The hugely popular Killing Eve, starring Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh, returns for its fourth and final series on February 28 and, not gonna lie, it will be missed.
It’s unique, impressive and has one of the most compelling yet complex relationships at its heart.
But what is it about the BBC/BBC America juggernaut that makes it so good?
I’ll tell ya. Take a seat, I may be a while.
Read more: Is Jodie Comer from Liverpool and who is her American boyfriend?
Villanelle is an absolute icon
First up, let’s talk about Villanelle herself.
She’s a thoroughbred legend. And not just for her incredible outfits.
Despite being a self-confessed psychopath, there is something vulnerable about Villanelle, that Jodie manages to convey. Even when she’s slaughtering those who probably don’t deserve it.
In series 3, Villanelle snaps the neck of a boy she befriended in hospital. It is a totally brutal murder and a shocking moment. But.
When you look at why she does it, you can see the humanity in her. Warped humanity, but it’s there.
The boy was facing a life with a permanently disfigured face and Villanelle actually thinks she is putting him out of his misery. See. Kind heart.
Some folks have said that Villanelle’s killing of her own mother was a step too far (S3E5), but I don’t agree.
She’s living evidence of what abuse can do. In this ep, we probably see V at her most vulnerable – she’s genuinely afraid of her mother, but still craves her love.
By the time she leaves, she knows she’s damaged for good. And why. Killing Tatiana was an act of kindness – after V saw her abusing half-bro Bor’ka – as well as redemption.
She even gives him the money to see Elton John. I’d love a Bor’Ka/Oksana spin-off at some point.
The BBC’s Killing Eve website describes Villanelle as ‘a living, breathing, shopping, killing psychopath’ and I’m on board with that.
She’s also beautiful, charming, funny, super clever and well-dressed. What’s not to love?
The show is a huge feminist vehicle
Killing Eve is all about the women. The men are pretty much surplus to requirements. Apart from Konstantin.
Apart from the obvious main characters, it’s the other women who carry the show too. Eve’s former boss, Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) is a huge presence, with some of the best one-liners – “I can’t stand breakfast. It’s just constant eggs.”
Carolyn’s character arc is also taken in a new direction in the third series when her son, Kevin, ias killed by The Twelve. Her grief and fury take her to another level.
Carolyn will be seeking vengeance in series 4 and I can’t wait to see what she does when she catches up with Helene and the rest of The Twelve.
The show also uses some of the best female writers around to head up each season.
Season 4 has Sex Education’s Laura Neal at the helm.
It was created for TV by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge who worked over the first two seasons. And she brought Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell for the second series.
Fear of the Walking Dead’s Suzanne Heathcote took over as lead writer on series 3.
The writing is phenomenal
I can’t fault it. Some critics have slammed the third series for not living up to its predecessors, but I don’t agree.
Series 3 gives the characters depth and fleshes them out, without this both Eve and Villanelle would have been in danger of becoming caricatures.
Instead we see Villanelle – or Oksana – have a beautiful (albeit short) relationship with her Elton-John obsessed half-brother.
The episode where she goes home to Russia in an attempt to reconnect with the family she thought was dead, is funny, terrifying and emotional all at once.
That’s a really, really difficult line to walk.
And let’s just remember the moment on Tower Bridge in the last episode of the series. “I used to be like them,” Eve muses, watching the London commuters. “What? Badly-dressed?” replies Villanelle.
Again, this scene manages to be funny, thought-provoking and deeply moving.
Eve continues: “I had a life. I had a husband. A house. A chicken.”
The show has some of the best one-liners and dialogue too. Some of my favourite quotes:
“You should never tell a psychopath they are a psychopath, it upsets them.” Villanelle to Eve (S1E3)
“I have a lot of money,” Frank, (S1E3) trying to stop Villanelle from killing him.
Villanelle: “So do I.”
Frank: “I have children.”
Villanelle: “I don’t want your children.”
“God it makes me rage how efficient things are when you’re a (BLEEP) to people” Eve (S1E8)
“Of course not. Don’t be pathetic. Get a life.” Villanelle (S2E1) when someone asks her for an Instagram photo.
“You’ve been to every city Elton’s ever played in!” Villanelle’s adorable Elton John obsessed half-brother, Bor’ka (S3E5)
Read more: Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer tipped to play Miss Honey in Matilda remake
Eve’s journey
Compare ‘Series One Eve’ to ‘Series Three Eve’.
They’re not the same person. In the first series, Eve seems mild-mannered and a bit – dare I say – downtrodden. She may tell Villanelle in S3 that she was a normal person once, but she never was. Eve was always looking for something extraordinary, something that made her feel alive. And she found it in Villanelle.
By S4, Eve has become so totally kick-ass, I might love her as much as Villanelle does.
It’s just such a beautiful, human love story
If you take all the killing, gore and spy stuff away, Killing Eve is actually a beautiful and relatable love story.
We all know what it’s like to be infatuated with somebody, don’t we? And that complete joy when, occasionally, it’s actually reciprocated.
Villanelle genuinely wants to be a better person, for Eve. Why? Because, love. But aren’t psychopaths incapable of love?
The other thing Killing Eve does is show love as it really is. We fall in love with people we shouldn’t.
We become obsessed when we can’t have the person we crave.
Love makes us do things that would usually make us cringe, or worse. Love is chaotic. It’s is unpredictable.
Love is messy and it can both hurt and kill. Killing Eve normalises the ‘non-Disney’ love that is much more relevant to the human experience.
Killing Eve returns to BBC iPlayer on Monday, February 28 – series 1-3 are available in full.
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