise her Emmy winning ‘Mare of Easttown’ role of Lori Ross for season two of ‘Task,’ officially connecting the two dramas. Nicholson played Lori, Mare’s best friend, whose son becomes entangled in the original series’ murder investigation, and her return marks the first direct link between Ingelsby’s two Delco set worlds.
HBO broke the news with a July 9 Instagram post captioned “Plot twist. Julianne Nicholson joins #Task Season 2,” pairing a photo of Nicholson with a split screen image of Mark Ruffalo’s Tom Brandis alongside a still of her as Lori. The post also included a clip of Lori’s introduction from a small town basketball game in the original series, tying the two shows together visually as well as narratively.
Details on how exactly Lori crosses into ‘Task’ remain under wraps, but Ingelsby has been dreaming about this moment for a while. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter before ‘Task’ premiered in September 2025, the showrunner explained that the two shows exist in the same world, so it wouldn’t surprise him one bit if Mare walked into a Wawa that Tom was in, adding that he loved the idea of their worlds intersecting even without a specific crossover story in mind.
Season two of ‘Task’ will center on Tom Brandis taking the helm of a new task force, with the operation growing harder to read the deeper it runs. Nicholson joins previously announced newcomers Mahershala Ali, Harry Melling, Adam Nagaitis, Aminah Nieves and Edgar Ramirez, with Ali playing DEA agent Eddie Barnes and Ramirez playing DEA second in command Miguel Contreras. The first season of ‘Task’ debuted last September with seven episodes and earned a season two renewal in November, with Ruffalo and Ingelsby both returning.
Unsurprisingly, fans have flooded HBO’s announcement with excitement over the shared universe angle. One commenter called it “the PCU, Philly Cinematic Universe, coming to fruition,” while another dubbed it the “Delco Expanded Universe,” and a third praised Nicholson as a “phenomenal acting talent” and “hugely underrated performer”.
It remains unclear whether Winslet herself might eventually cross over as well, especially with talk of a potential ‘Mare of Easttown’ second season still floating around. For now, though, Ingelsby’s Delco universe just got a lot bigger, and Lori Ross is walking straight into the middle of it. Do you think Mare Sheehan should be next in line to step into Tom Brandis’ world?
