Task: Who is the Rat in Dark Hearts?

HBO’s ‘Task’ begins as a cat-and-mouse story of a robber and an FBI agent, but as the story unfolds, it becomes a character study that presents different layers of each character. We meet Robbie Prendergrast as a blue-collar worker who has turned into a criminal by committing robberies, though his victims are only drug dealers. Later, it is revealed that he mostly targets the drug houses owned by a biker gang named the Dark Hearts, who also happen to be a very dangerous bunch of people. What makes things more interesting is the fact that there is someone within the gang who is feeding info to Robbie about the gang’s dealings, making it easier for him to hit his targets. The third episode reveals who the rat is and why they have taken the risk of going against the gang. SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Mole in Dark Hearts Has a Close Connection With Billy

Robbie hadn’t been criminally inclined, and in another life, he most likely wouldn’t have thought about messing with a criminal organisation like Dark Hearts. He turns his ire towards them after what happens with his younger brother. Billy used to be a member of the gang, and with their reputation, he knew better than to cross them. However, something bad happened, enough for the gang’s leader, Jayson, to become so infuriated with Billy over a rules violation that he decided to kill the man. Jayson invited Billy to a lodge under the guise of a gathering.

Once Billy got there, Jayson jumped on him and beat him up so badly that Billy died from his injuries. An FBI agent who finds out about it from a low-level member tells Tom Brandis about it, saying that by the time Jayson was done, they had to sweep up Billy’s brains off the floor. One wonders what Billy could have done to anger Jayson so much, and the answer is revealed when Billy’s daughter, Maeve, goes through his stuff and finds his picture with Eryn, Jayson’s girlfriend. In the next scene, we find Robbie and Cliff meeting with Eryn at their spot near the lake, after she calls them to meet with her to discuss the events that have transpired in the past few days.

It turns out that Eryn and Billy were in love and had been having an affair behind Jayson’s back. When Jayson found out about it, he couldn’t let it go, which is why he beat up and killed Billy. It remains to be seen how, if at all, he discussed the affair and Billy’s fate because of it with Eryn, but she is still with Jayson, which shows that she is scared for her life and knows that she, too, will be killed if she tries to leave. However, that is not the only motivation keeping her around the man who killed her lover.

Eryn and Robbie are Motivated by Revenge for Billy

Billy’s death breaks her heart, and she decides to have her revenge. She knows that she cannot kill Jayson without having the entire gang come after her. But being killed by the gang he dedicated his life to would be the best way to make him pay for what he did to Billy. So, she decides to stay for as long as it takes to tear down Jayson once and for all. While Eryn’s plan is good, she still needs collaborators, someone on the outside that she can trust not only to keep her identity as a mole a secret but also to cast fatal blows on Jayson’s credibility within the Dark Hearts.

There is no better person for the job than Robbie, who also wants to avenge his brother’s death. He is haunted by Billy’s death, but even more so by the fact that at his funeral, Jayson and the Dark Hearts showed up as if nothing had happened and shook hands with Robbie to express their condolences. Robbie had no doubt that Jayson and the others were responsible for Billy’s death, but he couldn’t do anything about it because there was no evidence of their guilt. So, when Eryn shows up with the plan to bring down Jayson, Robbie doesn’t have to think twice about it. Robbing the drug houses will not only make Jayson look weak to his superiors, but it will also give Robbie money to take care of his children.

The plan works out as the string of robberies makes Perry and the others question Jayson’s leadership, and they consider removing him from the position (which means killing him), especially after twelve kilos of fentanyl are robbed from one of their drug houses. While it opens another can of worms for Robbie, Eryn is glad that things are finally moving towards her goal, and the day that the gang gets rid of Robbie is not far. This is the only reason she’d decided to become the mole, to destroy Jayson and the Dark Hearts from the inside in return for what they did to Billy.

Read More: Where is Task Filmed? All Shooting Locations of the HBO Show