Killing Eve “Don’t Get Eaten”

Yeah, there’s something really different about this last series.  I’m not sure I am liking it.

Essentially, there are three plotlines running right now.  Carolyn is looking into the Twelve in Russia with her old contact.  Eve is looking into the Twelve by trying to find one that can talk since the ones she finds out about tend to die before she can meet them.  And Villanelle is trying to be good.

OK, let’s set aside the first two.  Carolyn’s plot is a Carolyn plot.  She’s doing high level schmoozing and there’s even a scene of her laughing.  It’s fine as Carolyn plots go.  I’m mostly just wondering why she’s putting this much more effort into finding the Twelve.  Sure, she can claim it’s because of Kenny’s death and that’s not a bad reason.  But it does seem to be that she can and should have put more effort into finding out about these people beforehand.

As for Eve, she’s Eve.  I’m not sure why she has a casual sex thing going with her new co-worker in the security company, but he seems like a good partner for whatever she’s doing, but why is she likewise out to bring down the Twelve now?  This is Series Four.  She’s known about them since Series One.  Was leaving MI6 necessary for her to make a real effort?  She’s not exactly fans of those people.  She’s been more inclined to hunt down Villanelle, true, but I still wonder why she wasn’t likewise working more to bring down the Twelve.

But then there’s Villanelle.  She’s still seeing Jesus, or herself as Jesus, and this Jesus is into autoerotic asphyxiation from the looks of things.  I’ll give the show credit for a nice effect to make it look like Villanelle is kissing herself, but she seems to be a bit…off.  Seeing things is one thing, but she brutally murders the Vicar and his daughter before this episode is out.  That’s not entirely surprising, but usually, Villanelle murders people with at least a little bit more justification than “they said bad things about me.”  Villanelle does not fit in with the church group, and the rejection is something that would have happened to anyone who behaved the way she did.  Somehow, that equated to her murdering the girl and her father.

Again, nice shot of the murders as she bludgeons them both to death with a mallet, but it’s shown as silhouettes though a tent.

Is this what Villanelle is like when she doesn’t have people that know who she is to somehow rein her in?  Is this what happens when Konstantin or Eve aren’t around to somehow direct her away from her own worse impulses?  I’m not sure, but something about this take on Villanelle makes her seem more like a cartoon character than she was before.  I’m hoping the Jesus thing doesn’t last much longer.  Two episodes was two too many, but it seems like it took the series this long to bring down an international group of bad guys.  That seems like something that should have been a priority long before now.

And yet…here I am.