‘Task’ Star Fabien Frankel on Grasso’s Catholic Guilt, Mourning the Death of [SPOILER] and His Showdown With Tom

SPOILER WARNING: This story contains spoilers from Episode 6 of HBO’s “Task,” now streaming on HBO Max.

As one of the young recruits on HBO’s “Task,” Delaware County detective Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel) is an enigmatic figure, always ready to spring into action to help Tom Brandis (Mark Ruffalo) locate a missing child in a small-town Philadelphia suburb. Throughout the series, though, small hints have suggested that someone in the tight-knit FBI task force has been leaking information to the motorcycle gang the Dark Hearts, leaving Tom to wonder who could be the mole inside his inner circle of colleagues.

It’s in Episode 5 that we learn that Grasso has been leaking information to Jayson (Sam Keeley), one of the leaders of the Dark Hearts about the whereabouts of Cliff Broward (Raúl Castillo), revealing that Sam (Ben Doherty) is alive and has been staying with Robbie Prendergrast (Tom Pelphrey) after the deaths of Sam’s parents during a drug-house robbery.

As Episode 6 begins with the FBI and Dark Hearts both surrounding Robbie in the middle of the woods, everything that Grasso has worked toward suddenly comes to a halt after the Dark Hearts murder Lizzie (Alison Oliver), his closest confidante on the task force, leaving her body on the side of the road after running her over. While Grasso attempts to grapple with his grief over Lizzie’s shocking death, he finds himself cornered by Tom about his past with the nefarious motorcycle gang.

Variety spoke with Frankel about Grasso and Tom’s final confrontation, whether the detective was using Lizzie in earlier episodes, and the Catholic guilt riddled throughout the series.

At the beginning of Episode 6, Grasso and Lizzie find themselves in the middle of crossfire with the Dark Hearts in the woods. When one of the Dark Hearts is about to shoot at Lizzie, Grasso fires the gun right next to her ear, which causes her world to go silent. When he fires the weapon, is he entirely aware of what’s going on with Lizzie as she’s attempting to recover during the heat of the moment?

He’s aware that if he can’t solve or create the potential to solve the version of this situation, things for him are going to go horribly wrong. What he doesn’t quite realize until Lizzie is shot near her ear is that [his action] is going to cost the lives of people that he genuinely cares about. 

We see Grasso tell Perry (Jamie McShane) and Jayson to flee the scene, which ultimately leads them to killing Lizzie as they run her over on the bridge. After everything Grasso has been through with the Dark Hearts, what is the moment that he regrets his past with them? Is it because of Lizzie’s death, or is it much earlier in the season?

He always has had a tinge of regret about getting involved with the Dark Hearts. There’s the Catholic guilt complex, which is what he has, like “I’ve done wrong and I must repent,” but obviously at no point during the first three episodes is there any awareness that it’s going to escalate where it does. Lizzie’s death is ultimately the overshadowing moment where all his worst nightmares are realized.

Everyone keeps telling Grasso to move on from Lizzie’s death, as he’s actively still grieving her while the task force house is getting investigated. We see him throughout the episode as he’s reflecting on his short time with her, and how she’s made this impression on him.

He’s already developed a huge bond with her. It’s funny, because I was getting asked in press if Lizzie is a part of his plan of if he was using her all along, which is what I didn’t believe. I know that when Brad [Ingelsby] was writing the show, he didn’t think that was the case. These are two people who genuinely really get along and develop a real friendship. He never ends up sleeping with her due to the fact that he’s afraid of the marriage bed and that he doesn’t want to do more wrong in the eyes of his Catholicism and his relationship with her, per his relationship with the Dark Hearts. He just genuinely cares about her.

I never saw that he was using Lizzie, especially during one of their first scenes together in Episode 2 when he makes everyone in the bar that she frequents cheer for her.

I’m glad you didn’t see it like that, because he’s just trying to make her feel good! He cares about her and he can see that she’s a bit of a lost puppy in this police force. He feels sorry for her — not that he feels sorry for her in every aspect, but in that aspect of her relationship with being a police officer. 

In the final moments of the episode, Tom approaches Grasso about the past complaints against him at his previous job, and that he’s aware of his past with the Dark Hearts. The two have a conversation about past sins, and there’s a line about how “God doesn’t seem to forget,” in reference to Tom’s past as a priest. If Grasso had confessed to Tom in that exact moment, would he have been forgiven?

That’s such a great question. The whole point of the conversation is forgiven by who? I’m not a very religious person, but I believe in God and I don’t know where I identify in terms of the religious spectrum, but certainly what I feel is that forgiveness has to come from within yourself. I guess if within yourself comes from God, then I don’t know if Tom forgiving Grasso would make him feel forgiven. Brad talked so much about it, and he was saying that when he was a kid that he really struggled with his Catholicism. My mom’s Catholic and I believe a lot of Catholic people have to grow up with this feeling of guilt in the eyes of the Lord. 

For Grasso, I don’t know if that guilt would ever be completely alleviated. I suppose that the reason he wants to turn himself in is to take some of that weight off. He would probably have an easier time forgiving himself if he confessed.

How does the final line that Tom says to him before he leaves stick with him internally? Tom gives him the chance to confess about leaking the information to the Dark Hearts, and Grasso chooses not to.

It’s funny, because we talked about that scene and that line so much on set. Brad had written a version of that scene where the scene ended with Tom leaving and saying something like “I’m coming for you,” and Grasso says “So come.” The idea is that it’s Grasso’s last stand. It’s a true moment of defiance, even if he knows in his subconscious that he is going to turn himself in already by that point.

You co-founded a production company with your brother called “Marcel Monique Pictures” last year, around the time that you were filming on “Task.” What did you learn from working with Brad Ingelsby and the team behind the series that you would love to bring onto your company’s future projects?

What Brad does and has done better than anyone I’ve ever met is surround himself with the kindest people to work with. Brad’s choice is always thinking about who is the person that is going to make this experience a more enjoyable one, rather than who is the best person for the job. I was like, “You know what? That’s the way to make movies.” Make them with people you love and work with your friends and family. Take chances on people you love, because they’ll work the hardest for and with you because you’ll get rewarded tenfold.

This interview has been edited and condensed.