Task: What Happens to the Money?

In HBO’s ‘Task,’ a robbery gone wrong leads to a chaotic series of events that ends terribly for most of the characters. The primary conflict centers around Robbie Prendergrast, who, in an act of revenge, targets the drug houses of a dangerous biker gang called the Dark Hearts. At the end of the first episode, he unintentionally steals a large amount of fentanyl from them, and throughout the season, his only concern is to sell it so that he can have the money he needs to get away with his family. He eventually manages to get the money where he needs it to be, but the events of the final episodes leave some uncertainty on the matter. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Robbie’s Final Act Brings the Money to Maeve’s Hands

Apart from avenging the murder of his brother, Billy, the reason Robbie robbed the drug houses was to make quick cash. With two kids and a job that didn’t pay well, he wanted to give a good life to his family, and the hopeless state of his life and career convinced him that he couldn’t do it the right way. With the fentanyl, he could make enough money, and he eventually does it when he gets Shelley to sell the drugs to Lee. However, this still leaves his revenge, and knowing that he will most likely not come out of it alive, he tells Shelley to give the money to Maeve.

When Shelley leaves a bag full of money in Maeve’s hands, the latter realizes exactly what has happened. By then, Robbie is already dead, so his niece knows that this is what he died for. She has no idea who Shelley is, but since she knew about the drugs, she has an inkling where the money came from. While she knows that Robbie left it to her so that she could use it to take care of his two children, and as much as she loves her cousins, she knows that someone dangerous will come looking for that money eventually. On her friend’s advice, she hides the money. If someone comes looking, she will give it up. If no one does, she will keep the money for herself.

Despite her hopes for a better future, her fears come true when Jayson comes to the house. At first, she pretends she knows nothing about the money, but when he threatens to hurt her cousins, she doesn’t think twice before giving it up. She hands over the bag to him, but before he can run away with it, Tom and Aleah arrive. This prevents Jayson from running away with it, and the whole encounter ends with Jayson getting shot and dying. Since the two FBI agents are there, and the backup is already on its way, it seems that the money will be confiscated by the cops. But that’s not what happens.

Tom’s Act of Kindness Changes Maeve’s Life

When Jayson dies, the bag of money he’d been carrying falls on the ground, right next to Maeve. Tom sees the bag and he zips it up while looking at Maeve. Later, Kathleen talks to him about the rumors that Robbie had already sold the drugs, which means the money is still out there. She asks him if he found it at Maeve’s house, to which he says he did not find anything. This confirms that the cops did not confiscate the money. Rather, Tom helped Maeve keep the bag out of their sight and for herself. He knew that Robbie had died for that money, and despite Robbie’s actions, the FBI agent had a soft spot for him. He knew what Robbie’s real intentions were, and more importantly, he knew that the money was the only way young Maeve could provide for herself and Robbie’s two kids.

Tom knew that she was dedicated to her cousins, and it was for them that she helped Robbie keep Sam hidden from the cops. So, instead of confiscating the bag, he decided to let the Prendergrast family have it. They have already been through a lot, and taking away their lifeline will only make things worse for them. More importantly, all the dangerous people who knew about the money or could connect it with Maeve are gone. Had it not been so, she would most likely have surrendered the bag, unwilling to let someone else come at her with a gun and risk her and her cousins’ lives. Now that she knows the money is safe to keep and she even has an FBI officer helping her with it by simply turning a blind eye to it, she decides to keep it.

Instead of going crazy with the million dollars in her hands, she plays smart. She hides the money for several months, letting the trail go cold. Once she is sure that neither the cops nor the gang is coming after her, she sells her house, and with the money from the bag and the money from the house, she plans a new future with her cousins somewhere else. In the last scene, we see her packing all their stuff in the car and leaving the town, where she lost her father and uncle, in the rear-view mirror. It’s possible that she is headed to Canada, honoring Robbie’s wish to move the family there. If not that, then any other quiet town where they can start anew would do. The world is their oyster.

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