October 19, 2025
Provided image/Peter Kramer/HBO
Tom (Mark Ruffalo) sits in a courtroom with his daughters Emily (Silvia Dionicio) and Sara (Phoebe Fox) in the season finale of 'Task.'
After a messy, gut-wrenching climax, "Task" had just one episode to wrap up its dark Delco story. And it did, but not before killing off more characters.
FBI special agent Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) is briefing Aleah, the one member of his task force who's still alive and not a snitch, when the episode begins. As they discuss the best way to nail their double-crossing colleague Grasso, the missing kid they spent much of the series tracking totters down Tom's stairs. That's how Aleah, who shoots her boss side-eye, learns he's fostering Sam.
Meanwhile, out in the woods, Perry gets the command from the Dark Hearts to kill his protege/walking liability Jayson. Only he can't bring himself to do it just yet. Unluckily for him, that leaves time for the cops to find Eryn's body — and Perry's monogrammed chains in her hand. Jayson stabs Perry when he learns what happened, but flees their hideout before the other Dark Hearts can catch him. He's heading for Maeve, whom Perry correctly deduced is holding the money.
Grasso, wracked with guilt over Lizzie's death, has decided to turn himself in. Before he makes it to the station, however, another dirty cop arrives at his house. He tries to talk Grasso out of confessing, telling him that the Dark Hearts are on their way to Maeve's to tie up that loose end. One of the bikers crashes onto the scene, shooting the other cop dead and Grasso in the gut. Grasso returns fire, killing the Dark Heart and fleeing the scene.
Aleah and Tom are already on his tail, thanks to some help from their boss Kathleen. Grasso pulls into Maeve's driveway, warning her of the men coming her way, but he's bleeding too much to move from his car. As she scrambles for her car keys, Jayson finds her and forces her at gunpoint to give up the money. When Tom and Aleah enter the scene, a standoff ensues. Grasso gets his redemption moment when he shoots Jayson, freeing Maeve from his grip.
Though Tom saw the bag of cash, he decides to look the other way and let Maeve keep it. With some reluctance, he also agrees to give Sam up to another family. Tom appears in court with his daughters to give a statement in support of his son Ethan, leaving the door open for him to come home when he's released from prison.
The hometown teams get some love from Sam, who sports a Phillies cap, and Grasso's nephews, who play an Eagles vs. Cowboys game of paper football. The souvenir Phillies cup that Tom used to sneak vodka has also been repurposed into a bird feeder, signaling his hopeful next chapter.
A few other regional references come up in conversation. Grasso, explaining why he started taking bribes, remembers trying to move his mother out of "that shitty place in Crum Lynne" and finding her a nicer assisted living home in Radnor. Donna also directs the Dark Hearts to Perry and Jayson's hideout, allegedly on Bishop Hollow Road.
Brian Anthony Wilson makes a brief, second appearance as the social worker handling Sam's case. The Germantown native actor, who rallied with the Screen Actors Guild in LOVE Park during the union's 2023 strike, initially appeared in Episode 6.
Tom's beloved birds appear fleetingly throughout the episode, then dominate the end credits. Woodpeckers, goldfinches and cardinals settle on tree branches and feeders in the show's final sequence.
It's a fitting finish for "Task," which introduced the avian motif in the season premiere, when Tom spots a summer tanager in his backyard. The thread carried through his conversation with Robbie about vagrant birds in Episode 5.
Jeremiah Zagar, who directed the finale and three other episodes of "Task," sees a deeper message in all this bird chatter.
"I think that the idea of a vagrant bird, of a bird that isn't supposed to be where it is, is a beautiful metaphor for the show," Zagar said. "That our spirits are often not where they're supposed to be."
Alas, the task force never tapped the Easttown police department for help. Maybe on the next Brad Ingelsby project.
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