It Wasn't In His Nature
The following contains spoilers for HBO show, Task.
Task is a cat and mouse story of two men, on opposite sides of the law, who have their families at the centre. Yet the undercurrent of the whole show seems to be their personal connections with nature. These interactions with their environment, punctuate many exchanges, particularly when they finally cross paths.
The river is constant. Robbie (played by Tom Pelphrey) constantly refers to how he and his (deceased) brother went swimming, regardless of the weather. They had a ritual of running water over the shoulders and chests so the cold wouldn’t stop their hearts. We see this through flashbacks. We see Robbie at the river with his children both in the past and present, with his wife, with friends after a job. He meets people at the river and other people meet at it too. Eventually, someone is killed at the river. The space where they went to cleanse is now dirty.
Sam, a kidnapped child, sees the river and wants to free a fish. A fish he caught whilst fishing, and that he doesn’t like the idea of eating. Sam leaves the car, not knowing that he is someone people are looking for. Sam develops a connection with one of the chickens at Robbie’s house, Gertie. Sam’s affection for Gertie helps keep him safe, even when he doesn’t know it. He is sheltered, both metaphorically and literally, in the chicken coop.
The fight scene which is the crescendo of the FBI, the motorbike gang and Robbie meeting takes place in the trees. It acts as a hinderance but also somewhere for them to hide and recoup between rounds.
Tom (Mark Ruffalo’s character) likes gardening and he likes birds. There are many cutaway shots of birds at the bird feeder, and some key conversations take place when Tom is in the garden. An episode called Vagrant, is named after a bird that gets lost from its flock and ends up outside the area where it would normally be. Tom shares this with Robbie when Robbie somewhat takes him hostage. Highlighting that Robbie is a good person who have found himself outside of his normal parameters, doing things he would not normally do (killing people, stealing). Robbie is too far gone by this point but lets Tom free in the forest. Walking via Robbie’s directions to find people, to then find his way home. Walking through the forest he is enamoured by the sun streaming through the leaves. They are golden. Tom is looking up and the sun beams down on his face. This is repeated when Robbie is in the car, being held by Tom as he dies. He too looks up and the sun beams down on his face through the car window.
It was the only way the whole ordeal could end.
Task is on HBO. It was created by Brad Inglesby, the create of Mare of Easttown, another great show.