HBO’s Task is one of those shows that vanishes from memory the moment one stops streaming it. Even the name is forgettable, as I found to my dismay when trying to discuss it with friends. Tarp? Trap? Take? Oh, why bother? It’s the one with the guy from Zodiac and the Avengers films. Max something. Don’t even pretend like you don’t know who I mean.

Mark Ruffalo (yes, him!) plays Tom Brandis, an FBI agent on desk duty after a family tragedy. A sad sack and an alcoholic, Tom is television’s latest illustration of the theory that the police are no better than the criminals they chase. Observe as the poor fellow mans a career fair table in an early scene. So mired in diffidence is our hero that he can barely pretend to sell the bureau to a potential applicant who wanders by.