Photo: Anika Molnar/BBCA
There’s a certain type of Killing Eve episode where the only way to describe the overall tone is sour. The violence is getting darker than usual, the vision of humanity is darker, the humor is darker. “Don’t Eat” is one of those episodes.
On the one hand, episodes like this serve as an important reminder that the world these people live in is downright grotesque – no matter how great the clothes or places are, these are people living amid murder and violence. On the other hand, these episodes usually cause nausea and embarrassment when viewed. It’s as if any Killing Eve episode has a sliding scale between the almost bubblegum pleasure of its more “hilarious” episodes and those where Villanelle, in hideous denim shorts, kills two people in a tent.
These murders are the inevitable result of her attempts to join the church, a move anticipated both by Eve’s question about whether people can really change, and by the fact that this is Villanelle, come on. Her incessant drive to be good, or some far-fetched set of characteristics she imagines will lead to it, is frustrated because she doesn’t really understand human dynamics. She suggests that venting the pastor’s dark past in front of everyone on the campaign will draw them to her side, not understanding that their allegiance will be to him and not to her, and the concept that such a group can be invested in helping people overcome their past even though she herself joined for this very reason. Her desire to be good will also come to a standstill, given her own desire to justify herself – take, for example, her explanation of Mei that since people began to think she was evil, she believed them. It’s a weird meta moment because as a viewer you see Jodie Comer pouring her heart out to May with tears in her eyes, and so you can understand in that moment why May is so eager to believe her. Villanelle’s success in fooling people, despite her apparently monstrous nature, is largely due to the fact that people are so willing to believe her for the best. If she wasn’t beautiful, stylish, and capable of bursting into tears at the right moment, would it work again and again?
It is Mae Villanelle’s depressing forgiveness that makes the episode’s sourness so distinct. There is no reward for believing the best in Villanelle, forgiving her, or forging any connection with her. There is only a brief and false belief that she is something she is not, and a range of how much that naivety will cost you. If anything, the reason Eva has lasted so long is because her fascination with Villanelle’s dark side means she has no interest in Villanelle’s attempts to redeem herself, and won’t believe her when she tries.
And, as usual, her own desire to stick her hand in the fire gets Eve into even more trouble. There is a moment when such behavior becomes not so much a character trait as a support for the narrative. Instead of gathering information and learning more about who Helen is, Eve just storms in and has her usual sexual but violent interaction with a dangerous woman. The twisty investigations of the Twelve have suffered from this problem all the time – from time to time we are given faces that could be connected to the Twelve, then Eva or someone else breaks in and kills them, and in general there is no real movement forward. concept. We’ve been hearing about this sinister group for several seasons now, and it’s still not entirely clear what the group is. Another new face was introduced this season, and Yusuf spent the entire episode pointlessly telling Eve not to get close to Helen, but we the viewers know she’ll just ignore him and do it anyway.
Photo: Anika Molnar/BBCA
Meanwhile, Caroline is stuck in a land of simple plot twists where she is threatened with a dead rat (after escaping? Why not continue caring for her so she stays there?) and then, in a snap, explains that she actually defected because that she thinks the Russians will help solve the mystery of her son’s murder. Her daughter doesn’t deserve a mention, even though we spent all of last season with her.
It’s all a bit goofy and sour, with the various leaders stuck too far apart to fuel the interpersonal conflict that this show usually thrives on. Carolyn and Villanelle are treading water in unfamiliar surroundings, and Eve, at least on a superficial level, is moving forward… but completely alone, with employers that the show didn’t bother to introduce, and a love interest that was given almost no characterization other than ~fitness . ~. As messy as this world is under surface-level polish, it’s still completely immersive at best, a warped vision of the conflicts between the rich and powerful in Europe, hidden inside the antagonistic love affair between its dual protagonists. When you spend too much of an episode being distracted by thoughts like “come on, a large crowd of people can now identify Villanelle at a glance, and she killed two people,” it becomes a lot less exciting.
Random observations
- Poor horny Barbara has to be told to stay in her tent and then gets thrown during a trust exercise, but she gets her moment back when she chastises Villanelle… and lives through the experience.
- These denim shorts were a crime against Jodie Comer and also against the very concept of denim shorts. No, this is not a reference to Yort. I would never associate him with those terrible Yorkies.
- Speaking of fashion, we’re fast moving towards Eva being the most stylishly dressed person on the show without even upgrading her clothes.
- Will this be the end of Villanelle Jesus? It was short.
- “More proof that going camping is never a good idea,” she said, nodding thoughtfully from her city apartment that she never leaves.