Task
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a river
Season 1
Episode 6
Editor’s Rating
The FBI, the Dark Hearts, and Robbie finally collide, and Tom deals with the fallout from the showdown.
Photo: Peter Kramer/HBO
Too many modern shows think they are worthy of a coda. Such prestige-aspirational TV thinks it has established a universe we are invested in enough to warrant an epilogue episode. The rising action and climax have occurred. Now for the fallout. This show once again delivers a bizarrely paced episode, but this time it’s top-heavy. The first half follows a shoot-out in the woods between the FBI, the Dark Hearts, and Robbie. The thriller finally delivers on its dangerous premise, but we’ve just been bracing for impact far too long for it to deliver the full effect. The losses are felt, yes, but they’re not as shocking or painful as Mare of Easttown. Perhaps the show needed a different marketing tactic. It’s just impossible not to compare the two shows, even though I admire the fact that Task is trying to do something different. This new show has just given us far too many mixed signals to remain hopeful.
We pick up right where we left off, with Robbie surrounded and Tom shouting for him to surrender. Jayson starts the shoot-out, only for a massive, beautifully shot battle in the woods to wind its way through ravines, rivers, and fallen gnarly tree roots. Robbie kills a Dark Heart, Kathleen (Tom’s boss) gets shot, and Aleah delivers on her nickname as Bullseyee. Robbie and Jayson eventually have a face-off. In the fray, Robbie throws the bag of dope into the river. It’s cathartic to watch Robbie scream “Fuck you,” his eyes bulging like a lunatic as he strangles Jayson, nearly killing him until he realizes his foe has stabbed him. Tom scares him off, though, and tries to get Robbie to a hospital in time, only for him to slowly die halfway through the episode. It’s a moving death underscored by a great performance by Tom Pelphrey, but it’s odd they decide to nix one of their best actors before the show’s denouement in an attempt at shifting the show’s cat and mouse dynamics.
Meanwhile, Grasso tries to use his informant status to get Lizzie out of harm’s way. The problem is that it backfires after he shoots a bullet near her ear, and she loses her hearing. She shoots one of Grasso’s allies, whom she thinks is a threat, and then runs to the bridge to call for backup. Grasso runs behind her, trying to maintain his status as both pro-FBI and pro–Dark Hearts. But as the gang is making their escape to evade capture by the task force, they run Lizzie over, and she dies in her new beau’s arms. A brutal death for our wily, inept, and mousy detective. Alison Oliver harbored the best comedic instincts in the show. The title gently fades onto the screen as ambient music plays and police lights flash.
For better or worse, the rest of the episode struggles to maintain coherent momentum. Scattered men lick their wounds and try to make sense of what happened. The narrative engine of the show feels off. Even when they land scenes, a quintessential spark feels missing. Two deaths should feel shocking. Kathleen makes it out of surgery after being shot in the arm and ends up telling Tom she suspected Grasso was the mole but never told him. Emily and Sara continue to bond at home, supporting each other when Tom decides to take the now-orphaned Sam in after seeing the squalor he lives in under state custody. Grasso feels guilty over Lizzie’s death. And Maeve is just trying to take care of Robbie’s kids. In true fashion, Tom makes good on his promise to Robbie and makes sure Maeve is released. During the raw interrogation, he even starts to put together the pieces of how the task force got sold out to the Dark Hearts. He goes and confronts Grasso and the two have another talk about God. “You ever done something you sure you can’t be forgiven for?” the rat tells the priest. He doesn’t deny his involvement with the gang, nor does he confess. “There’s a difference between believing something and proving it,” he says instead. We’ll see how long he keeps up the façade. There’s some crackling chemistry here, but Fabien Frankel’s Grasso is hardly the fully-realized character that Robbie was. Aleah is finally getting some much-needed screen time, and she seems poised to team up with Tom to crack the case and find the missing Dark Hearts members who remain at large.
But wait, there’s more! Jayson and Perry try to retrieve the fentanyl, only to discover dozens of magazines about Canada. Maeve hears a knock at the door, only for Shelley (Mickey Sumner), Ray’s wife, to come to the door and give Maeve a bag that she promised Robbie she’d deliver. Presumably, it’s the missing dope. Now that’s a cliffhanger.
• The many swimming shots of Robbie across the season come to roost at the end of this episode in another flashback. It’s sweet. His one happy place is in the clear blue water.
• I wish we’d gotten more of Emily (Silvia Dionicio) and Sara (Phoebe Fox); their bond here is beautiful, the way they trade places, and Emily forgives Sara and vice versa. Even the scene of Emily being asked out by her co-worker felt lived-in. These messy family dynamics are where this show really shines. I wish they spent more time building that.
• Line Reading: Sara: “I’m gonna need a cigarette before I get into that.” Tom: “When did she start smoking again?” Emily: “She relapsed when you got kidnapped.”
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