Mark Ruffalo’s HBO Thriller Task Reaches New Heights With Episode 5

WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for Task episode 5!

After memorably starring as a detective in David Fincher’s acclaimed film Zodiac in 2007, Mark Ruffalo is back on the crime thriller scene as an agent tracking down killers in HBO’s Task. While Task has been dominating HBO Max’s streaming charts since its debut on September 7, the series has continued to face a challenge regarding audience reviews compared to critical reception.

With Task being Brad Ingelsby’s first HBO crime series after Mare of Easttown, the Emmy-winning 2021 murder mystery smash, the expectations were extremely high coming into the premiere. Task is also a “howcatchem” cat and mouse-style story rather than a murder mystery, so the adjustment to the new format wasn’t instantly met with overwhelmingly positive reception from audiences.

Currently, Task’s Rotten Tomatoes score from critics impressively matches Mare of Easttown with a 95% rating. Its audience score on the same platform has been disappointingly hovering between just 59–61% for the past few episodes, with the series’ slow start commonly being cited as a reason for lower reviews. However, Task episode 5’s high-momentum story completely turns that around.

Task Just Hit Its New Peak On October 5 With Only 2 Episodes Left

While Task episodes 1 and 2 had a slower start, the series truly hits its stride with episode 5, which finally gives it the Heat moment it’s been building up to. Task episode 3’s ending gave the series a boost by revealing there was a secret informant within the task force led by Mark Ruffalo’s Tom, with episode 4 then kicking it up a notch by increasing the suspense around the informant and killing off a major character.

Task episode 5 takes that suspense from episode 4 and doubles it. In this episode, we finally see Task’s two main characters meet face-to-face for the first time as Tom makes the risky decision to drive to Robbie’s house alone. The confrontation culminates in Robbie forcing Tom at gunpoint to drive him to the “meet spot” for a drug deal, though Tom continues trying to convince Robbie he can still stop and “go home.”

The entire car ride and sequence in which Task wants us to believe Robbie is going to kill Tom and leave him in the woods are impossible to look away from, and provide a beautiful encapsulation of the series’ underlying themes about fatherhood, guilt, revenge, forgiveness, fate, and religion. It took five episodes, but Task episode 5’s Tom and Robbie scenes were worth the slow-burn buildup.

Not to mention, Task episode 5 was simultaneously scored by the tension of revealing that Fabien Frankel’s Anthony Grasso is the informant. He meets with Jayson and reveals Sam is still alive, with Grasso also simultaneously messaging the Dark Hearts about Robbie’s meetup, trying to save Tom from Robbie and the Dark Hearts, and working to keep his partnership secret.

With so many moving parts finally all coming together, Task episode 5 successfully pays off the patience that may have been required from its early outings. “Vagrants” helps Task reach a new peak in quality, which episodes 6 and 7 now have more pressure to top.

Audiences Who Stopped Watching Task Should Give It A Second Chance Before The Finale

Many of the negative reviews from audiences for Task noted that they had given up on the series after the first couple episodes. While its slow-burn nature may have turned away certain viewers, the intensity and quality of Task episode 5 should finally convince those audience members to come back.

Since Task only has seven episodes total, the HBO miniseries is also quickly drawing to a close. There’s limited time to be able to catch up on the show in order to enjoy Task’s finale live on October 19, and episode 5 is more of a reason than ever to now give the series a second chance.