(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
Nothing good can come from venturing into woods with zero cell service.
It might be beneficial to put down our devices, but when cops and crooks converge at the same isolated location in the penultimate episode of Task, being able to call for backup and medical assistance is a must.
If only Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) had stayed by the lake. That is what the on-the-run Robbie Prendergast (Tom Pelphrey) laments when he sees the man who is “f—ing everything up.” Tom is trying to help, but he doesn’t account for the guns-blazing motorcycle gang who are lingering in the picturesque Poconos spot. Or that one of his team is feeding information to the Dark Hearts bikers.
It doesn’t take long before everything goes to hell in Brad Inglesby’s spiritual successor to Mare of Easttown. What follows is one of the best (and most stressful) 20 minutes you will see on TV this year.
Both sides of the law want to find Robbie. I don’t think anyone expects him to come out of this situation either alive or as a free man. Even Robbie predicted last week that he wouldn’t find his way home, and he was right.
Circumstances are stacked against Robbie because task force member Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel) is giving the Dark Hearts the upper hand. Instead of making Grasso the most powerful person in the woods, he flails between maintaining his cover and protecting his co-worker. By the end of the episode, he has failed at both. Between this and playing ultimate prick Ser Criston on House of the Dragon, it will take a lot for me to trust a character played by Frankel again.
An already precarious situation quickly reaches a boiling point when resident hothead and liability Jayson (Sam Keeley) prioritizes revenge and greed over playing it safe. Quick cutting between a barrage of bullets and fist fights emphasizes that anyone unlucky enough to be in this vicinity might lose their life, no matter their badge. When Jayson and Robbie come face-to-face, it could go either way. However, Jayson’s small knife gives him the edge in this battle to the death.
But it is Grasso’s rat status that ramps up the tension, leading to the shocking death of colleague—and love interest—Lizzie (Alison Oliver). The runaway horse-and-carriage in The Gilded Age now has competition as the most gasp-worthy hit-and-run of 2025.
When I watched the Task premiere, I turned to my husband and said that one of the team was going to die. No, I don’t think I have a psychic gift. Instead, the odds are slim that everyone on Tom’s task force will make it to the end. It’s just that kind of story. Plus, Inglesby has done it before. It has been four years, and I am still not over Detective Colin Zabel’s (Evan Peters) murder in Mare of Easttown.
A few red herrings, like FBI Bureau Chief Kathleen McGinty (Martha Plimpton) being the Dark Hearts’ inside man, diverted some attention. However, Grasso being the source of these leaks put crosshairs on Lizzie thanks to their romantic connection.
I hate being right.
Nothing quite reaches the deeply unpleasant heights of Cliff’s (Raúl Castillo) Saran Wrap-aided asphyxiation from a few episodes ago. Still, the unfolding violence amid the lush green backdrop takes the slow burn of the HBO thriller to new, propulsive heights. If you are unsure that you remembered to breathe during this showdown that ends with Lizzie, Robbie, and multiple unnamed Dark Hearts dead, then you are not alone.
Even the most sedate moment is transfixing: Robbie lies dying in Tom’s arms in the back of a squad car, giving space for Tom to slip back into his priestly role. Robbie doesn’t believe in heaven, hell, or God, making it inappropriate for Tom to deliver last rites. What this final act of intimacy and respect does is give Ruffalo and Pelphrey one final dynamite two-hander for their Emmy reel.
Having this intense sequence at the start of the episode, rather than at the climax, adds to the destabilizing mood. By the time the Task logo appears, nearly at the 20-minute mark, I am as blindsided as the rest of the team. Yes, even Grasso.
Given how shaken Grasso is later on, it is clear he is no criminal mastermind. I am not letting him off the hook either, but he is not to blame for the lack of cell service. Before heading into the wilderness at the end of the last episode, Kathleen emphasizes that they are essentially on their own: the lack of reception and “talk-around” radios means they can only communicate with each other. If they need to contact dispatch, the car parked on the bridge is their only option. Details like this always come back into play, and boy, do they.
In the woods, Grasso quickly learns that aiding the Dark Hearts is tricky with Lizzie by his side. At one point, Grasso shoots his gun so close to Lizzie’s head that it ruptures her eardrum (the blood seeping out and tinnitus sound effect are the clues). The sound design, coupled with Oliver’s performance, conveys the severity of this injury and that she can’t just shake it off.
At first, I thought he purposely did this to disorient her as an act of self-preservation. Watching it back, it doesn’t read as intentional. What it does is give Grasso time to talk to several Dark Hearts goons, making it clear that Lizzie is not to be harmed. Considering her current physical state, it is too late for that. Not to mention what happens next.
Whereas Thea (Thuso Mbedu) is a sharpshooter, Lizzie’s skill set is less defined. Despite her injury, Lizzie leaps into action when another officer is down, running at full pelt to call for an ambulance from the truck on the bridge. She can’t hear the response from dispatch, Grasso calling her name, or the speeding truck with Jayson at the wheel coming her way. Even I was screaming at Lizzie to move. The image of the contents of the first aid kit flying into the air as Lizzie gets knocked off her feet is going to linger long in my memory.
“It’s not your fault,” Tom tells Grasso after Lizzie’s death. Later, Tom finds out that it actually is.
One game of cat and mouse is over now that Robbie is dead; another has begun. It’s going to take much more than confessing his sins for Grasso to find any forgiveness.
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