#3x03 cant get here quick enough

[uservillanelle]

Killing Eve ― 3x02 (Review)

I’m finally back to discuss 3x02!! It’s kind of late, I know, but thankfully I haven’t read any other reviews, reactions or thoughts of the episode yet, so my opinion hasn’t been affected by anyone elses and the perspective is still pretty fresh, lol! So let’s get into it, shall we?

The Funeral

This is exactly the place that ended up bringing all, or most, of characters together. Literally. Carolyn is there, Eve is there, Konstantin as well, Kenny’s girlfriend Audrey including his employer and a colleague. Oh, let’s not forget Kenny’s sister - Geraldine! The only person who’s missing here is Villanelle.

I assume they haven’t seen each other for 6 months. And by “they” I mean Eve, Carolyn and Konstantin. Some thought that Konstantin being there was very random, but not exactly. Sure, he didn’t personally know Kenny, but he makes it look like he’s there to support Carolyn since they are “old friends”. Eve immediatelly picks up on that and calls him out. “Don’t pretend... for one second, that you ever think of anyone but yourself.” Eve hasn’t spent as much time around Konstantin as Villanelle has, and despite that fact she seems to know him really well. And in a way, by saying so Eve is reminding US of who exactly is Konstantin Vasiliev.

So. The Bathroom scene. Now that I’m thinking about it, there are 3 characters that perfectly express 3 different stages of grief. Carolyn seems to be almost unaffected by her son’s death, not saying much, not feeling much, perhaps? At least she doesn’t show it. She’s clearly in denial and that’s the first stage of grief. Then there’s Eve, who is so determined to get to the bottom of things and solve the case that got her dear friend killed. She’s obviously angry because she’s the only one who truly believes Kenny didn’t commit a suicide. That’s second stage of grief. And finally, there’s Audrey, who allows herself to be vulnerable and accepts the fact that Kenny’s gone. So pain and acceptance follows the previous two stages. It’s just so interesting as to why they would throw all 3 of them in a bathroom like that with three completely different reactions. So yeah, I do think they did th scene only to show us how those 3 are dealing with the loss. 

Next, Geraldine comes into the picture. And she does that through Konstantin. Konstantin is minding his own business, getting his hands on the food and Geraldine comes to greet him, obviously happy to see him again. Based on their brief conversation during the scene shows that she had a way better relationship/bond with Konstantin than she did with her own mother. That says a lot. Also, we find out that Konstantin has been there for quite  A LONG time since she and Kenny were kids. It’s safe to say he and Carolyn did have an affair at some point and who knows... maybe he was way more involved in their lives than they’re letting us on. But yeah, I’ll touch upon Geraldine and Konstantin a bit later.

The fact that Carolyn was the only one who was wearing WHITE instead of black gives us a clear indication of the denial. Not only she did that, but.. “Couldn’t we be sad and listen to good music?” Carolyn Martens, everybody. She might just have the weirdest yet coolest one-liners in the show and I’m all about it.

Were any of you just as annoyed by Jamie, Kenny’s employer, as Eve was? I’m sure the conversation between him and Eve was intentional especially knowing that they will have to work together to crack the case of Kenny’s death, but damn! Still not sure what to think about him. Seems rather shady to me. Then again.. there are too many shady characters on this show we cannot trust, lol, so might as well add another one in the list!

Villanelle & Dasha

I honestly thought that the new place Villanelle moved in belonged to her wife. It only made sense. I mean.. where the hell is MARIA?! Don’t tell me we won’t see her again. What’s the point in having Villanelle marry someone and not share any scenes with that character again? We  better see her again and the fact that Villanelle is not even wearing her wedding ring is hilarious and shows exactly how FAKE their marriage really is.

Okay, back to Villanelle and Dasha. I don’t think her wanting to go back to Russia is the only, or main, reason why she had to bring Villanelle back into business. I hope we won’t have to wait until the finale to find out what Dasha did to Villanelle. It had to be something very extreme.. or not at all. Let’s not forget... Eve rejected to go with Villanelle and she shot her..almost killed her. So Villanelle saying she’ll kill Dasha.. you can never know, right? 

Villanelle having to work WITH someone? Really? I think the show made it pretty clear in 1x04 how Villanelle can’t work in a group. It will not end up well and this time it was no different. I actually liked Felix a lot. He was such a baby, but he did fucked up after all and Villanelle told him straight away that she’ll kill him if he made her look “bad”. Good old foreshadowning on it’s finest. 

Patience and responsibility is required to be a Keeper. Villanelle has neither of those two and she even admitted that herself. She knows it, we know it, and Dasha knows it. Instead, she tells her to “pretend” to be patient and responsible. Not only that, but handle Felix in a particulary way, by lying to him and giving false hope he “might” be good. Not a minute after, Dasha uses this manipulation technique on Villanelle to show how well it works. Thankfully she didn’t fell for it. But that makes me wonder... if Dasha has been acting like this ever since she found Villanelle again. She’s giving her false hopes of becoming a Keeper and being “good enough” to be one. She has no power to make Villanelle a Keeper, so... she’s manipulating her to do the dirty work and.. maybe deal with her after she did whatever she was needed to do. Which might lead to yet another betrayal... and this time she might not survive. 

It has always been Konstantin’s job to remind Villanelle of Eve and tease her about her all the damn time, so when Dasha brought Eve up and Villanelle possibly STILL thinking about her, she got immediatelly defensive and kind of pissed off? I mean... it doesn’t get as obvious as this. We get it, sweetie. You’re still as much in love with her as you were 6 months ago. 

Carolyn

There was a part of me that believed in a way that Carolyn might be involved in her own son’s death. Yes, that would be very fucked up to say the least, but... we don’t actually know her, do we? She could’ve done anything and everything and we wouldn’t know. And neither do other characters, as it seems. Even Konstantin, who has known her for YEARS is ordered to spy on her. Truth is... we don’t really know anything. But then.. there’s something else.

Then we get the scene in the car, which was very well needed. We needed to see a more vulnerable side of her, the emotional side of Carolyn to see that.. she might not have been involved in Kenny’s death. She has been acting that entire time, pretending he comitted suicide because she knew there will be people who would be spying on her. Hell, she probably knows Konstantin was there to do that, but decided not to mention anything.

One name. FIONA SHAW. The car scene was phenomenal. Carolyn doesn’t get many scenes like that where she gets show emotion and open up a bit more so I really appreciated the scene and again... her GOLDEN one-liners. “Why don’t you go and do that thing... where you close your eyes and breathe?” This line KILLED ME! It might just be the most iconic Carolyn line for me so far. Don’t try to change my mind lol!

So on top of everything that’s going on, and her trying to investigate Kenny’s death, wanting Eve’s help... she tries to talk about her family, especially her father but Eve’s not having any of it. So plan B is to bring up Villanelle, because ohh she knows...just how important Villanelle was AND still is to Eve and all she needs to do really is to binrg a photo of her most recent victim and tell Eve that she’s back. This can’t be about Villanelle anymore... I mean Kenny JUST died and this just has to be a way for Carolyn to get Eve back in the game. And it has worked.. even though Eve declined her offer. “I thought you’d want to know” Yes, Eve DOES know now. And she won’t let it go. The level of her “subtle” manipulation is just... soo efficient. What I don’t understand is why she keeps “firing” Eve and then coming back later and asking her to come back and chase Villanelle all over again. And when she does so... Carolyn doesn’t want Eve to be as invested in Villanelle anymore and that’s the same case with Villanelle and Konstantin and honestly... this topic deserves a separate discussion and I’ll touch upon it really soon because I’m VERY curious and even slightly frustrated about the whole thing.

Konstantin

This man might be just as shady as Carolyn is, this season. At least one thing we DO know. He has a mission and will play an important role. Last season all that he wanted was to get back to his family and hopefully quit working for the Twelve? Yeah, that didn’t work out. Like at all. 

He’s not with his family, his wife has a boyfriend, his daughter is stuck with them and she hates it and Konstantin doesn’t really care that much. I mean, what could he do? Bring Irina with? She’d only end up dead so he can’t involve his family into this thing. And that leaves him alone in this... mess. I’m not even sure where his REAL loyalties lie anymore. I’d say his family but you can never know. He did say... he never stopped working for the Twelve. So that might just answered my previous question.

At the same time I feel he is STILL working with Carolyn to some extend. Carolyn went to tell Eve that Villanelle is back then Konstantin goes to find Villanelle to let her know that Eve is alive and well. Were Konstantin and Carolyn ordered to do that separately or it’s their own plan in getting Eve and Villanelle to chase one another once more? Shady stuff, indeed. 

Just like Carolyn manipulates Eve, Konstantin’s like “Eve’s alive. But DON’T go to London”. LMAO, seriously Konstantin?! Of course she’s NOT going to London in the following episode to visit Eve. Don’t even worry about it. It’s very suspicious he only comes to visit Villanelle after half a year and exactly when Eve knows that she is back and everything else. He was ordered to stay in London for a while... so now he’ll bring Villanelle to London and shit will go down. Good job, dad!

Eve

So recently I had a very huge realization. The thing is... Eve has always been Villanelle’s shadow in a way, because most of us LOVE Villanelle to pieces and we often, if not all the time, forget about Eve being another LEAD of the show. I’m not gonna lie, I was like that for the past two seasons and I really underestimated her. But.. this season, these first two episodes proved me wrong and I’m still shocked as to how much Eve has changed since S2. I can’t really put my finger on it... but shes’s different. Shes completely different person now. She’s so much more grounded in so many ways, and yeah I know she’s a MESS right now but the character development so far... wow. Maybe she’s like that because Niko is not really in her life anymore and she doesn’t need to pretend about anything. She gets to express how she really feels and I’m all for it. I’ve been ASLEEP for too damn long... and I finally awoke.. and I fucking LOVE Eve Polastri. Please, do not underestimate her. She and Villanelle were always equal but now... now they truly are and I cannot wait for next episode to see how she’ll react to Villanelle and how different their interactions will be from now on. Since.. old Eve IS dead and this Eve gives zero shits about anything. All I can say... careful, Villanelle, you don’t want to mess with her. 

Sandra Oh. That’s it. Her ability to just.. become this new version of Eve fascinates me so much. It almost seems like she doesn’t even need to try and I LOVE that. She’s bringing this wild, crazy side to Eve that we haven’t really seen before and her every scene deserves a fucking applause. Truly. So let’s appreciate Sandra for being sooo ridiculously amazing as Eve and serving us each episode with amazing content. I’m starting to see what Villanelle sees in Eve... and I’m a bit worried lol!

Alsooo I can’t be the only one who noticed the change in Eve’s choice for drinks. Throughout first two seasons she ALWAYS went for Gin and Tonic. Now, though? It’s only GIN. Yeah, this is a different Eve and shes going for real, clear drinks and that’s all we need to know. 

Villanelle 

I’ve covered most of the things previously in ‘Villanelle & Dasha’ part. I just want to quickly discuss Jodie Comer’s acting. Can we do that, please? Okay, so there were two scenes that stuck out for me. The one where she and Felix had THE conversation about being rejected by the loves of their lives AND obviously the ending scene with Konstantin. Jodie Marie Comer. There are NO limits for her acting... none at all and I still catch myself watching scenes like that with my jaw to the floor. 

The scene with Felix is soooo important and you can’t tell me Villanelle is incapable of having feelings after watching it. She HAS feelings and she DOES feel them. More intensively than others too. And the way they used the Unloved “Cry” soundtrack in there... just glued me to the screen and I had to rewatch the scene several times. A truly highlight of the episode.

Now... the ending scene. That was something I didn’t think I’ll see in terms of.. how outstanding Jodie’s acting was. They also focused on HER only, blurrying Konstantin’s image out and pushing him into the background because that’s how Villanelle felt. She basically went through AT LEAST 4 emotions through the same scene and that’s all because she found out Eve is actually alive and... I’m still SHOOK. 

Soundtracks

Just feeling like I need to mention how wonderful are the show’s soundtracks. Like the crew finds and picks mostly not very popular songs and they work so well and makes the show so unique. Most shows use already known songs and Killing Eve just... goes for something unpopular (yet), older foreign songs that fit so perfectly in the given location of the show and the songs usually, if not always, have a very deep meaning. They reflect and tell a story for us that the characters are not telling and that is suuch a brilliant way of using the soundtracks. The two that I REALLY loved this episode was USP by Liz Lawrence and Dart For My Sweetheart by Archie Bronson Outfit. If I’m correct both of the songs were playing during Kenny’s funeral, which is soo fucked up! But like.. thanks Carolyn, for requesting some good ass music!! I definitely recommend you guys to check those songs out and the rest of the soundtracks, as they carry such a strong Killing Eve vibe!

Overall Thoughts 

Like I said about the premiere being and feeling different, this episode was somewhat similar to that meaning that the show is different now and we shouldn’t expect miracles of it because we will end up disappointed. So far, I’m loving it and I CANNOT wait for next episode... I know I will not surive and probably neither will you. They’re still taking their time into getting back to the “normal” pace of the show and current events but I have a very strong feeling next episode will NOT compare with the previous two and that’s when the story itself will pick up the pace and will actually GLUE us to the screens until the finale! 

As always, feel free to let me know your throughts, reactions or even predictions for the next episode as we have basically 2 more days until 3x03 and we all will need help afterwards. So my inbox and askbox is always open for you guys! And MASSIVE THANK YOU to those who actually take their time to read my nonsense!