It has been five years since Lori Ross sat across from Mare Sheehan in that final, gutting scene — and HBO is not done with her yet. Julianne Nicholson is returning to the role that earned her an Emmy, this time stepping into the world of the network's crime drama Task for its upcoming second season, Variety reported in June 2026.
The move is being described as a genuine crossover rather than a cameo or a wink at the audience. Nicholson's Lori Ross — the Easttown mother whose loyalty and grief defined much of Mare of Easttown's emotional weight — will carry across into Task's storyline in a role substantial enough to warrant the announcement treatment.
For viewers who binged Mare of Easttown in the spring of 2021 and immediately wanted more of that specific Pennsylvania-grey atmosphere, this lands as something close to event television. The original limited series, built around Kate Winslet's detective Mare Sheehan, became one of HBO's most-watched limited series of that decade, and Nicholson's supporting turn was widely credited as its emotional center. Her Emmy win followed in September of that year.
Task, which launched its first season on HBO, operates in the same prestige-crime register — procedural texture, regional specificity, character work that outlasts the plot. Bringing Lori Ross into that world suggests the producers are leaning into the overlap rather than papering over it.
A premiere date for Task Season 2 has not been confirmed. Casting and production details beyond Nicholson's involvement remain under wraps.