The one thing we don’t discuss in this, our penultimate, recap of HBO’s Task is that the title of episode six is a play on a line from a poem by the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi. Sorry if you already knew that! We just thought its meaning was self-evident because there IS a river in this show.
What we do discuss is the significance of a riveting fight and chase scene -- the 19-minute-and-53-second opener that includes almost every major character in the show and that plays out before the title even appears on the screen. Such a flex, not a second wasted!
Task has been a show anchored in and pushed forward by the father issues of its main characters, Tom, Robbie, and Jayson/Perry. And in this episode, all three come to satisfying blows, amid copious amounts of hand-to-hand scrapping and grunting. Kudos to the “aurghnn!” mixer on this ep.
There is bad news, however, for people who are all moled-out on Task: we meet Grasso’s evil boss, with whom he has a queer S&M surrogate father–son dynamic. He is also a mole.
Good news still abounds, though: Gertie the chicken is back, and this time she’s a Lego. Birds continue to be everywhere on this show, which subscribes to the popular belief that every bird is a dead loved one checking in. Whatever you do, just keep cranes, herons, canaries, summer tanagers, hawks, and hummingbirds away from Kathleen McGinty’s Edible Arrangement. She’s eating that whole bouquet of room-temp honeydew herself.
Here’s what else we cover:
Good night, sweet Doodle
Grasso’s cigarette smoking - yeah right
Tom’s search for a replacement son
What constitutes a correct chicken impression
The power of two daughters vs. a dad
Robbie’s final moments in Tom’s arms
See you next week for our finale!
Matt
