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The series finale episode of Task tied up several loose ends and featured a characteristically powerful turn from Mark Ruffalo. Through its previous six episodes, his grief-stricken FBI agent, Tom Brandis, had been nestled into the follow-up to his work, attempting to put an end to a string of violent robberies carried out by an unassuming family man. But in the finale, he gets his moment of consideration, played out in a beautifully subdued monologue.
(Also read: Task review: Brad Ingelsby’s crime drama is one of the year’s best, with Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey in excellent form)
(Spoiler ahead)
Ahead of the finale, HT caught up with the Emmy winner in a press conference, where he spoke about carrying out Tom’s arc, and what it meant for him as an actor to take on this part at this specific time in the world. Talking about his courtroom scene in the finale where he decides to forgive his stepson, Mark said, “It was a moment I was really nervous about. At the end of the day I started to feel that the simpler it was, the more we didn’t know what this was going to be and how this was going to go, the more impactful it would become.” (spoiler ends)
The actor thought for a moment about the show’s impact and shared one takeaway from it. “What is the function of faith in society?” he began. “Outside of virtue-signalling or being performative? What does it really look like when one includes empathy, forgiveness… How we rely on God, and rely on each other and the humanity that surrounds us, is what Task asks, according to me.”
‘It was harder than what I thought it was going to be’
The role of Tom Brandis demanded a great deal from the actor. When we first meet Tom in Task, we are not aware that he is a former priest turned FBI agent who has his adopted son in jail, convicted of the murder of his wife. His grief is worn out in silences and pauses, without any dramatic dialogue revealing the turns.
Mark reflects on the role and says, “The story, the journey he has to go through… it was harder than what I thought it was going to be. It was a lot. The world is heavy, and to add to that heaviness… I feel we are aching for a catharsis. We are left with so little grace, so little joy, so little beauty in human interaction.”
“So yes, it was difficult, but it was everything that I have learnt about life the hard way,” he concluded.
Task also stars Tom Pelphrey, Emilia Jones, Martha Plimpton, Alison Oliver, Fabien Frankel, Thuso Mbedu, Raul Castillo, and Silvia Dionicio. The show is created by Brad Inglesby, who made Mare of Easttown with Kate Winslet.
All episodes of Task are available to watch on JioHotstar.
