As the third season of Killing Eve winds towards its close,
there’s an unshakeable sense that the chickens are coming home to roost. Or as
Carolyn puts it in a rare unguarded moment with her daughter, the walls are
closing in. For her, it’s the realization that even as she gets closer to
solving the mystery of her son’s death, the forces allied against her are more powerful, and less
worried about consequences, than she thought they would be. For Konstantin,
it’s the speedy shriveling away of any possibility that he’ll get away from the
world that he’s built with his own life spared. And for Villanelle, it’s the
sinking awareness that her days of usefulness to the Twelve are numbered, which
is made eminently clear in her meeting with Hélène, who’s quite explicit that
all she wants out of Villanelle is her beautiful monster side, and is very open
about having a replacement waiting in the wings.
In fact, the only person who doesn’t seem completely
overwhelmed by what’s going on around her is Eve, who continues on with her
meandering investigation into Kenny’s death. It’s also a sign of how much she’s
been sidelined in recent episodes, as the world collapses around her various
colleagues and nemeses. When she nearly murders Dasha, it seems like it’s
supposed to be a sign of her tripping down the road towards sociopathy that the
show has teased before, but we’ve spent so little time in her perspective this
season that the action doesn’t feel earned. A lot of that can be pegged
to the show’s indecision around her relationship with Niko—what does she
actually feel about the assault on him? Does she actually want
him back? Does she experience regret about the relationship? Sandra Oh has always
been able to do a lot with a little, but there’s not a lot to work with here.
It’s hard to tell if Eve even has a formalized position with Bitter Pill—was
she drawing a paycheck with them? Who pays for all her various tickets abroad?
That’s not to say that it isn’t good TV viewing to go in
deep on what’s going on with Carolyn, Konstantin, and Villanelle. But it’s
starting to feel like the show is leaving Michael Jordan on the bench, so to
speak. Three seasons in, it makes sense that the universe of the show has
gotten broader and the secondary characters have grown and evolved and become
more three dimensional with time. What does it take to turn into a Carolyn or a
Konstantin, and what toll does it take on them? These are fascinating questions, and the show’s interest in examining them is certainly fertile territory. But
it’s increasingly at the expense of the star of the show, who
even on an off day is a fascinating, prickly creation.
For those of you who didn’t tune into the SNL at home episodes
recently, there was a funny spoofed Phoebe Waller-Bridge Masterclass, which
involved her talking about keeping a separate journal just for her thoughts of
and/or about violent female rage. Sure, it’s a satire, but it was hard not to
remember the Eve of the Waller-Bridge crafted pilot, who was introduced
screaming into a pillow simply because her arms had fallen asleep. It makes
sense that that version of Eve is gone, but it’s getting harder to figure out
who the new version of her is supposed to be. She and Villanelle have been at
such a distance both literally and plot-wise this season that it’s confusing to
see the intensity of Eve’s commitment to tracking down Villanelle pop up again.
Minus the creepy birthday cake, there just hasn’t been enough cat and mouse this
season between them to maintain the connection.
And of course at this point, if Eve were to find her, she
might be surprised by who she found—a woman who seems to be losing the ability
to kill, even when confronted with a target as obnoxious as the American golfer. Villanelle has gone through a profound transformation over the season,
although in recent episodes, it’s starting to feel like that’s been telegraphed
more by her crying easily than any obvious series of events. But it’s also just
starting to seem plausible that our core four have more to offer each other
than they ever have previously when it comes to facing down an enemy that has
increasing interest in seeing them all dead.
Stray observations
- Is there any worse job than being a young man working for
Carolyn: no. - “Go on, tell me. How would you do it?” “I don’t know yet,
but it would definitely involve the tiny chair.” The highlight of every interaction Villanelle has with her bosses is her making fun of the ridiculous surroundings. - “Jokes are for people who do their jobs correctly.” This particular withering Carolyn retort really got me, as a person with a lifelong habit of making nervous jokes when people are upset.
- It’s requiring more than the usual suspension of disbelief to roll with the notion that Konstantin would leave a key with a neighbor.
- So Villanelle’s bum arm is bad enough that she needs help on
her latest assassination, but she can still swing a golf club? - I was all set to get annoyed at Geraldine for showing up at
Konstantin’s house to be oblivious again, but then she finally got the upper
hand on someone. Is she supposed to be unaware that her mother hooked up with
him back in the day, though? - The Twelve may be a super evil conglomerate, but at least
the power structure has women at the top. You hate to see yet another evil
business controlled by the patriarchy. - I think we can all agree that the show’s deployment of Kim Bodnia’s great laugh has been delightful. I’m glad Konstantin isn’t dead (yet).