IR TV Review: TASK - EPISODE 5 (“Vagrants”) [HBO]
The downhill spiral and ascension that some of the characters seem to take on "Task" belies a sense of circumstances that have brought them to this point. Episode 5 entitled "Vagrants" shows a high point when Tom Pelphrey who plays Robbie, a down on his luck robber and Mark Ruffalo who plays slovenly Special Agent Tom Brandis finally cross paths. The show at that point in the episode had already created a lyricism that was a little more pronounced that earlier episodes with us finally seeing the sibling element that had been alluded to with Robbie and Billy...and the loss that Robbie feels. Erin (Margarita Levieva) also plays a central part here and in a way she reflects a certain sadness and consequence that we might have seen "The Sopranos". Bad guys make bad decisions as well. Jamie McShane as Perry, the head of the biker club, falls into this trap as well but the reality of it does sink in. The good thing about this episode is that every character is making a wrong choice.
Some are done that result in a kind of luck while others are forced down a much darker path. Certain mysteries become clearer but the way Ruffalo's team is built, one is meant to suspect everyone has something very specific to hide. But the real philosophical and chess game of the episode happens when Robbie and Tom interact both because the introduction and the way they communicate is specific with both knowing more than the other until one needs to take the upper hand. The interesting and ultimately important aspect is the element of empathy we see in Robbie even when he is doing bad things. One understands that perhaps in many ways, it can only end badly for him. He is not a bad guy per se but he has done bad things. But the writing is quite effective especially in the way the episode begins and ends in the notion of coldness and warmth which is a metaphor that is specifically used throughout with water. But it is a specific car drive and its aftermath that really sticks with the viewer. A-
By Tim Wassberg
