‘Task’ Star Fabien Frankel Says Grasso’s Hilarious “Marriage Bed” Line Comes From a Sweet Place: “He Genuinely, Really Respects Her”

This week’s episode of HBO‘s Task was predictably full of grisly violence and complex moral quandaries. It also had some lighter moments, though, that evoked a full on rom-com.

**Spoilers for Task Episode 4 “All Roads,” now streaming on HBO MAX**

In the middle of Task Episode 4 “All Roads,” the flirtation between FBI agents Lizzie Stover (Alison Oliver) and Anthony Grasso (Fabien Frankel) finally gets frisky. After an intense day on the job, the two go out drinking and even dancing. Needless to say, Grasso ends the night in bed with Stover. However, just as things are about to get juicy, the very Catholic boy freaks out because he realizes they are about to have sex in the exact bed Lizzie shared with her ex-husband.

Grasso stops kissing Lizzie to ask her if they’re currently in the “marriage bed,” prompting an adorably awkward standoff that probably had you giggling. It certainly had the cast and crew laughing.

“I think when we were shooting it, we were mostly giggling because it was just so funny,” Task Episode 4 director Salli Richardson-Whitfield said. “When he’s standing over her and he’s like, ‘Is this the, um, the marriage bed?’ ‘Well, yeah, in another time.’”

When we asked Task stars Fabien Frankel and Alison Oliver about this scene, Frankel was surprisingly sincere about what’s going through Grasso’s head.

“There’s something quite odd about the idea that someone’s shared a life with someone, a really intimate life with someone, and I guess in his head he’s like, ‘This is the home that they built together,’” Task star Fabien Frankel said. “Suddenly you feel maybe like you’re invading someone else’s private space.”

Frankel explained that Task creator and showrunner Brad was always emphatic that the moment was about respect.

“It’s because he genuinely, really respects her and he doesn’t want to do something that feels disrespectful,” Frankel said. “He’s obviously a very Catholic young man, so I think he’s quite principled in that sense.”

Nevertheless, both Frankel and Oliver still saw the humor in the scene.

“I think it’s less about the marriage bed and it’s more about the fact that these guys have got to work together on quite an intense case the next morning,” Frankel said, laughing.

Oliver also began to giggle. “It’s quite irresponsible, isn’t it?”

“Isn’t it? It’s like Day 3…” Frankel said.

“There’s a child…” Oliver said.

“There’s a child missing and he’s just going to go and make love with this woman in the marriage bed!” Frankel said.

Richardson-Whitfield also credited Oliver with making the moment so funny. “She’s so sweet and endearing and she’s always funny,” she said. “She just brings this levity and humor to her work that is needed in such a dark show.”

“So just having the two of them, we just giggled the whole time.”

Task Episode 5 premieres next Sunday, October 5 on HBO and HBO Max.