In BBC America’s “Killing Eve” Execution Is Everything

This dramathriller follows Eve Polastri fivetime Emmy nominee Sandra Oh now deserving of a sixth an MI5 Security Officer turned MI6 Intelligence Agent leading a secret task force formed with the goal of finding a talented and ruthless international assassin named Villanelle Jodie Comer amp160Their riveting game of cat and mouse is as unpredictable as it is gripping probably because Oh pictured at top and below right and Comer below left are veritable powerhouses when it comes to bringing these convincingly grounded multilayered adversaries to life amp160I know amp8230 cops chasing killers isnamp8217t the most original premise but as far as I can tell the writers are fully aware that much like an assassination execution is everythingMost impressive about Killing Eve is the impeccable balancing act it manages to pull off amp160Rather than taking the safer more clichamp233d route Eve makes both Eve and Villanelle real people albeit very different individualsamp160 Eve is downtoEarth as hell driven intelligent and super insightful amp160Villanelle on the other hand is cold calculating and has surprisingly simple motivations amp160How simple amp160In her words amp8220Normal stuff Nice life amp160Cool flat amp160Fun jobamp8221 amp160Her desires are no different than any other twentysomething amp160The only difference is that most twentysomethingamp8217s go get a job at the mall or something this one chose murder for hireThe relationship between Eve and Villanelle is complicated at best but also a shining example of how truly similar they really are amp160Letamp8217s look at the facts amp160In the beginning of the season the yettobeidentified Villanelle was described as someone highly capable whoamp8217d been operating for a couple of years now and was probably bored of hiding in the shadows amp160It isnamp8217t until the case involving one of her victims lands on Eveamp8217s lap that things really start to get exciting for her which is saying a lot because she seems to really get a kick out of killing peopleThe same is true of Eveamp160 Before getting involved in Villanelleamp8217s madness she had a calm seemingly uneventful life amp160Sheamp8217s married to a very kind Polish dude who doesnamp8217t do much in the show other than help people and worry about Eve amp160But once Eve gets involved with little Ms Killsalot things around her start falling apart amp160Nothing major just stuff like her career her marriage and her best friendamp8217s ability to erm live amp160None of this however changes the fact that they are both for lack of a better description obsessed with each other amp160Itamp8217s something thatamp8217s fairly obvious on Villanelleamp8217s part amp8216cause sheamp8217s nuts but Eveamp8217s obsession is cleverly masked by the use of another popular clichamp233 friendly naysayersEveamp8217s MI6 task force isnamp8217t necessarily out to get Villanelle specifically their end goal is the people she works for whom they believe to be a shadowy group known as amp8220The Twelveamp8221 amp160In pretty much every situation Eve thinks that finding Villanelle will bring them all the answers they need but her ideas tend to get shot down by someone around her usually as some sort of admonishment about listening to her gut instead of the facts which donamp8217t always point in the direction Eve wants to go amp160This gave me the feeling that her partners were being contrarian in order for there to be drama because the story called for it on a narrative level which is of course was not trueEve and Villanelle like Batman and the Joker have kind of given each otheramp8217s lives purpose in a way and like most unhealthy relationships this one is toxic and violent amp160Eve is not your run of the mill guntoting TV cop amp160Sheamp8217s a cerebral person whose initial curiosity and eventual obsession with her perp causes her to leap head first into dangerous situations amp160She literally enjoys the chaseAgain the same goes for our lady killer who is thrilled no aroused by everything about Eve including her perfect hair amp160She even has a kind of psychotic mischievousness to her that while being objectively terrifying in real life is hilarious to watch and makes her kind of likable amp160Everythingamp8217s a joke to her and oddly enough she seems like a nice person at least up until the point where she butchers someoneRegardless of the fact V is a murderer Eve says this to her in the season finale amp8220I think about you all the time amp160I think about what youamp8217re wearing and what youamp8217re doing and who youamp8217re doing it with amp160I think about what friends you have what you eat before you work what shampoo you use what happened in your family amp160I think about your eyes and your mouth and what you feel when you kill someone amp160I think about what you had for breakfast amp160I just want to know everythingamp8221Itamp8217s kind of ironic yaamp8217 know amp160The title of this show certainly suggests something specific and for the first few episodes I truly thought that was a possibility but after a certain point I just knew that Villanelle would never actually kill Eve amp160She needs her too much amp160Hell they need each other too much amp160She V already approaches her vocation and life in general with the carefree attitude of a bored princess and without Eve her life would be just that boringSo maybe what I just watched was just the longest bloodiest most unorthodox wooing ever amp160Well if thatamp8217s true then weamp8217re about to see their first big fight because spoiler alert after a surprisingly calm conversation at Vamp8217s safehouse Eve definitely literally stabbed her right in the gut and then immediately regretted it amp160Villanelle did not take kindly to that and escaped barely missing Eve with her gun amp160And sheamp8217s not exactly stableMaybe during season two Killing Eve will finally live up to its name amp160These days no character on any series is safeamp160am I rightamp160 Hopefully not though amp160I could watch these two go back and forth for yearsClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively those of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160

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In BBC America’s “Killing Eve” Execution Is Everything

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Ainsley Andrade

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In BBC America’s “Killing Eve” Execution Is Everything

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Ainsley Andrade

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