Task Episode 4 recap, “All Roads,” shocks fans with a brutal twist

TL;DR:

Cliff walks into a trap and is killed in a suffocation scene.
The task force sting fails after Ray’s phone is swapped by an insider.
Dark Hearts tighten control as Perry questions Jayson’s lies.
Robbie faces Maeve’s ultimatum and spirals toward a desperate choice.
Episode 4, “All Roads,” aired on September 28, 2025.

HBO’s Task hits a new peak of dread in episode 4, “All Roads.” The hour brings the show’s most harrowing death, a failed sting, and proof that someone inside the task force is feeding the enemy. It also locks the series to its core theme, fathers trying and failing to protect their families. The episode premiered on September 28, 2025.

Where things stand at the start

Robbie is hunted by the Dark Hearts and squeezed by the FBI. Maeve warns him to bring Sam in by morning or she will. Cliff chases a risky buy with help from Ray, the slippery ex cellmate who claims to have a new connect. The task force, led by Tom, plans to hijack that meet with a sting at Bailey Park.

The plan looks clean. Use Ray’s seized phone to lure Cliff, then grab him before the bikers do. The step they miss is inside the building. Someone swaps Ray’s real phone for a decoy and siphons intel to the Dark Hearts.

The sting that falls apart

Agents flood the park while Cliff heads to the meet. Paranoia buzzes. Tom has been told to suspect everyone. Lizzie freezes at a key moment, and the operation loses tempo as the window closes. By the time the team realizes the comms are compromised, Cliff is already exposed.

Across town, the Dark Hearts move with purpose. Perry and Jayson treat the FBI like a step behind, which they are, thanks to that leak. The gang reaches Cliff first. The sting ends as a silent failure.

The death that changes the series

Cliff is grabbed, beaten, and tortured. He will not flip on Robbie. The scene ends with plastic wrapped tight over his face until he suffocates. The production confirms the sequence was performed practically, with Raúl Castillo pushing to the edge while the team monitored safety. It is a stomach-turning finish, and it lands because Cliff felt like the show’s heart.

Castillo has spoken about the intensity of the work, the hours of prosthetics, and how the episode’s violence tears at the show’s tender core of friendship and fatherhood. That context tracks with how the series has framed Robbie and Cliff since the pilot.

Who is the mole?

Episode 4 points in several directions. The clearest thread is the phone swap that turned the sting into bait. Kathleen McGinty has a whispered call that sounds like she is running her own game. Others in the room behave oddly. The hour stops short of naming the traitor, but it draws a tight circle around task force leadership. Expect that reveal to drive the next chapter.

Dark Hearts fracture from within

Perry finally clocks that Jayson is not honest about Billy’s death or the missing drugs. The gang’s patience is thin, and their methods get uglier. The internal mistrust mirrors the task force’s doubt, and both sides become more dangerous.

Robbie’s road narrows

Maeve’s deadline forces Robbie to choose between saving his family and saving himself. He hears the warning, but he is in too deep. With Cliff gone, he has no partner and no plan. The series now isolates him, which should make episode 5 even harsher.

Themes that click into place

Critics read the hour as the show’s sharpest statement on fatherhood. Three men, three broken homes, one town full of bad choices. Episode 4 connects those threads, then snaps one by killing the most hopeful friend in the story. That is why the ending stings.

Key beats and who they affect

Beat	What happens	Who it hits
Phone swap	Ray’s phone is replaced, intel leaks	Tom, task force
Park sting	FBI arrives late, loses Cliff	Lizzie, Grasso, Tom
Cliff’s capture	Dark Hearts snatch Cliff first	Cliff, Robbie
Suffocation	Jayson kills Cliff	Robbie, Perry, Jayson
Maeve’s line	Bring Sam in by morning	Robbie, Maeve, Sam

Why it matters

The show just removed its moral center. That raises the cost of every choice. The task force is compromised, which means future operations are at risk. Dark Hearts believe fear works, so more public violence may follow. Robbie is cornered and may do something reckless to keep Sam safe.

Credits and schedule

“All Roads” was written by Brad Ingelsby from a story by Ingelsby and David Obzud, directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield, and aired on September 28, 2025. Episode 5 is slated for October 5 on HBO and Max.