‘Task’ has a bittersweet ending, just as Brad Ingelsby intended

(Spoilers ahead!)

The Delco-set crime thriller Task came to a gut-wrenching end on Sunday, tying up loose plot lines, killing off the bad guys, catching the mole, and granting the most aggrieved characters happy endings.

The finale was also a real tearjerker, thanks to a profound and powerful performance by Mark Ruffalo.

The veteran actor, who recently joked about being in his “sad dad” era, is the central patriarch in a show that — underneath all the gunfighting and backstabbing — provides a brooding, layered examination of fatherhood in various forms.

After months of wallowing in a Phillies souvenir cup full of vodka, Ruffalo’s Tom Brandis promises to be a better father to his adopted teen daughter Emily (Silvia Dionicio). To prove it, Tom steps up to deliver the long-debated family statement at his adopted son Ethan’s (Andrew Russel) court hearing, where he was being tried for accidentally killing his mother during a schizophrenic episode.

All season, Tom struggles to face Ethan. But he, finally, stops running away and tells the judge about the difficulties and joys of Ethan’s childhood before asking his son to look him in the eye.

“Ethan, I don’t want you to live with the shame anymore,” says Tom. “I forgive you. I love you. I’m not here today to tell the court when my son should be released. That’s not up to me. I’m here today to let you know, Ethan, that when that day comes, I’ll be ready. Come straight home. I’ll be there waiting for you.”

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Meanwhile, Tom has acted like a father figure to another boy — Sam (Ben Doherty), the gentle boy who was kidnapped by Robbie (Tom Pelphrey). Tom, a registered foster parent, decides to bring Sam, an orphan, home from a shelter. They develop a close bond; though Tom insists that it’s a temporary situation, there’s a possibility Sam could stay with the Brandis family long-term.

When a family is found for Sam, though, Tom confronts the painful question of whether the boy should go. His priest friend Daniel (Isaach de Bankolé) suggests that Tom might not be in a good place to raise a young kid, especially once Ethan returns home.

“Have you done that good thing for the boy, or for yourself?” asks Daniel. He tells Tom to be “unselfish” with his love and “recognize that what’s best for you may not be what’s best for the boy.”

Ultimately, Tom makes the heartbreaking decision to let Sam go. It’s a plot choice that creator Brad Ingelsby fought to keep, though he anticipates it might upset some viewers.

“I’m a little nervous about the ending, because I feel like people probably want Sam to stay with Tom. But I also felt like the story was about Tom and Ethan, and that has to be what Tom is ready for at the end,” said Ingelsby, also the creator of Mare of Easttown. “We had to fight HBO on that.”

Executives at the network thought it would be better to end the finale after the courtroom scene, but Ingelsby believed that would be a “betrayal of Tom as a character.”

“I really wanted [Tom’s answer] to be, ‘No, I’m getting ready for my son. I’m not replacing him with this boy, who’s this cute little kid that everyone loves.’ Nope. We have to do something better than that,” said Ingelsby. “I’m sure we’ll catch some slack, like, ‘Why didn’t he just keep the boy?’ Which I know people will want — but I just couldn’t.”

Parenting requires sacrifice, and the fathers in Task exemplify that. Tom gives up Sam so he can dedicate himself to his biological daughter, Sara (Phoebe Fox), Emily and, eventually, Ethan. Robbie sacrifices himself to ensure that his niece Maeve (Emilia Jones) and his kids could live comfortably after his death. Within the biker gang, Perry (Jamie McShane), can’t bring himself to kill Jayson (Sam Keeley), whom he considers a son, despite receiving multiple commands to do so. Even after Jayson stabs him, Perry, with his dying breath, warns him of an impending betrayal.

It may be a bittersweet ending, but that’s just as Ingelsby intended.