Do you remember when Villanelle wore beautiful outfits?
BBC America
We knew that by the end of Killing Eve, someone was going to die. And not just because the show is called Killing Eve.
The signs were there. The Romeo and Juliet parallels, the ’til death do us part conversation, the ‘Death’ tarot card, the psychiatrist advising Eve (Sandra Oh) to enjoy the little things in life. Because these little things are about to be cut.
The finale of Killing Eve’s fourth season — also the finale of the entire show — led to one of the most painful carpet moves imaginable. The show seemed geared towards Eve meeting her fateful end. But no. Killing Eve had to do a Game of Thrones. It had to challenge Reddit theories or just old, underrated happy endings and surprise us with an incredibly gruesome ending for Eve and Villanelle (Jodie Comer).
The second season finale.
Gareth Gatrell/BBCAmerica
Let’s make it short. Shortly after murdering the entirety of The Twelve, Villanelle is in the glow of her performance and hugging Eve as a happy couple, she is shot dead by Carolyn Martens’ snipers. Didn’t playing air guitar mean anything to Carolyn? Did she have to pretend she wanted one more round of truth or dare with Villanelle before making it impossible to ever play again?
It’s just another weird, out of character moment that tarnished Killing Eve’s final season. If you watched the very first episode and then that finale, you would think they were two different shows.
The authors played with our expectations right from the start. We all thought Villanelle would save Eve after that episode 7 cliffhanger, but no. Eve hits Gunn in the head with a rock, climbs a tree, jumps down from said tree and gouges Gunn’s eyes out with her bare fingers.
This season seemed geared towards proving Eve’s character growth, and Eve is proving her character growth in a way it probably never has before. She’s ready to maim, shoot and kill. She now has equal power in every possible relationship with Villanelle. Eve and her fingernails can defend themselves.
Things have changed a lot.
BBC AMERICA
The sleeping bag scene is another prime example of the writers getting ahead of their audience. A reflection of the bed scene from Season 1 – it seemed like an obvious moment for Eve and Villanelle to finally share their first touching kiss. Instead – “Should we steal your stupid trailer?”
The kiss came at the most unlikely moment – after Eve and Villanelle peed in the bushes. It felt very much like Killing Eve, to the extent that’s possible in those later seasons, often described as a watered-down imitation of Season 1.
All in all, the first half of Episode 8 captured some of the old Killing Eve spark. We have another great needle drop – Eve and Villanelle eat Revel’s chocolate in the RV and nod to Don’t You Want Me from The Human League. And let’s have a moment of appreciation for Villanelle’s Chris Evans-esque sweater from Knives Out.
Then came the inevitable plot thrust towards The Twelve. Many complained that Season 3 didn’t pay enough attention to the show’s major antagonist. So Season 4 piled on The Twelve’s storylines and produced an evil rogue peak aboard someone else’s wedding boat. The world’s most evil organization, the hidden Architects of Chaos, have chosen an unguarded reunion on the high seas with no escape routes.
No faces were assigned to these incredibly important plot points, the camera shifted to Villanelle’s face as blood spattered comically around her and the victims stabbed her hand.
Instead of repeating what happened after that, let’s try to stay positive. Apparently, the novellas by Luke Jennings, codenamed Villanelle, on which the series is based offer happy endings for Eve and Villanelle. You can also imagine a whole series of alternate universes where Eve and Villanelle travel the world together and hunt down the Twelve with the assistance of Carolyn and Konstantin.
We don’t need to talk about Pam’s futility. Or that part of the reason Charlie Brooker took a break from future seasons of Black Mirror is because the world is bleak enough without stories with unhappy endings right now.
Never mind that this final season ultimately feels like a prep for Carolyn Martens’ spinoff series.
If anything, Season 4 reminded us that you can have too much of a good thing. Season 4 was all about the shock factor and the interesting messages about female assassins. The show, which began as a (highly entertaining) feminist piece about how effective an assassin can be — a show that urged a woman to question her own human nature and plunge into her darkness — rushed to one clunky, noticeably unplanned ending.
Still, Killing Eve is one of the best things to grace television.
Crazy observations
- Who’s been waiting for Eve and Villanelle to watch at least one movie and bake at least one shepherd’s pie together?
- Villanelle just accepts that Konstantin is dead? She wouldn’t ask who killed him?
- Location titles are going wild now. “Google it” comes across as a little trying to be clever and having to explain that The Barn Swallow is “MI6’s Pub” is a telling example of how confusing the plot was.
- Eve’s speech about how difficult relationships are while she was literally in the middle of a wedding wasn’t exactly a mind-blowing revelation after all that happened.
- The sacred imagery, including Villanelle’s bloodied angel wings in the water, never felt like they were in Killing Eve’s DNA.
- No epilogue? We’re not getting any indication of what Eve does next?
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