The second episode of HBO’s ‘Task‘ ends the characters on a cliff-hanger as Maeve reaches the point where she is about to surrender Sam to the police and sacrifice her uncle, Robbie. The third episode takes both of them to terms with their new reality. It also makes some significant plot reveals and leaves off on an even more ominous note with a new mystery initiated, the solutions of which have the potential to turn the entire game around. SPOILERS FOLLOW.
Robbie’s Secret Informant in Dark Hearts Reveals Their Face
The series begins where Robbie and Maeve discuss how he has ruined everything for his children. She questions him about what was going through his mind when he chose to strike at Dark Hearts, which prompts him to share with her the bereavement for his brother and anger that Jayson had arrived at Billy’s funeral as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. He does not want the gang and their leader to get away with what they did to his brother, but the expression in Maeve’s eyes tells us that her uncle has made things a whole lot worse than they were. The next morning, Robbie receives a phone call from his source at Dark Hearts and is invited to meet them at their usual place. Meanwhile, Maeve sorts through her father’s photos and finds one where he is with Eryn.
Eryn being the mole is ascertained when Robbie and Cliff arrive at the meeting spot and find Eryn waiting for them, having had a tryst with Billy, which had led to Billy getting killed. Robbie warmly hugs her but Cliff receives her in a far-from-warm manner. He accuses her of the chaos that occurred in their previous heist, which resulted in Peaches’ death and left them with a young boy to care for and twelve kilos of. Eryn defends herself by claiming she did not know the deal did not go through, or that Sam was still at the scene. She requests Robbie to settle Cliff down, but he suggests that his partner is the one who goes berserk, for they have gotten themselves into a bit of a fix. He requests her assistance with the fentanyl, yet she instructs him not to sell it just yet. Dark Hearts are awaiting their turn to act, and now is not the best time. She also says that the robbery has ended Jayson’s career, and there is a great likelihood that the top brass will discharge him soon. They just need to wait a bit longer, and they will get their revenge for what happened to Billy. No matter what Eryn said,
Robbie and Cliff are desperate
, and they come up with a plan to move the fentanyl themselves. At the same time, Anthony and Tom appear at the Dark Hearts’ usual hangout spot to speak with Jayson and are accompanied by Perry. The feds indicate that the gun that was used in the crime is also the same gun that was utilized during a 2017 shooting, involving Dark Hearts as well as a competing gang. This implies that the gun is owned by someone within the gang. Perry and Jayson have no interest in assisting and attempt to threaten the officers. Nevertheless, the news puts them in a second thought. Robbie and Cliff Commit a Serious Error Back at the task force headquarters, Kathleen McGinty arrives to assess the situation, which turns out to show the bosses of this seasoned investigator her bosses are keen on cracking the case as soon as they can. Eryn attempts to maintain her composure at the bar. Perry is pointed towards a gang member, Shane, whose wife has spoken about how his recent behaviour has changed in the last few days. This tempts Perry to speculate if Shane is the rat, and his guilt and fear might be driving him to behave this way. Meanwhile, Maeve treats Sam out, and they spend quality time in the wilderness. When she invites him to swim in the water, he declares that he does not know how to do it. She informs him about how her father had tossed her in the pool with the intention of teaching her to swim but is not going to do the same to Sam. She brings him to the water and lets him float while having a conversation with him.
Her peaceful moment is contrasted by Emily, who has gone to go meet Ethan. She attempts to brighten his spirits by asking him how he is and whether he’s made any friends. She informs him that Tom inquires after him constantly, but he reminds her that Tom stopped by to return his suit but failed to bother going inside, so it is a bit hard to believe that he cares. Meanwhile, with the fentanyl being their sole lead, Jayson and Perry figure they will interview Freddy Frias, since he would be the natural suspect for someone who would try to move the fentanyl. They attempt to establish dominance even as Freddy asks why he should go out of his way to find their thief when he could just use the fentanyl to drive them out of business. He shares with them a story in which he discovered at an early age that the color of his skin would be sufficient for individuals to despise him and not wish to work with him. Freddy adds that racism is the only justification Dark Hearts remain in the game, despite having a superior product. He asks them for a 50-50 cut in the fentanyl, and from his words, it is clear that Jayson and Perry have no other choice. Luckily, Cliff and Robbie know that going to Freddy would be anticipated, so they try to find back channels to move the product. They go to meet Ray, Cliff’s acquaintance from prison. His initial reaction is to recommend Freddy, but when Robbie mentions that they don’t want to go through official channels, he understands they are dealing with stolen goods. He informs them that the Colombians are the natural next choice and is willing to arrange a meeting for them. Bad luck for Cliff and Robbie that to tell a man like Ray they have twelve kilos of stolen fentanyl is a massive blunder.
The Task Force Makes a Significant Move in the Investigation
That evening, Ray and Shelley, his wife, visit Cliff’s home in order to steal the fentanyl from him, but that’s just the beginning. Earlier in the day, Lizzie and Aleah visited Peaches’ office to get more clues. The lure of a reward brings one of his coworkers out and tells how Peaches boasted about things, and when he called the guy out for having big plans for spending a lot of money on something pricey, Peaches boasted about all the money that he was raking in through house robberies. He also mentioned Cliff Broward’s name, and this becomes a big clue for the officers. During the night, while Ray and Shelley search Cliff’s residence for the fentanyl, Tom and his team storm the house. There is a chase where Aleah catches up with Shelley, and Lizzie and Tom hold Ray at bay.
As Tom engages in a struggle with a masked Ray, Lizzie gets cold feet and fails to shoot him. This causes Ray to shove Tom down the stairs as he flees. Lizzie follows him, but he flees again because she is not allowed to shoot him. Ultimately, Anthony intervenes, and the perpetrator is apprehended. At the bottom of the stairs, an injured Tom has a vision of his wife, Susan. Aleah assists him to his feet as the SWAT team officers arrive. Tom doesn’t try to conceal his anger and disappointment with Lizzie, but he is not out of the woods yet. Aleah is determined to use Shelley to get her to talk, and Anthony and Tom pin down Ray. Ray initially says that he had been at the house plotting a surprise for his friend. Meanwhile, Aleah identifies signs of domestic violence with Shelley, and opens up about how her boyfriend beat her up badly so that she broke her eye socket. She vows to defend Shelley from Ray, so the woman opens up to them all about what happened at the meeting with Cliff. With this knowledge, Tom returns to Ray, and this time the man admits to all in exchange for having the charges against him waived. He admits that he said he would arrange a meeting with the Colombians. Because the story about Ray’s arrest has not yet been released, the feds decide to use the meeting to apprehend Cliff and his partner, who is still nameless up to this point. Before he goes, Tom informs Ray that although he will not prosecute him for any other offense, he will prosecute him for assaulting a federal officer, which is a violation of his parole conditions, meaning that he is going back to jail.
A Major Bombshell is Dropped on Tom
Still disillusioned with herself for freezing and allowing Tom to get hurt, Lizzie is an easy target. She invites Anthony to drink with him, but makes it clear that she is not asking him out. She explains to him after a couple of drinks about how she froze, and he reminds her that everyone freezes sometime. She explains that her issue is that she freezes constantly. Meanwhile, the officers from Lizzie’s station arrive around the same time and tease her about being at the task force and she should remain there as long as she likes. She feels embarrassed after the incident, and Anthony then decides to make her feel better by openly speaking about how well she is doing with the task and how important she is to the investigation.
Back home, Tom has a discussion with Sara where he admits that he can never forgive Ethan for having killed Susan. Sara informs him that this is something that he needs to discuss with Emily, while also coming out on how much she detests the fact that things have soured between her and her sister. To compound the problem, Emily eavesdrops on the conversation, solidifying her conviction that her brother is alone and perhaps, so is she. That evening, he dreams about Susan and how happy they were on the day that Ethan and Emily returned home. The following day, Tom is told that vital information from the investigation has leaked to Dark Hearts, and as a result, there is a mole among them. When questioned whether he screened all the officers he was working with, he responds that he never had the opportunity to screen them since he took over the team the previous day before he met them because the case was originally going to be led by another person. The mole question creates fresh questions for Tom as he is requested not to believe anyone until the betrayer’s true identity is uncovered. Read More: Is Task Related to Mare of Easttown
