SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from “A Still Small Voice,” the series finale of “Task,” now streaming on HBO Max.
Throughout HBO’s “Task,” Maeve Prendergrast (Emilia Jones) is in the public eye, after discovering that her uncle, Robbie (Tom Pelphrey), is involved in a chase with the FBI and a violent biker gang called the Dark Hearts after killing two of the group’s members, then kidnapping their son Sam (Ben Doherty) at the following their death. It’s Maeve who must watch over Sam, knowing that at any moment, the Dark Hearts or the FBI could find Robbie.
After Robbie’s death in Episode 6, Maeve finds herself at a standstill in processing the loss of her uncle, while simultaneously figuring out how to survive with her niece and nephew after Robbie’s death. In the final moments of the penultimate episode, Maeve receives the bag of money that Robbie was trying to hide before his death, giving her the opportunity to start a new life if she can get away from the Black Hearts.
Realizing that the Black Hearts are coming for her, all that’s left is for Maeve and the rest of the Prendergrast family to hide the money and get as far away from them as possible before it’s too late.
Courtesy of Peter Kramer/HBO
Jones spoke with Variety about Maeve and Robbie’s family dynamic, how Robbie’s death affects Maeve throughout the series finale, and the staging of the final fight scene with Dark Heart’s final boss Jayson (Sam Keeley).
Robbie dies in episode 6, and in the episode’s final moments, Maeve receives Robbie’s bag of money at her door. She realizes she’s the only person who knows where what the Black Hearts are looking for is, and heading into episode 7, she’s grappling with a lot.
Maeve has always been so smart, so as soon as she has the bag of money in her hand, she’s like, “Who’s going to want this?” She knows people will come after her and her children. But at the same time, she’s just happy that Robbie’s plan worked. It’s a moment of very mixed emotions for her.
How does Robbie’s sacrifice change how Maeve feels about him?
For a long time, Maeve was torn between feeling resentful towards Robbie and feeling so much love towards him. She had to pick up the pieces and be the strong adult figure in the relationship. When you first meet Maeve, she’s so tired of picking up the pieces and cleaning up the mess Robbie made. At the end of the series, when Maeve realizes that Robbie sacrificed himself with this plan, and that it worked. [because] he wouldn’t stop until it succeeded, she has a lot of respect for him and she just knows that no matter what Robbie did, he always thought of others. Even when he is questioned by Tom [Mark Ruffalo]Robbie says, “Please keep Maeve out of this. »
Robbie truly has a heart of gold, and I think that’s what Brad [Ingelsby] does so well with moral ambiguity. Bad people can have good hearts and good people can have bad hearts. The scene with Grasso [Fabien Frankel] when he gives her the warning, it’s a really good moment for his character, because it shows you that for all his faults, he’s learned from his mistakes. Same with Tom, and how he lets Maeve keep the money at the end.
There’s a scene in the first episode where Robbie and Maeve talk on the porch, and we get more insight into their family dynamic after her father’s death. There is generational trauma that runs deep within Robbie, and now Maeve. So how does her family’s past affect the decisions she makes throughout the season?
She didn’t have the time or space to truly grieve the loss of her father, and she pushed him deeper and deeper into her and blocked him. The scene on the porch that you mention is a very important scene for Maeve, because it’s the first time she really says how she feels. No matter what you throw at Maeve, she takes it, because she’s tough. This is the first time for Robbie that he realizes that a 21-year-old girl is standing in front of him and asking him for help after losing her father. This is why Robbie’s death is so hard for her to deal with, because Jayson killed her father and uncle.
The finale has a final showdown at the Prendergrast house, where Jayson discovered that Maeve had the bag of money hidden somewhere. What was it like directing that final scene with Sam Keeley and the rest of the cast?
It was exciting! I was meeting characters that I hadn’t really come across before. We were all aware that this was the highlight of the show, and there was immense pressure on us because we wanted to make sure we could do it to the best of our ability. We did all of our own stunts, and it was so fun and challenging because I was using my body in a way that I had never used it before. Sam is such an intense actor and he goes for it. It was really great to bounce back. The scene after we’re in the chicken coop and Maeve runs away and Jayson catches her, I was really trying to run away, and he was really trying to catch me, and we kept filming because the crew wanted to let the scene play out as long as possible.
There’s a scene where Maeve looks at the money in the finale, where she says Robbie would have wanted the family to have it so they could have a better life. At the very end of the episode, Maeve and the kids have left home and are on their way to a new destination. What do you like to imagine Maeve’s “best life” would be?
I hope she can create a nice and comfortable environment for herself and her children, and give them the life they deserve after such a difficult start. I also really hope she can do things for herself for once, since she’s so young and all her youth has taken on so many adult responsibilities. I hope that with Robbie’s help and money, she can really start thinking about herself and putting herself and her kids first, and that they can have a really comfortable life where she doesn’t have to worry.
This is your first time working with Brad Ingelsby, so if you could come back and work with him on a future project, what genre would you like to see him explore next?
I would do anything for Brad. His writing is so authentic and nuanced, and he is just adorable. “Task” is a detective series, but with love and loss and family and forgiveness, and all these intense and relevant themes, but with lots of action, so it’s a little bit for everyone. Each character has such a complex story, and if a Brad Ingelsby project were to come my way, I would absolutely jump at the chance to work with him again.
I also learned that while you were filming “Task” in Philadelphia, you saw Olivia Rodrigo in concert with Fabien Frankel and some of the crew during your downtime.
Oh my God, we did it! Do you know what’s sad? Mark organized the whole concert and bought everyone tickets, and he created a group chat and was like “Guys, we’ll go meet her afterwards”, and then he had to work! Mark had to go filming for “Task,” so everyone got to go to Olivia Rodrigo’s house after he literally organized everything! Fabien and I received all the merchandise, and he had the purple sunglasses with the Olivia Rodrigo tour t-shirt. He’s such a fan of Olivia and he sang all the lyrics to “Vampire.”
“Task” is quite dark in places, so it was so nice to go to an Olivia Rodrigo concert on the weekend and switch off for a second while filming. It was a really great experience.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
