After Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel) was revealed to be the mole in last week's episode of the series. Taskthe severity of his betrayal had now reached its climax. During the fast-paced, action-packed episode, Grasso finds himself caught between his own FBI task force and the Dark Hearts motorcycle gang, to whom he passes information. His decisions lead to the death of his colleague and romantic interest Lizzie Stover (Alison Oliver) and the suspicions of his boss Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo), who has become something of a father figure to Grasso. It's a devastating and, to some, shocking turn of events, although the show's creator Brad Ingelsby says the seeds of Grasso's true loyalty were sown from the very beginning.
“You want to be able to rewatch it and say, 'Oh, yeah, he was,'” Ingelsby says, speaking via Zoom. “There were things along the way, so when you get to the revelation, it feels earned. One of the things we really wanted to address with Grasso was his loss of faith. He's really disillusioned, just like Tom. I think when [the reveal] I hope viewers see how institutions failed him in some way. What he believed to be true in his life had, in some ways, failed him. “I tried to lay it out pretty early so that when we get there, it’s not just a turn for the sake of a turn.”
Frankel believes in the authenticity of Grasso's circumstances as written by Ingelsby, which will be further explored in the final two episodes of the series.
“He writes incredibly intricately woven characters and allows the audience to discover them in real time without ever feeling like he's just setting up storylines,” Frankel says, speaking separately via Zoom. “He does it in humane ways, like developing a relationship with Lizzie or developing the father-son bond that Grasso has with Mark's character. All of those things speak to who he is. So when you find out he's the mole, you already have an idea of him, and it just re-shapes your understanding.”
The extent and consequences of Grasso's actions are revealed at the beginning of the sixth episode. After Tom calls, the task force sets out to find Robbie (Tom Pelphrey). A fight ensues between the FBI, Robbie, and the Dark Hearts, leaving several characters dead. The most tragic loss is Lizzie, a conflicted member of Tom's task force who gets nervous in tense situations. She finally faces her fears and is killed by a speeding car driven by the Dark Hearts. Ingelsby calls the decision to kill off the character “heartbreaking” and compares it to Colin Zabel's unexpected loss of detective Evan Peters midway through his previous series. Mare from Easttown.
“I told Fabien, 'Imagine you have a house of cards and you're taking care of it, and someone throws open all the windows in your house and you're trying to protect it,'” Ingelsby says. “[Grasso] necessary consequences. He knew how to handle this house of cards very carefully and channel information that way. But eventually his decisions must catch up with him. As a result, he fell in love with this girl and did not save her.”
“It will stun the public and be a very sad moment in history,” Frankel adds. “It's the culmination of a lot of things that went wrong at once, and the vast majority of them are Grasso's fault to some extent. Of course he feels it's his fault. So for me [on set] it allowed it to happen. But You hold Alison Oliver in your arms after she was hit by a car and try not to feel too sad.”
Filming the complex scene in the forest was physically difficult for the actors and logistically challenging for the crew. Ingelsby says they spent months searching for a suitable bridge in Pennsylvania.
“I was very nervous because I felt (though not while writing) that the whole series was leading up to this moment,” he says. “It became more and more palpable as we got closer to it. Like, if the whole series is leading to this big confrontation, we have to pay for it. Every character exists for a reason and does things for a reason. Aaliyah is a sniper. This is Lizzie's moment of courage. This is Grasso's house of cards collapsing. This is Tom finally coming out of his shell and beating up Perry. This is Robbie. confronts his brother's killer, and ends up dying at the hands of his brother's killer. All arcs light up at that specific time. Emotionally it had to work.”
Unusual, Task It's crunch time: two episodes have yet to air. But Ingelsby wanted the story to unfold without a climactic action sequence. “I felt like the show had to subvert expectations sometimes,” he explains. “As a viewer, if I saw those scenes, I would be excited because I would be like, 'Oh, I thought the show was going to end there.' It sets you up for something completely different. Why not do something unexpected and hopefully still emotional? Hopefully at the end of episode six we'll still have enough viewer investment that we can see what happens in episode seven.”
To TaskFrankel was best known for his role as Ser Criston Cole in the HBO series. House of the Dragon. The actor is originally from London and has extensive theater experience, which may surprise some viewers. Task. This, of course, surprised Ingelsby, who says he was “literally blown away” by the distinctive Philadelphia accent Frankel picked up during the audition.
“I grew up a little west of Philadelphia, but I spent a lot of time in the city, and South Philly was an area I knew,” Ingelsby says. “And Jeremiah [Zager]our director actually grew up in South Philly. So two of us had a very specific idea of what the character would look and sound like. I didn't know [Fabien] is British. His audition was like a lightning bolt where you just go, “Oh my God.” This guy looks the part, sounds the part, I believe him as the character.” He was the perfect choice.”
“He’s very kind,” Frankel says. “I came in with a version of a New York accent. I was just doing every New York cop/gangster I've ever watched.”
After the audition, Ingelsby and Frankel had a “long dinner with wine” together in Philadelphia. It was then that Ingelsby revealed Grasso's storyline to the actor. “We talked about it for a long time,” Frankel recalls. “We talked in great detail about what it would be and who he was. Brad had such a clear idea of this man. The first line of Brad's stage direction goes something like, 'Grasso reaches out with his big paw and shakes Aaliyah's hand.' From that moment on, I knew exactly who he was.”
It was important to Ingelsby to make Grasso a person the public liked. The creator gave the character some charming moments, including a moment when he defends Lizzie at a police bar and the revelation that he previously performed at Catholic events as DJ Grassanova. Ingelsby hopes that despite Grasso's poor casting, viewers will still like him at the end of the show—or at least be able to understand him.
“Because of his actions, terrible things happened to Lizzie,” Ingelsby says. “But we tried to approach every character with that in mind, even Robbie. We don't agree with everything Robbie does, but why does he do it? I felt the same way about Mare from Easttown. For Grasso, I want people to feel, “I don't like what he did and the pain he caused and the devastation of his actions, but I can at least understand why he did it.” All the characters in this show were in some sense trapped, trying to escape circumstances in which they were both complicit and not complicit.”
“If people end up hating Grasso, then they hate Grasso,” Frankel says. “That's what good television is, right? It's polarizing. So if people want to dislike it, then they should, and they have the right to. But if they want to feel the humanity in it, then they should. I don't feel the need to defend it because Brad's script will do that on its own. When you watch episode seven, you'll have a much clearer understanding of what's behind the scenes.”
At the end of episode six, Tom confronts Grasso, accusing him of being the mole. Grasso refuses to admit his guilt and encourages Tom to pursue him. The scene was not in the original script; Ingelsby added it midway through production.
“That’s what Brad does,” Frankel says. “Who writes a scene of this level in the middle of filming a show? He says, “I think we're missing a scene between Grasso and Tom, and I just wrote it.” It was the best script I've ever had to put on screen. As far as the level of writing goes, I'm not sure I've ever had a scene like this before. I can't imagine what this episode was like before that scene.”
In several episodes, Grasso opened up to Tom, a former priest, and clearly admired him. Ingelsby wanted a scene where Grasso almost dared Tom to knock him down.
“We have to believe that Grasso has been doing this for years,” Ingelsby says. “He's not going to give up that easily, right? And there's a reason he's gotten away with it in the past. I wanted that scene to be filled with betrayal and pain, but at the same time Grasso was digging in and saying, 'Okay, well, let's see what you've got, Tom.' I wanted to end the episode with a moment of tension. How Tom is going to go after Grasso and how Grasso is going to try to keep his innocence or try to avoid scrutiny? It’s its own little exciting moment.”
Ultimately, Task talks about the power of forgiveness – a theme that continues until the ending. Tom needs to forgive his imprisoned son, and Grasso needs to forgive himself.
“It's such a liberating thing to be able to forgive people,” Ingelsby says. “If we could practice this more in our daily lives, I often think about how it would impact those closest to us and our interactions with our children. It's such an important thing. It seems easy to talk about, but people really have a hard time forgiving. So why not make a show about it? If it inspires someone to be more willing to forgive, then maybe we've done our job. Lead with compassion and kindness and let go shame and anger, then maybe we did something right.”
