It takes barely a minute for bullets to start flying in Epsiode 6 of "Task," which picks up with the suspense of both the FBI and the Dark Hearts surrounding Delco drug thief Robbie Prendergrast in the Pocono woods far away from home.

Robbie (Tom Pelphrey) and FBI agent Tom (Mark Ruffalo) have guns drawn at each other as the rest of the task force arrives at the scene. The Dark Hearts, who came to meet with Robbie and get back their stolen fentanyl, showed up despite a warning from FBI mole Anthony Grasso that the feds were on their way.

• **THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS**
• If you have not watched the most recent episode of 'Task' yet, stop reading and come back after you have.
  

As Tom pleads with Robbie to surrender, Dark Hearts leader Jayson unleashes mayhem by opening fire. Everyone in the woods scrambles in a hail of bullets. Kathleen, Tom's boss at the FBI, takes a shot to the shoulder. Aleah, the sharpshooter on the task force, hits multiple gang members.

Robbie fires a shot that saves Tom's life, slaying a gang member who had Tom cornered, and then drags Tom into a nearby cabin. He's furious that Tom continued pursuing him after their encounter in Episode 5. Robbie leaves Tom in the cabin, assuring him that he has a plan, and takes off again with the drugs as Jayson and Perry creep up on the shed. 

Outside, Jayson pursues Robbie and they trade volleys of gunfire until Robbie reaches a bluff, where he throws the bag of drugs into the stream below. Tom fights off Perry in the cabin, temporarily knocking him unconscious.

Grasso, the mole in the task force, gets caught between his allegiances as the chaos unfolds. He shoots one Dark Heart to protect Lizzie, but fires his gun so close to her head that she's left with ringing in her ears.

Robbie and Jayson — both out of ammunition — wrestle one another in the woods. Robbie appears to have the upper hand in the struggle, nearly strangling Jayson, but his expression suddenly changes when Jayson stabs him with a hunting knife. Tom appears moments later, firing a shot that sends Jayson running, and helps Robbie limp out of the woods. They get into a local sheriff's car that's just arriving at the scene. Robbie is seriously wounded and the nearest hospital is 15 minutes away.

Peter Kramer/HBO

FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) is confronted with loss, betrayal and moral reckonings in Episode 6 of HBO's 'Task.'

Still in the woods, Lizzie fires a shot that kills one of the Dark Hearts. She then volunteers to run back to the FBI's car — parked on a nearby bridge — to call for backup to help with Kathleen's wound. Grasso tries to keep Lizzie by his side, but she doesn't listen. Grasso then signals to Jayson and Perry, who are hidden in the brush nearby, to flee the woods in their pickup truck.

Back on the narrow bridge, Lizzie contacts dispatchers and grabs a first aid kit from the trunk. Jayson and Perry's truck rounds a corner and barrels down the bridge to escape. Grasso sprints through the woods and shouts to get Lizzie's attention, but her ears are still ringing and she can't hear him. The speeding truck slams into Lizzie head-on, tossing her to the ground. Aleah, who had also run back to the bridge, narrowly jumps out of the way of the truck as Jayson and Perry escape. Grasso tries to get Lizzie to respond, but he's left crying on the bridge with her lifeless body in his arms. 

In the sheriff's car, Tom holds Robbie as his life slips away in a reverie of flashbacks. Tom can no longer find Robbie's pulse.

In the aftermath of the shootout, senior FBI officials tell Tom, Aleah and Grasso that the task force is being disbanded and they will each be interviewed as part of a standard investigation for officer-involved shootings. They're told to turn in their weapons, raising their suspicion that the FBI probe runs deeper.

Tom meets with Maeve, who confirms that Robbie and Cliff planned to go Wissahickon Park — not Baily Park — on the night of the failed FBI sting operation. It further proves that the FBI's plans were meddled from within. Maeve, tearful over Robbie's death, tells Tom she had called in the tip to turn 6-year-old Sam over to police but the plan went awry. She didn't follow through with it that night because she was afraid getting arrested would result in Robbie's two kids being taken away.

Outside the interview room, Tom advises a colleague not to press charges against Maeve.

Sam is taken into state custody and sent to stay at a dingy shelter that formerly was a juvenile detention center. Tom goes to visit the boy and impulsively decides to be his foster parent. He brings Sam home, stunning daughters Emily and Sara, and tells them it's what their mother would have done. Sam goes to sleep in Ethan's bedroom.

When Tom visits Kathleen at her house, she says her forced retirement has been pushed up and admits that the FBI's probe is about Grasso. Kathleen confirms that Grasso was investigated a few years earlier, while serving on another task force, for tipping off members of the Dark Hearts about search warrants at drug houses. She says Grasso's past was overlooked because no charges were ever filed.

Tom later goes to Grasso's house and the two discuss the meaning of giving confession. Grasso admits he was the mole who directed Robbie and Cliff to go to Wissahickon Park, but he dares Tom to prove it. Tom vows to come after Grasso and then meets up with Aleah to fill her in on what's happening.

Peter Kramer/HBO

FBI agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) meets with rogue task force member Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel) to confront him with evidence that shows Grasso has been feeding information to the Dark Hearts gang.

Jayson and Perry are hiding out together at a secluded home in the mountains. Jayson is becoming increasingly distressed about Eryn's disappearance. Perry, who drowned her for betraying the Dark Hearts, knows he's running out of time to keep her death a secret.

As the episode ends, Maeve gets a late knock on the door from Shelley, the partner of Robbie and Cliff's jailed drug connection Ray Lyman. Shelley, who had offered Robbie help selling the fentanyl, hands Maeve a bag filled with wads of cash. Back in the woods where the shootout took place, Jayson and Perry use flashlights to locate the duffel bag Robbie threw in the river during the shootout. Instead of finding fentanyl inside, they discover the bag is stuffed with old magazines and newspapers. 

Philly mentioned

When Tom visits Sam at the children's shelter, he's greeted by a staff member from the state's Division of Child & Youth Services. The staff member explains that Sam is only being kept at the former juvenile detention center because another shelter in the region was shut down after losing funding.

The actor who plays the staff member is Germantown native Brian Anthony Wilson, a legend in the city's theater scene who got his start at the Freedom Theatre on Broad Street. Wilson has appeared in numerous stage productions at Philadelphia theaters. He won a Barrymore Award, a prestigious honor in the region, for his role in the Arden Theatre's 2019 production of "Gem of the Ocean."

Wilson is best-known on the screen for his roles on "Law & Order: SVU" and in HBO's "The Wire," where he played Baltimore detective Vernon Holley. Wilson once hosted a "Wire"-themed Quizzo at the former London Grill in Fairmount.

Behind the scenes bits

Episode 6 of "Task" is one of a few in the series directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, who worked alongside Jeremiah Zagar to bring creator Brad Ingelsby's vision to life. Richardson-Whitfield also directed and executive produced HBO's NBA drama "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty," and has directed and produced episodes of the network's hit historical drama "The Gilded Age."

Richardson-Whitfield said the shootout sequences in the woods were technically difficult to film and hard on the actors who needed endurance for multiple takes.

"It was very physically challenging," she said. "I knew months before we started, when I read the scripts, I had to train in a different way. Finding the locations and dealing with weather and bugs, oh my God. The actors would deal with the same things and get so tired. It was a daunting task."

Richardson-Whitfield also said she has a deep admiration for the way Ingelsby's characters compel viewers to examine their hearts before rushing to judgments.

"I think that says a lot about the world that we're in," she said.

Pelphrey said he was fully trusting of Ingelsby's character arc for Robbie, including his tragic death, because of the way Ingelsby connects with his cast.

"I've never seen him let any actor down," Pelphrey said.

Has Mare shown up?

No, and she should stay as far away from this mess as she possibly can.