‘Task’ series-finale recap: a still small voice

MOST OF THE THEATRICS of the Task in question played out last week in the three-way shootout at the lake. So, in this finale to Brad Ingelsby’s follow-up to Mare of Easttown feels as though it’s scrambling to tie up some loose ends. And the plans all come to naught as Tom and Aleah, Grasso, and Jayson converge one last time at Maeve’s house. What deeper moments there are left to plumb come by way of the characters confronting their conscience – hence the finale’s title, ‘A still small voice’, a reference, perhaps, to 1 Kings 19:12 from the Old Testament.

Below, we recap the series finale of Task.

Spoilers abound! Read our recap of last week’s episode here.

Tom’s new task

We pick up right as Tom and Aleah start planning their pursuit of Grasso in light of his involvement with the Dark Hearts. There are complaints, sure, but not much in evidence and a few Snapchat exchanges that led Cliff away from the park that night. The two remaining Task Force members poke around Cliff’s totalled car, where a shot flip-phone reveals itself. It isn’t much, but they backtrack on the cell towers that the phone pinged to on that night.

Kathleen, on the other hand, has been convalescing with pills, Merlot, and sans pants, as Tom and Aleah visit her for their last favour: Ray Lyman’s phone, which is kept in the evidence department. She taps a young analyst who’s seeking to bag a promotion, while he’s eating lunch and swiping through memes (so real). The phone turns out to be a dud. But all that evidentiary chasing comes to naught as the Task Force, Grasso, and the Dark Hearts descend on Maeve and the money bag.

The Dark Hearts are overthrowing Jayson

No one’s been happy with Jayson’s performance lately. Perry is conflicted about where he’s left standing with the Dark Hearts, so he gives Vincent a call. His offer? To kill Jayson by morning. Senior members of the Dark Hearts are well past the money going missing, despite Mike imploring them to check out Maeve’s house. Freddie and the Puerto Ricans also seem to have fallen off the narrative, though Mike heard the Columbians helped sell off the fentanyl that Shelley moved for Robbie. The Dark Hearts are also in pursuit of Lee Whitehead, who was supposed to help Robbie relocate to Canada, but even he, to my knowledge, hasn’t turned up. (Was kind of expecting a big cameo moment, you know?)

Anyway, Perry can’t kill Jayson, even as he grabs a blunt, unserrated knife from the kitchen, and Jayson walks out of the shower in nothing but a towel. He lost his chance. As to why Perry feels so strongly for him, aside from viewing him as a son figure, hasn’t been fleshed out wholly. Meanwhile, Donna goes behind Perry’s back and calls Vincent, saying that Breaker (another buff and tatted Dark Hearts senior member) is heading to Maeve Prendergrast’s house to retrieve the money. She begs that Maeve has nothing to do with this and should be left alone.

RIP Perry

Well, Jayson finally found out about Eryn’s body floating in the lake. The FBI also found her body, Vans sneakers intact, with a chain around her hand with the initials “P.D.” engraved. Jayson gets the call while Perry is off having a contemplative swim, and Jayson meets him on the riverbed with a knife. At least Jayson’s will was strong enough to carry out his actions, even as pained as he was to do it. Breaker, Vincent and other armed Dark Hearts arrive to kill Jayson themselves, but now he makes a run for it to Maeve.

Grasso’s crisis of faith

Grasso is making moves himself to make amends with his conscious. First, he hits up his sister, warning her that some unconscionable things will soon come out about him. He also reveals his involvement with the Dark Hearts as to how he was able to take their mother out of the Crum Lyne house, and relocate his sister and nephews away from his abusive brother-in-law. His sister had no idea about any of this, all the while she was trying to set him up with cat ladies.

Later, Grasso holds Mike hostage, sort of, as he cracks open a can of Coke for him. Grasso airs out his frustrations working for the Dark Hearts: he feels like he’s aged 20 years in two; he’s restless and can’t sleep; he can barely hide his crisis of faith. Mike tells him to try and rationalise it with the financial incentive, like how he was able to put his boys through school. But Grasso’s done, he’s going to tell Internal Investigation everything. Mike tells him about Maeve and the bag of money, but before he can say more, Vincent arrives and shoots him in the head. In the adrenaline of it all, Grasso didn’t feel his abdominal gunshot wound.

Maeve on the move

Meanwhile, Maeve is thinking about whether to alert the authorities or move after Shelley drops off the bag. Her friend suggests hiding it for a year, and if the case fizzles, then she should be in the clear. Sounds good enough, at least she won’t have to move with Harper and Wyatt.

But up until now, the Dark Hearts, Jayson, and Grasso are all descending on Maeve’s house. Grasso is the first to arrive, wounded in the driver’s seat, telling her to make a run for it. Meanwhile, Jayson slips in through the back, telling Maeve to lead him to the money.

Tom and Aleah have been tracking Grasso’s phone, leading them to a face-off with Jayson. Aleah, our competent champion, takes down his accomplice. Hearing the gunshots and Maeve’s screams, Harper heads to Grasso, where he slips into the backseat and shoots Jayson in the head. Tom still checks his pulse.

And this is where the Task in question comes to an end. Kathleen meets Tom and Aleah at the hospital, where Grasso is alive in critical care. Tom won’t be giving him penance, “people beat themselves up on their own,” he says. Now this will be Kathleen’s final assignment; Tom admits he didn’t file anything about the money. “You know what they say about wisdom?” he says. “It’s knowing what to overlook.”

Say hello to your new brother

While the bullets have been spraying and betrayals left ongoing, the goings on at Casa Brandis have been a tonal reprieve. Sara and Emily have been helping Sammy adjust to his new life as a part of the family, though temporarily. They organise school supplies, bedding, toys, and posters to help make a space for himself.

Ethan’s hearing on the Task back burner

Meanwhile, the family’s narrative with Ethan has been on the back burner throughout the entire series. The last 20 or so minutes are playing catch-up to what is supposed to be Ethan’s big hearing. If the impact in Tom’s family statement has been observed in how he’s adjusted to the prospect of a new son and mending his relationship with his daughters, that is to say, there was no impact at all. Tom’s relationship with his son improved only because his relationship with Emily did.

Anyway, the statement made no attempt at a plea for Ethan’s release, except to provide backstory on the good and tumult of Ethan’s life. Tom speaks in the past tense about Ethan; how his son has suffered from dyslexia and disruptive mood swings. Ethan has also been Risperdal to regulate the voices in his head. With COVID, the family faced a shortage, and the voices came back, who told him to kill his mother. But Tom also has to remind himself of the light Ethan brought to his life, like how he bought 25 hamburgers to hand out to the homeless during their trip to New York City. In all this, Tom has made peace with Ethan, and he’s ready to welcome him home, at least when that time comes. He doesn’t want his son to live in the shame of the incident.

Several months later, it seems

It’s a couple of months later as the series comes to a close. Sammy has come into the fold at Casa Brandis as the camera pans over an embroidered school bag and photos of him at baseball practice. While he was gardening with Tom for beetroots, the FBI came by to let him know that they’ve found a family for Sammy. Though Tom feels he needs Sammy more than he needs Tom. Daniel, Tom’s priest friend, tells him that he needs to be unselfish with his love; he’s not a young father in a position to raise a maturing boy. Sammy’s new family look pleasant enough though, as Tom gets a deja vu vision of Susan setting up the dining table to welcome Ethan and Emily.

However many months have lapsed since the end of the Task Force, Maeve and the kids are moving out. With the fentanyl money, they’re able to move somewhere far, far away – or at least, six hours and seven minutes away.

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