Mark Ruffalo's Task Delivers Season's Most Devastating Television Hour

Max Sterling, 10/13/2025Mark Ruffalo's "Task" delivers an emotionally devastating episode, marked by raw violence and profound character moments. Two shocking deaths highlight themes of redemption and betrayal, while moral complexities challenge the notion of justice. As the series builds to its finale, the cost of survival weighs heavily on all.

Under Salli Richardson Whitfield's razor-sharp direction, the episode throws us headlong into a powder keg situation deep in Delaware County's woods. What starts as a tense three-way standoff explodes into something far messier, proving that sometimes the most dangerous element in any equation is plain old human desperation.

The show's methodical character development pays off in spades here. Mark Ruffalo's Tom Brandis — still carrying the weight of his former priesthood like a bulletproof vest — finds himself caught between his duty as an FBI agent and his instinct as a spiritual counselor. His attempts to talk down Tom Pelphrey's Robbie Prendergrast might've worked, too, if the Dark Hearts hadn't come roaring in like a bullet train through a china shop.

Let's talk about that violence. Because damn. The action sequences feel less like carefully choreographed ballet and more like watching a bar fight through security footage. When Tom and Perry throw down in that fishing cabin, you can practically smell the copper tang of blood and rotting wood. No fancy camera tricks, no Hollywood polish — just the raw, ugly reality of survival.

But it's Alison Oliver's Lizzie Stover who delivers the episode's most crushing blow. After surviving the initial chaos (minus one working eardrum), she meets her end in a moment so cruelly mundane it feels like a cosmic joke. The bridge scene — where she never hears the Dark Hearts' truck coming — plays out with the sort of horrible inevitability that makes you want to reach through the screen and yank her to safety. Watching Fabien Frankel's Grasso witness the direct consequences of his betrayal? That's the kind of performance that haunts you.

Robbie's death scene threads an impossible needle. There's something almost peaceful about his final moments in Tom's car, even as blood seeps into the upholstery. The sun-dappled memories floating through his mind feel earned rather than manipulative — a grace note for a character who never quite managed to outrun his own shadow.

The episode's back half deals in fallout and revelation. The FBI's brilliant decision to disband the task force (seriously, guys?) comes right as Thuso Mbedu's Aleah and Tom close in on Grasso's betrayal. Meanwhile, learning that Police Chief Dorsey's been in bed with the Dark Hearts all along? That's the kind of corruption that makes you wonder if anyone's wearing a white hat anymore.

Perhaps the episode's finest moment comes wrapped in quiet conversation rather than gunfire. Tom's confrontation with Grasso merges criminal investigation with spiritual counsel in a way that feels uniquely true to both characters. "Confession's not for God's sake. If you want to be forgiven, all you have to do is ask." Ruffalo delivers the line like he's offering both a threat and absolution, while Frankel's Grasso practically drowns in unspoken guilt.

Even dead, Robbie manages one last clever play. That duffel bag full of magazines? Classic misdirection from a guy who spent his life working angles. Somewhere out there, the real score's been converted to cash, handed off to Emilia Jones' Maeve by Shelley Wilkins — offering at least one family the fresh start Robbie never managed to grab for himself.

Task has never been content to play by standard crime drama rules, and this episode hammers that point home with devastating precision. Beyond the surface narrative of corruption and justice lies something far more complex: a meditation on redemption's true cost and the weight of choices that have no right answer. As we barrel toward the finale, one question looms larger than who'll survive — what kind of survival will be worth the price?

Holy hell, Task just dropped what might be the most gut-wrenching episode of 2025 television. The penultimate installment doesn't just raise the stakes — it demolishes them entirely, leaving viewers to sort through the emotional wreckage of two devastating character deaths.Under Salli Richardson Whitfield's razor-sharp direction, the episode throws us headlong into a powder keg situation deep in Delaware County's woods. What starts as a tense three-way standoff explodes into something far messier, proving that sometimes the most dangerous element in any equation is plain old human desperation.The show's methodical character development pays off in spades here. Mark Ruffalo's Tom Brandis — still carrying the weight of his former priesthood like a bulletproof vest — finds himself caught between his duty as an FBI agent and his instinct as a spiritual counselor. His attempts to talk down Tom Pelphrey's Robbie Prendergrast might've worked, too, if the Dark Hearts hadn't come roaring in like a bullet train through a china shop.Let's talk about that violence. Because damn. The action sequences feel less like carefully choreographed ballet and more like watching a bar fight through security footage. When Tom and Perry throw down in that fishing cabin, you can practically smell the copper tang of blood and rotting wood. No fancy camera tricks, no Hollywood polish — just the raw, ugly reality of survival.But it's Alison Oliver's Lizzie Stover who delivers the episode's most crushing blow. After surviving the initial chaos (minus one working eardrum), she meets her end in a moment so cruelly mundane it feels like a cosmic joke. The bridge scene — where she never hears the Dark Hearts' truck coming — plays out with the sort of horrible inevitability that makes you want to reach through the screen and yank her to safety. Watching Fabien Frankel's Grasso witness the direct consequences of his betrayal? That's the kind of performance that haunts you.Robbie's death scene threads an impossible needle. There's something almost peaceful about his final moments in Tom's car, even as blood seeps into the upholstery. The sun-dappled memories floating through his mind feel earned rather than manipulative — a grace note for a character who never quite managed to outrun his own shadow.The episode's back half deals in fallout and revelation. The FBI's brilliant decision to disband the task force (seriously, guys?) comes right as Thuso Mbedu's Aleah and Tom close in on Grasso's betrayal. Meanwhile, learning that Police Chief Dorsey's been in bed with the Dark Hearts all along? That's the kind of corruption that makes you wonder if anyone's wearing a white hat anymore.Perhaps the episode's finest moment comes wrapped in quiet conversation rather than gunfire. Tom's confrontation with Grasso merges criminal investigation with spiritual counsel in a way that feels uniquely true to both characters. "Confession's not for God's sake. If you want to be forgiven, all you have to do is ask." Ruffalo delivers the line like he's offering both a threat and absolution, while Frankel's Grasso practically drowns in unspoken guilt.Even dead, Robbie manages one last clever play. That duffel bag full of magazines? Classic misdirection from a guy who spent his life working angles. Somewhere out there, the real score's been converted to cash, handed off to Emilia Jones' Maeve by Shelley Wilkins — offering at least one family the fresh start Robbie never managed to grab for himself.Task has never been content to play by standard crime drama rules, and this episode hammers that point home with devastating precision. Beyond the surface narrative of corruption and justice lies something far more complex: a meditation on redemption's true cost and the weight of choices that have no right answer. As we barrel toward the finale, one question looms larger than who'll survive — what kind of survival will be worth the price?