Task Episode 1 Ending Drops the Peaches Reveal Everyone Was Waiting For

HBO pulls no punches with Task. The show opens by introducing a crew you can actually vibe with... then yanks the rug. If you were wondering what happens to Peaches in the premiere: the answer is brutal, fast, and changes the whole board.

So, does Peaches make it out?

No. Peaches dies at the end of Episode 1.

Here is how it goes down: Robbie and Cliff plan a robbery and bring Peaches along. They think they are walking into a house with two people. Instead, a third armed guy pops up and shoots Peaches in the face. The whole thing turns into a bloodbath that leaves the residents dead and Peaches on the floor, while Robbie and Cliff barely make it out alive.

The job that went sideways

The target is a Dark Hearts motorcycle gang stash house. Owen Teague plays Peaches, the crew's loose, funny presence who makes the early scenes feel almost comfortable. Then the gang member barges in mid-robbery, and that comfort vaporizes. The moment is sudden and nasty — not subtle, and absolutely meant to rattle you.

The kid who saw too much

Complicating everything: a kid named Sam sees Robbie and Cliff right after the murders. Instead of silencing a witness, Robbie grabs Sam and takes him home. That choice immediately puts him at odds with Cliff and paints a target on them from the law and the Dark Hearts. The episode closes on Robbie carrying Sam into his house — a deliberate mirror of an earlier scene with his nephew — because, for all the chaos, Robbie has a code.

Series creator Brad Ingelsby has even compared Robbie to Robert De Niro's thief in Heat. You can feel that in the way Robbie operates: violent world, strict rules, warped sense of responsibility.

Why kill Peaches?

Ingelsby says it was a purposeful shock. He told Entertainment Weekly that Peaches' death was about setting the tone and raising the stakes immediately.

"It lets an audience know that everything is on the table"

Because Peaches clicks so fast as a likable presence, knocking him out this early hurts — and makes Robbie's choices feel that much more dangerous.

Ruffalo warned you

Mark Ruffalo plays Tom, a priest-turned-FBI agent (yes, really — and yes, that is very much this show's vibe). Before the premiere, he said Task would feel like this:

"getting your heart torn out"

The ending of Episode 1 cashes that check.

What the premiere sets up next

• Sam is now a witness who can tie Robbie and Cliff to a triple homicide.
• Robbie's decision to protect the kid creates friction with Cliff and exposes their crew.
• Tom (Ruffalo) and law enforcement have a case that will draw a lot of heat — literally and figuratively.
• The Dark Hearts gang just lost a stash house and some of their own; retaliation feels inevitable.

Bottom line: Task announces itself with a gut punch. Peaches is gone, the fallout is immediate, and the show is clearly ready to get messy fast.