Surprise, surprise: Villanelle isn’t dead! It was a bit touch-and-go there for a while, but what would Killing Eve be without Jodie Comer? What would it be without Eve and Villanelle’s connection?
While Villanelle’s wounds are being tended, it’s clear she’s deeply hurt by Eve for putting her in jail. Instead of murdering Eve, like she has others who cross her, Villanelle puts Eve on ice. It was important that Eve learned Villanelle isn’t purely evil, which took almost losing her to admit, but Villanelle also had to learn that Eve isn’t an angel. Both veils are lifted. Now that Villanelle sees Eve with more nuance than before, and vice versa, there’s a chance to strengthen their connection – if Eve opens up about the way she feels. Villanelle now knows she deserves love and shouldn’t have to beg for it. Eve must stop making her.
Due to Killing Eve’s mythological symbolism, perhaps Villanelle survived because she looked at the statue of Jesus, rather than the mirror, as the arrow soared towards her chest. But we learn in this episode that Villanelle’s life was spared by her assassin, on purpose. After Konstantin speculated that the Scottish Twelve assassin, Gunn, was behind the attack, Villanelle finds a note supposedly from Gunn to say she was ordered to kill Villanelle by Hélène, but intentionally missed. The note also locates Hélène’s whereabouts: a hotel room in Berlin. Does Gunn represent cupid? Will she help Eve and Villanelle come together, especially now that Villanelle has asked to stay on her island?
Villanelle tells Eve that Carolyn and Lars are in Berlin, but Eve sees Hélène and follows her, revealing that she prioritizes Villanelle over other missions. Was Villanelle testing the answer to that question by leading her to Berlin in the first place?
Eve helps Villanelle kill Hélène. Villanelle appears like a snake, hiding face down under Hélène’s hotel room bed. She slices Hélène’s ankles right after Hélène mentions she kissed Eve. When Villanelle loses the knife, Eve retrieves it and throws it back. Does Villanelle symbolize the biblical snake, tricking Eve into breaking God’s command by helping, rather than stopping, the murder? Or does the fact Eve helped Villanelle show she also consented to it, she also tempted Villanelle to finish the killing, they’re both the snake?
The latter makes more sense: Hélène represents Hell. Eve’s been educated on Villanelle’s grooming by the Twelve’s leaders, including Hélène. Hélène also ordered Villanelle’s killing to seek revenge on Eve. Instead of riding the high horse, Eve’s stopped pretending that there’s no justifiable cause for violence. Admitting she loves Villanelle, even if it hasn’t been verbalized yet, also means Eve admits to their similarities. Was there a layer of shame in being attracted to a violent assassin? Now that Villanelle is more tender and vulnerable, is Eve willing to acknowledge Villanelle’s real pain?
Was killing Hélène catharsis for Villanelle’s impulsive, murderous ways? Now that she’s turned on a leader, it’s unlikely she’ll accept contract killings from the Twelve again. They made her a disposable pawn in getting back at Eve, so the illusion that Villanelle’s valued by her bosses is completely destroyed. We’re witnessing the tides turning; the Twelve’s leaders are losing power and are threatened by an uprising.
Eve’s finally chosen a side: Villanelle’s. Everybody, including Hélène, could see how much Eve cared for Villanelle and, now that her denial isn’t believable, she has no other choice but to be honest about it. For Villanelle and Eve to exit the cat and mouse dynamic and enter a respectful relationship, Eve has to prove she cares about Villanelle. She has to open up about the way she feels.
After helping Villanelle kill Hélène, Eve kills Lars. We speculated last week that Villanelle and Eve’s storyline could mirror Lars and Carolyn’s, which could mean disaster for VillanEve because Carolyn didn’t reciprocate Lars’ feelings. But killing Lars represents Eve moving out of denial: she can’t exoticize Villanelle, or call the cops, now that she’s killed him. Nearly losing Villanelle resulted in Eve’s despair, nothing like Carolyn’s relief when she tried to kill Lars back in the 1970s. Eve and Villanelle had a choice in becoming Lars and Carolyn. They’ve decided not to. They’ve chosen each other.
Going into this season, I wasn’t expecting a white picket fence and babies for Eve and Villanelle. That hasn’t changed. But it would be extremely unsatisfying, a rip-off in fact, if Killing Eve ends in the pair parting ways. They’ve already tried that. It doesn’t make sense. This season has made it extremely obvious that they can’t live apart. The audience deserves the sexual tension to be resolved! We deserve a tender lesbian sex scene! Eve and Villanelle deserve a happy ending!
