Note: The following story contains spoilers for the “Task” finale.
As early as August, “Task” creator Brad Ingelsby anticipated a possible flashback to a specific choice in the HBO drama series’ finale episode. The original crime drama series reached an explosive point in episode 6, which saw Tom Pelphrey’s Robbie die from his gunshot wounds and Tom’s (Mark Ruffalo) FBI task force case appears to be over.
But in Episode 7 of “Task,” the finale, Tom works to root out the mole in his task force while Ingelsby’s drama focuses on the emotional arc at the heart of Ruffalo’s character: his welcoming of Sam.
At the end of the episode, Tom decided to adopt Sam rather than adopt the boy himself, instead focusing on repairing his relationship with his own son Ethan, who accidentally killed his wife.
“I’m sure we’ll have some pushback because I felt like an audience would want Tom to keep the kid, but I felt really, really passionate that he couldn’t keep the kid,” Ingelsby told TheWrap before the series debuted. “That’s not what the show was about. It was about a guy who had to get the house ready for his son, and if he babysat Sam, then we were betraying what the show was about, in a way.”
Ingelsby compared the theme of “Task” to that of his previous hit HBO series “Mare of Easttown,” which ended with emotional closure for Kate Winslet’s character.
“I really thought ‘Mare of Easttown’ was a show about a woman who stubbornly refused to face the death of her son. She threw herself into every situation to not face the death of her son, so the ending, for me, was that she literally had to face the death of her son,” he said. “And for me, the ending of ‘Task’ was that I have to open the door for my son. I can’t forgive him. It’s so painful for me. I can’t do this thing. And then it’s through the journey of the case and his interactions with Robbie, and Robbie sacrificing himself to give his family that hope for a future that Tom finally understands and says, ‘You know what, as much as I want this child, I have to reaffirm my commitment towards my son, and I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when he comes home because my wife isn’t here, and Emily is going to be at college, and I’m terrified, but I have to open the door.’
The showrunner also acknowledged that he explored every possible story avenue while preparing for the ending of “Task,” including leaving Robbie alive, but decided that the theme of Robbie’s sacrifice for the sake of his family would more strongly influence Tom’s decision to recommit to his own son.
Read on for our full postmortem interview, including what could be in store for a potential “Task” season 2. For more on the “Task” finale, read our postmortem interviews with Maeve actress Emilia Jones and Grasso actor Fabien Frankel.
I wanted to ask about the build to the season. The penultimate episode could almost serve as the finale, but the story continues and gets even richer. It’s also only seven episodes, not eight or ten. How did you arrive at this construction?
Brad Ingelsby: Very early on, I had this idea of meeting in the woods. Everything that led up to this somehow brings them together. The end of the fifth episode is when they’re all together in the woods, and it ends on a cliffhanger. And then it was like, “OK, so what’s left to deal with after this? And how do you keep an audience?” I also felt like maybe the audience would expect the end of the series to be like Sam was going to turn around. So I said to myself, “How can we increase this a little bit? How can we still have some emotional surprises in our pocket?” Maybe Maeve returns them early. I always try to anticipate what the audience expects, and not necessarily do something different just for the sake of doing something different, but is there another layer we can add? Can we dig a little deeper into the characters?
I’m sure we’ll have some pushback because I felt like an audience would want Tom to keep the kid, but I felt really, really passionate that he couldn’t keep the kid. That’s not what the series is about. It was about a guy who had to get the house ready for his son, and if he babysat Sam, then we were betraying what the show was about, in a way. I had read a lot over the course of the series and really got into Thomas Merton, and Merton talks a lot about selfless love and what it means to truly love someone. I really got attached to that idea, so when I got to the end with Tom and Sam, I really thought the best thing for him to do would be to abandon it. He wants to keep this child because he really cares about him, and the child is so sweet and you can tell they get along well, but it’s not the right thing to do. The right thing is to reinvest and commit to your own son.
It’s a heartbreaking choice, but it’s a demonstration of heartbreaking choices and difficult choices. Life doesn’t allow you to redo, and he tries to redo to the detriment of the son he already has.
That’s absolutely true. I really felt like it was a betrayal of what the show was about. And it was tempting, because you get there and you’re like, “Oh, the audience probably wants this to end well,” but that’s not what the show is about. I really thought “Mare of Easttown” was a series about a woman who stubbornly refused to face the death of her son. She would throw herself into every situation to avoid facing the death of her son, so the ending, for me, was that she literally had to face the death of her son. And for me, the end of “Task” was: I have to open the door for my son. I can’t forgive him. It’s so painful for me. I can’t do this. And then it’s through the journey of the case and his interactions with Robbie, and Robbie sacrificing himself to give his family this hope for a future that Tom finally understands and says, “You know what, as much as I want this child, I have to reaffirm my commitment to my son, and I’m afraid of what’s going to happen when he comes home because my wife’s not here, and Emily’s going to be away at college, and I’m terrified, but I have to open the door. I felt like it had to end there, and luckily HBO supported that choice, and I’m really proud of how it ended.
Was there any debate about whether or not to leave the money to Maeve?
I think there was some discussion about it, but Maeve had suffered so much on the show that it was almost unbelievably cruel not to give her the win. Emilia is so good in this series. While we were editing, I had the same reaction to Evan Peters in “Mare,” like, when you go into the edit of something, you’re like, “Oh man, this is a character that the audience is really going to respond to.” So not giving him a win in the end was incredibly cruel.
Were alternative fates considered for Lizzie, Anthony or Robbie?
In early versions, Robbie lived. But what really appealed to me about Robbie was the idea of sacrifice, of him finally realizing that he’s gotten in over his head. When he sits down with Shelley at the start of the fifth episode, she says, “I can help you move this stuff.” It clicks in his head, “Alright, I’ve now put my family in danger. I can’t do this anymore, so the only way is to lead them to it.” When we found out, we were like, “Oh, sure, Robbie has to sacrifice himself. » If Tom’s journey is forgiveness, Robbie’s is sacrifice.
And I love Lizzie so much that I wanted to keep Allison. I would do a prequel with Allison Oliver. She’s one of my favorite actresses, she’s simply the best. But it was painful, a bit like Evan in “Mare”. We also talked about the question: Does Grasso live or die? We’ve had a few conversations like this. Everything is on the table. Everyone’s fate was reflected upon and reconsidered.
A quick plot question: who was Martha Plimpton’s character calling earlier in the season? Because it was a bit of a red herring, like maybe she was the mole.
What we were trying to do was she would call the analyst who comes in the next episode and said, “Hey, remember you asked me about these people? Well, I did a little digging.” So we tried to go a little wrong with Martha.
“Task” is billed as a drama series, not a limited series. Are there discussions underway regarding a potential second season?
We’ve talked, but it’s kind of a matter of seeing how people react. I would love to come back and do it. I love the idea of bringing a group of people together each season.
Would it be “True Detective” style? Like an anthology? Or some of the same characters?
I mean, I would love it if we could get Martha and Ruffalo and some of the characters back. I had a great time developing this working group this season. It excites me more than anything, as a character writer, to ask myself, “What is the group of people we bring together and have to solve a case or take on a group of guys?” »I would love the opportunity to do it again. It will depend on what the audience thinks, but I would love another broadcast if I can get one.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
