Task season 1 episode 6 ending explained: Did Robbie sell the drugs?

Task season 1 episode 6 wrapped up Robbie Prendergrast's storyline once and for all, revealing that he had never planned on selling the fentanyl for profit. Instead, he had created a diversion plan to keep his family safe. Robbie worked with Shelley, who sold the drugs to her dealer and split the money into two halves, one destined for Maeve and the kids, and the other to facilitate Shelley's leaving her abusive husband, Ray.

Robbie's objective was to entice both the Dark Hearts and the police into the forest while making sure the money found its way to Maeve. The plan worked at a horrific price. In the ensuing battle, Jayson and Perry realized Robbie's location, and a bloody shootout erupted. Robbie received life-threatening injuries in the battle against Jayson and died shortly thereafter.

Although dead, the scheme served its purpose, as Maeve received the money eventually, and the last quarry shot represented Robbie's contentment in fulfilling his final task.

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Robbie's diversion and sacrifice in Task season 1 episode 6

A still from the episode (Image via YouTube/HBO Max)

The death of Robbie served as the emotional and narrative climax in Task season 1 episode 6. The ruse started with him arranging to hold a meeting with a potential buyer of drugs while covertly making sure that Shelley made the fentanyl sale elsewhere. He would pose as bait, luring both the Dark Hearts gang and the FBI to a desolate area in an effort to protect his family against reprisals.

The encounter unraveled into a disaster when Jayson caught on to Robbie and his "bag of fentanyl." Gunfire erupted, and the woods turned into a war zone between the task force and The Dark Hearts. Tom, Lizzie, and Grasso battled Perry and his gangmen, while Robbie stood against Jayson himself. Their encounter ended with Robbie getting a fatal stab wound.

Tom tried to save him, but Robbie died en route to medical attention. Although his scheme cost him his life, it did ensure his final desire for Maeve and his children. His staged sacrifice redefined his narrative from criminal failure to redemptive resolution, concluding his moral conflict.

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How did Lizzie die in Task season 1 episode 6?

Lizzie in Task season 1 episode 6 (Image via YouTube/HBO Max)

Lizzie's demise highlighted the violent cost of Grasso's betrayal and the broader breakdown of the integrity of the task force in Task season 1 episode 6. As the fight took place in the woods, Lizzie tried to maintain her ground and offer cover, but Grasso's shots burst her eardrum and left her incapable of hearing an oncoming truck.

While Perry and Jayson were trying to escape, they crashed and killed her immediately. Lizzie was not killed intentionally, but it was a direct consequence of Grasso's previous choice to give information to the Dark Hearts. His behavior had created a chain of events that jeopardized the operation and resulted in the death of his fellow officer.

After the incident, Grasso was wracked with guilt, wrestling with the fact that his deception had killed the one person who had trusted him. The scene depicted his remorse as not redemption but consequence. Lizzie's death also represented the wider human price of entrenched corruption and how misplaced loyalty and concealment resulted in irreparable tragedy.

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Task season 1 episode 6: Tom's confrontation

Following the deaths of Robbie and Lizzie, Tom addressed the moral and institutional consequences within the task force. Towards the end of Task season 1 episode 6, he faced off against Grasso directly, accusing him of being the mole who had led the compromised operations.

While Grasso had accepted partial blame, he defended his actions as efforts to maintain control in the face of conflicting loyalties. Although an investigation was initiated by Internal Affairs, the FBI could not find conclusive evidence linking Grasso with the leaks. The task force was eventually dissolved, its reputation shattered by corruption and conflicting loyalties stacked upon one another.

Tom, disillusioned now, was determined to bring Grasso to justice beyond the system's failed structure. The episode dramatized this collapse as the ultimate breakdown of institutional control. With Tom's confrontation and Grasso's silence, the series concluded its penultimate arc on the understanding that Grasso's story is far from over.

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Task season 1 episode 6 is available to stream on HBO Max.

Edited by Somava