Note: The following story contains spoilers from “Task” Season 1, Episode 6.
Throughout Brad Ingelsby’s “Task,” Alison Oliver’s inexperienced yet beloved Lizzie Stover faltered when it mattered most, but she finally reached her potential just moments before meeting a tragic end.
With nearly every major player of the HBO series convened in the Pennsylvania woods for Robbie’s supposed drug deal after both the task force and the Dark Hearts were tipped off, Episode 6 consists of a massive shootout between all parties, which Oliver admitted she was both excited and nervous to shoot given the “life or death” nature of the complex sequence. Lizzie spends most of the shootout with a burst eardrum after Grasso (Fabien Frankel) shoots two members of the Dark Hearts right next to her ear, but Oliver noted the loss of one of her senses helps Lizzie zero in her next steps in the critical situation.
“I felt like so many odds were against her,” Oliver told TheWrap. “She was on her own, she was either going to get killed or wait for someone to save her, or she was going to have to just take it into her own hands and solve it, or figure it out, what she was going to do, and she does, and once you sort of make that step, then you’re like, ‘Oh, I can do anything.’ “
It’s in that determined yet “disoriented” headspace that Lizzie jumps to action when Aleah (Thuso Mbedu) asks if someone can get to the bridge to call in for backup for Kathleen (Martha Plimpton) after a near fatal shot. “For someone who can’t trust their instincts for a lot of the show and freezes in these environments, you just see her totally acting on instinct then in that section,” Oliver said.
It’s on the bridge while calling in Kathleen’s injury that Lizzie meets her own tragic fate when the Dark Hearts’ car slams into her when she’s unable to hear verbal warnings from Grasso and Aleah. Aleah gives Jayson (Sam Keeley) and Perry (Jamie McShane) hell and shoots up the car as they drive away, but Lizzie was ultimately not spared from the fatal hit.
“It was really the beginning of who she was potentially going to be,” Oliver said. “It is really sad because you get to see the journey that she goes on in building that sort of confidence.”
Below, Oliver unpacks her early conversations with Ingelsby about the role, and reveals whether Lizzie suspected Grasso was the mole.
TheWrap: What were your early conversations with Brad about the role like, and how did the character evolve once you got on set and started bringing the words on the page to life?
Oliver: I’d only read the first episode, and then I auditioned, and so I didn’t know the trajectory of the character, I just had that first scene, when she’s screaming at her ex on the phone, and then the first task meting with all them. I just was like, “Oh my God, who is this person?” The idea of that feels so fun, of playing this mouthy state trooper from Delco. Once me and Brad started talking, and he explained the trajectory of the character to me, I just felt really moved by her. I felt really moved by all of the characters, because they’re all searching for some meaning in their lives, or some sort of hope — none of them necessarily love their lives, really, but they’re getting up every day and trying. For Lizzie, she’s probably not in the correct, as of right now, job, but I don’t think she really had many options available to her and was maybe told, “this is an avenue you should go down,” and does it, but doesn’t really back herself enough to look at it in the eye and go, “is this what I want to do?”
As the show goes on, I think she actually finds strength through the connections that she’s making with people, and actually realizes that she can do it and she can build in confidence, but a lot of the work for me and the conversations I had with Brad were about basically building this person up to the point where you meet her, because she obviously brings a lot of baggage.
Lizzie is a very eccentric character, and is sometimes even the comic relief in such a serious show. What did you want to come through in your portrayal of her and her eccentricities?
What I received from the page I just wanted to put back out, and I received someone who — I know people like this. It’s just so amazing — It’s like having no awareness of … how disruptive you are, having no filter, and then afterwards, realizing, like, “Oh, I think everyone’s mad at me.” It was such a recognizable person to me … I found that really endearing as well, and I found that really funny. As an actor, there’s something really fun about getting to play someone who is quite chaotic and unpredictable and abrasive but, underneath all of that, is clearly very insecure and unaware of … who she is at the same time. I felt lucky, because I felt like a lot of the scenes that I got to do were just very fun … it didn’t feel heavy at the time, if that makes sense. I was sort of craving that, I wanted to do something like that.
Lizzie and Grasso quickly start a relationship. What is it about Grasso that Lizzie is drawn to?
I always feel like Lizzie’s quite suspicious with all men — I think she’s quite defensive, because I don’t think she’s had a lot of nice men in her life … and I feel like when she meets Grasso, they clash in the beginning, and then he reaches out to her. I think it’s really the kindness that he starts to show her [that] she gets quite struck by because I think she’s suspicious of it. When she starts to experience that, she just wants to be around him. It’s probably a lonely thing, to be joining this task force — none of them know each other; it’s a really high stakes environment, so you’re probably looking for connection and solidarity with people anyway.
Was there any part of Lizzie that suspected Grasso was the mole?
I don’t think [so]. It’s better that she [didn’t know].
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
“Task” airs Sundays at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
