Have you noticed how much time Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri spends staring at herself in a mirror on Killing Eve? She does it in almost every episode. Is she trying to figure out just who she is, now that Villanelle (Jodie Comer) has taken over her life?
In the final moments of S2 E4 “Desperate Time” both women are evaluating things in the mirror. Eve is still mystified by her attraction to Villanelle. She’s almost honest with herself about it now. She gives an honest answer about Villanelle to Hugo (Edward Bluemel) in this episode. However, she’s still lying about it to her husband Niko (Owen McDonnell).
By contrast, Villanelle’s mirror experience is very different. She is miserable and hurt and releases what look like real tears as she looks at herself.
Eve’s moments in front of a mirror are frequent. But Villanelle isn’t so introspective.
What brought Villanelle to tears?
She staged a bizarro murder scene. She dressed as a pig and trussed a man up like a slab of bacon in a public window. She sent a card to Eve that specifically invited her “Dearest Eve” to the after show.
Unfortunately Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) confiscated the card invite, and assigned Jess (Nina Sosanya) to go check out the killing.
Villanelle waited and watched for her girlfriend Eve to show and see her public achievement, which was, after all, a work of performance art. When Jess showed up, minus Eve, Villanelle was hurt and angry.
Villanelle did something she never does. She drugged herself senseless, almost killed a random woman in a public restroom, and woke up in a pool of her own vomit – crying.
We are half way through season 2 of Killing Eve. This episode changes things drastically between Eve and Villanelle. It was Carolyn’s doing, but it will affect Eve going forward. What kind of twisty insanity will this betrayal bring out in Villanelle? What will Eve do when she learns about Carolyn’s betrayal?
What do you think will happen next?
There is a line in Kill Bill that feels appropriate: “I’m a murdering bastard. There are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard.”
There is a lot to unpack in this episode. Eve is getting very close to admitting to herself how she feels about Villanelle. That convo with Hugo was aaaallllllmost there.
Her relationship with Niko continues to get more and more toxic as she pulls further away from him. He makes a good point about her gaslighting him. She’s trying to pretend that everything is fine and normal and treating him like he is being unreasonable for being upset by the situation. On the other hand, from what I gather from their conversations, communication hasn’t been a big part of their relationship ever.
Villanelle likes to hide behind a facade of being flippant and not caring about anything, but I think there is a depth there that she doesn’t want to fully admit to. She is a sociopath, so it doesn’t manifest in healthy ways, but it is there. I think she feels genuinely hurt and betrayed by Eve, even though we as the audience know that Eve isn’t deliberately ignoring her.
Carolyn’s betrayal is going to backfire stupendously and Eve and those around her are going to be the ones that pay for it.
What comes next is seeing if Niko leaves Eve before Villanelle kills him. It wouldn’t be the first time she killed the husband of the woman she is in love with.
Perfect quote choice with “I’m a murdering bastard. There are consequences to breaking the heart of a murdering bastard.”
What about that aaaalllllmost kiss with Hugo? Eve is losing her mind.
Some really unexpected is going to happen because of this episode. Let’s hope for Nico’s sake it doesn’t result in him being left dead somewhere minus his junk.
Eve is definitely on the edge of something. I mean, Hugo of all people, ugh. She’s feeling powerful and dangerous. That’s a precarious position to be in when you are not used to it. She’s going to do something extremely reckless in the near future, I am calling it.
I hope Nico can come through this without getting dead. He’s not perfect, but he’s a decent bloke and he is doing his best to stand by Eve even as she pushes him away.
Hugo is kind of a Johnny-One-Note character, that one note being sex. He’s smarmy. I think you probably called it right on Eve doing something reckless next.
Smarmy is the perfect word for him. Although, I suppose, if she was looking to act out with someone, he would at least not come with any serious complications.