Poor Nico. Yet another casualty of the continue push and pull between Eve and Villanelle, albeit one that didn’t stem from either of their direct actions – which is what makes this particular twist a touch more interesting than those that have become before. Sure, we all knew Nico was unlikely to make it out of Killing Eve in one piece (really, he’s been through the wringer already). And sure, we all likely suspected that Villanelle would, at some point, set her sights on her current handler and try to remove her from the game board, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the impetus to be the killing of Nico.
Now, I’m not suggesting that Villanelle will care that Nico is dead. On the contrary – Nico’s death removes yet another obstacle on her path to Eve. And psychopaths, as part of their psychological make up, don’t care.* But what I suspect will enrage Villanelle is that Dasha’s actions are being attributed to her. If there’s one thing we know about Villanelle after all this time, it’s that she takes pride in her kills and she won’t want something like this attributed to her. And, once Eve gets over her grief (seriously, Eve is going to need her own stay at an in-patient mental health facility after this), she’ll likely see this for what it really is: Someone trying to pose as Villanelle.
*While I’ve said it before, I think it bears repeating after last week’s kiss between our central duo: Villanelle is a psychopath. It is fun to watch her work and she’s a great character, but she’s not capable of love in the sense that most people experience it. She’s not capable of most emotions. She doesn’t love Eve. She wants to control and possess Eve. That’s not healthy and not something that we should be rooting for (although if you’re all for chaos within a story, then by all means, root away for these two crazy kids to find some solace with each other). The real crux of the series is whether or not Eve’s own obsession with Villanelle will drag her down and consume her, or if it will break her before it gets to that place. Right now, breaking seems to be where the smart money is.
But that’s a lot of speculation about the future of the season. Let me get back to this specific episode which was, I have to say, pretty dull in form and function. In a switch from the show’s typical structure, each major character was given a piece of the episode’s arc, with stories bleeding into other characters’ arcs throughout. While it was a nice change, it didn’t add all that much to the episode as a whole. In fact, in some cases (such as with Konstantin, who seemed to be teleporting around Europe), it only added confusion to timelines. What it did emphasize was how each of the show’s main characters is now working on their own – even when they are interacting with each other. No one is on the same page even when they are working on the same project. It’s a strange place for a show like Killing Eve to place its characters. So much of what makes the series work is the interplay between the complex characters. Placing each on their own island strips us of a lot of the relationships that we’ve grown to enjoy.
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I haven’t enjoyed season three of Killing Eve as much as the previous seasons, and a lot of that is due to the disconnected plot. Sure, teaming up Eve and Villanelle in season two meant the tension between the two wasn’t as strong as back in season one when we longed to see them in the same space after a series of near misses. Season three has kept them largely apart from each other in every way (save for the bus encounter, which was fine, but didn’t really hit the way the series hoped it would) – they aren’t connected in a case, Eve (rightly) never suspected Villanelle was involved in Kenny’s death, Villanelle assumed Eve was dead for most of the season. Only now, in the aftermath of Villanelle’s misstep on the bus (and with the bear, and the cake), with Nico’s death, are they once again brought together – albeit, not in a physical sense. And it has nothing to do with the main arc of the season. It’s completely outside of it.* And that doesn’t really work. The show can be about The Twelve and their killings or it can be about the connection between the two leading ladies. When that connection occurs within the greater Twelve arc, the series is at its best. When they are two contrasting arcs, well, that doesn’t work nearly as well.
*Yes, Eve is onto something with Villanelle’s killing matching Dasha’s old case. But are we meant to be surprised that Villanelle is working for The Twelve again? Shouldn’t Eve figure out that’s classic Villanelle? I would have thought that was the obvious conclusion.
Dealing with the complex relationship between a psychopath and the agent tasked with catching her isn’t easy. This isn’t a conventional will-they/won’t-they tale within the world of espionage. But that’s what means Killing Eve can be something great. We’ve seen the best the series has to offer. Let’s hope the final half of the season once again allows the show to touch greatness.
Final Thoughts:
— I’ve been tip-toeing around this since the season premiere, but I think the show has officially tipped its hand this week regarding Geraldine’s role in the season. You don’t hire Gemma Whelan and just have her wander the house and cry. You hire her to be an agent of The Twelve and betray her mother. Carolyn is onto it, and while she’s definitely in a precarious mental state at the moment, I cannot wait to see her deal with the fact that her daughter was almost certainly involved in the murder of her son. Now that’s a juicy storyline.
— Real talk: How much can Eve reasonably take before she mentally shatters? Because this is a horrific blow to her on every level. This is the second time she’s watched, helpless, while someone she loves is murdered. That’s not something you can mentally come back from in one piece.
— The more I watch this season, the more it has become clear that the story likely can’t survive another season. Eve will be so broken by season’s end that I can barely see a plausible way to write her into continued existence, let alone get her back in the spy game.
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