Diksha Sundriyal
HBO’s ‘Task’ begins with a string of robberies that cause trouble for a biker gang called the Dark Hearts. Over the course of the season, we discover that the robberies are orchestrated by Robbie Prendergrast, who is specifically targeting the gang’s drug houses because he wants to exact revenge for the murder of his brother, Billy, at the hands of the gang’s leader, Jayson. Robbie thought he could make Jayson pay while also making some money in the process, but soon, things go haywire. While the gang starts to look into the matter of the robberies, so does the FBI, and both their investigations lead them to Robbie in the penultimate episode of the series, where his fate is decided once and for all.
Robbie’s Revenge Plan Goes Awry
When Jayson killed Billy, Robbie felt utterly helpless. He couldn’t do anything to get justice for his brother, and that led him to collaborate with Eryn, Jayson’s wife and Billy’s lover, to come up with a plan to push Jayson out of the gang by his superiors. The robberies would make Jayson look incompetent, and the money could go to help Robbie raise his children. However, he forgets that the path of revenge rarely ends well, and he pays a huge price for it. First, his friend and accomplice, Peaches, is killed, which opens a different can of worms.
Then, his best friend, Cliff, is killed as well. Moreover, now the cops as well as the gang are after him, which means he has put his children in danger as well. With this, Robbie has lost much more in his quest for revenge than he did before. When Eryn tells him what has happened, Robbie realizes that hiding is not going to cut it. So, he decides to sell the drugs and get the money. He goes to Freddy Frias, who calls the Dark Hearts, which makes it look like Robbie has made yet another mistake. But this was his plan all along. He wanted Jayson to come to him so that he could have his revenge.
But then, Tom finds him, and it throws a wrench in Robbie’s plan. He has no intention of letting anyone else, let alone a Fed, get hurt or die because of him. Still, with Jayson in front of him, he cannot help but see things to the end. He throws the bag with the drugs into the stream and attacks Jayson. His desire to avenge his brother gives him the power to fight Jayson and overpower him. At one point, he seems to be winning. He chokes Jayson, who seems to be on the verge of passing out, but then, the latter pulls out a secret knife and stabs Robbie with it. Jayson would have finished the job, but Tom arrives on the scene. He tries to save Robbie, but he loses a lot of blood and passes away on the way to the hospital.
Robbie’s Plan Had Always Been a Suicide Mission
Apart from getting justice for his brother, Robbie’s desire was to provide for his children. His job as a waste collector wasn’t going to cut it, and he desperately needed the money. This is why the idea of robberies sounded good to him. However, when Cliff dies and he realizes that the Dark Hearts almost got them, Robbie faces the fact that there is no way out for him. Either the gang will get him, or the Feds will arrest him. Since he is doomed, the only thing he can do now is to make sure his family is safe. So, he decides to sell the drugs, but he doesn’t go to Freddy Frias. Previously, Shelley had offered to help him sell them, though she needed the cut to get out of town before her abusive husband, Ray, got back on parole.
With Shelley’s help, Robbie goes out of the gang and Frias’ channels and sells the fentanyl to the Colombians. He gets the money, but with Maeve in prison, he asks Shelley to keep it safe. In case he doesn’t make it, he will need the money to make its way to Maeve, and considering everything, Shelley is the only one he can trust. Once the drugs are out of the way, he goes to Frias, knowing he will call Jayson. He intentionally sets up the meet in the cabin, and the bag that he throws in the stream is full of old magazines, which neither Frias nor the gang knows about.
Even if the FBI hadn’t shown up, Jayson wouldn’t have come alone. Even if Robbie got the chance to kill him, he knew that the gang wouldn’t let him be. He would be killed soon after. But he was ready to take this risk because he knew that his children would be safe and taken care of. He even tells Tom to let Maeve go, saying that she has had no part in his crimes. At the time, he doesn’t know that she has surrendered herself and Sam, but he hopes that his crimes will come back to haunt him. With Maeve in charge of the kids and the money from the drugs in her possession, he knew that his family would be taken care of. So, even if he died, they would be alright. With this thought, he walks into the woods and never comes back.
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