You Should Be Watching…

Killing Eve

You should be watching Killing Eve on BBC America. Who is Eve?

Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) is an MI5 officer who is good at her job. She appears to be happily married; her husband adores her and worries about her dangerous job. But life as a spy is not as exciting as she had hoped.

Enter Villanelle (Jodie Comer). She is very good at her job, too… as a contract killer. She’s also a psychopath, but you’re not supposed to tell a psychopath that they’re a psychopath. It upsets them.

Eve suggests to her superiors that a woman is responsible for a series of high profile assassinations and they poo-poo her. Of course they do! So she conducts a little unauthorized investigation on the sly. Can you guess what happens next? Not only does she confirm that the assassin is a woman, but she also gets fired. Bonus! She’s not out of a job for long because Carolyn, who heads up the Russia Section of MI6 (and 6 is higher than 5!!), offers Eve a job tracking down this female assassin. This is the exciting spy shit that Eve has been longing for!

Villanelle is quite happy with her job. She revels in it, like a psychopath would. The first assassination we see her carry out in Tuscany is breathtaking. Uh, not as breathtaking as the the one is episode 2, but still. Villanelle is creative and resourceful. She has style and impeccable taste. That’s a huge contrast with Eve’s frumpy, rough-around-the-edges demeanor.

The two women engage in a high stakes game of cat and mouse and become obsessed with each other. And it is glorious to watch. It’s hard to say why it’s so good without giving away too many spoilers, but Comer’s performance is the primary reason. She plays the villain with such complexity and depth. You can go from cheering for Villanelle to being horrified by her in a span of minutes.

There are lots of surprises throughout the series. This is not a typical spy thriller. If you haven’t been watching Killing Eve, you really should. The finale airs tonight. Tomorrow would be a good day to binge the whole damn thing.

 

 

Leave a Reply