Synopsis: Eve is a bored, whip-smart, pay-grade MI5 security officer whose desk-bound job doesn’t fulfill her fantasies of being a spy. Villanelle is a mercurial, talented killer who clings to the luxuries her violent job affords her.
Review: When the first season of Killing Eve premiered last year, I let it go as another forgettable import. Even when the acclaim began pouring in from critics and viewers, I did not make room on my schedule to check the show out. Then, when Sandra Oh co-hosted the Golden Globes, I was intrigued by her win. Not only was her historic win a big deal for Asian actresses, it made me take notice. Plus, there was the fact the show was created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge who stole the show in SOLO (as L3-37) as well as stars in the hilarious sitcom Fleabag. Still, it took until the impending premiere of the second season for me to go back and binge the first. Lo and behold, it truly is a good show and one that I am kicking myself for not watching sooner. Now having watched the first three episodes of season two, I can say fans are in for even more action, thrills, and humor.
Picking up thirty seconds after the end of the first season, we find Villanelle and Eve both dealing with the fallout from their actions at the end of the season finale. Just a quick recap for you: Eve Polastri works for MI-5 and investigates a series of killings she soon learns are all the work of Villanelle, a psychotic assassin. Over the eight episode first season, both Eve and Villanelle become obsessed with each other. In a game of cat and mouse, we find the pair slowly heading towards one another and in the finale, Eve stabs Villanelle. Quickly, we see that Villanelle is not as unstoppable as she appears and Eve is not nearly as strongly composed as she let on. In fact, Eve may have more in common with her psychotic obsession than she realized.
A lot of Killing Eve plays with the conventions of the spy genre. The missions that Villanelle undertakes are as complex and nailbiting as sequences from any of the movies in the BOURNE or James Bond franchises. But what Phoebe Waller-Bridge brings to this series is an odd tone that sets the show apart from anything else in the genre. There is a dry humor that pervades the story and takes the viewer off balance. Sandra Oh has not been this funny since her days on HBO's Arli$$ and that is balanced with her vulnerability as she faces unexpected death and violence head on. In the premiere episode, the way Oh portrays Eve dealing with the fallout of stabbing Villanelle is as realistic a take on such a crime as I have seen on screen before. Sandra Oh absolutely deserved her trophies for this show and makes me wonder why she has not gotten more material like this to work with.
Jodie Comer also proves worthy of an equal amount of buzz for her performance as the clearly unstable Villanelle. Exhibiting a calculating precision and ability to adapt to any situation, she is also completely and totally psychopathic. There is a subplot involving a young injured man in the first episode of this new season that, at times, portrays a softer side of Villanelle. I almost sympathized with her as I did many times in the first season. But, then there is always an abrupt and chilling change in direction that cements that she is pure, unredeemable evil. I want to see her see the error of her ways but I also want to keep seeing her kill. The wonderful balance of this show is that we know she is a bad person who must be stopped, but she is so much damn fun to watch.
Killing Eve is a sexy show about two women who clearly have a magnetism drawing them together. To call it anything other than sexual would do a disservice to the chemistry between Oh and Comer. While this is by no means a lesbian love affair show, nor should it be typecast as such, there is clearly a romantic element that has not been this strong since Bryan Fuller's Hannibal. It adds a dimension to the proceedings that gives Killing Eve a voice and tone that is unlike anything else on TV right now. I was wrong for judging and discounting this show as another generic procedural and you owe it to yourself to check it out. With a nice, short run of episodes each season, this is a lean and complex drama that blends what would otherwise be a pretty generic concept with a biting sense of humor that works every step along the way.
Killing Eve premieres it's second season April 8th on BBC America.
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