#i feel like eve looks more like sandra than v looks like jodie but oh well i trie

[cowardstiel]

a little s3 sketch while i’m waiting for s4

[youlooklikearealbabetoday]

I love your ke analysis. I don't know if someone already asked u this, but i wondered if you think that Eve, in some ways, is in love with Villanelle. And do you think that if they'll ever have sex, Villanelle will get bored and get over her?

*villanelle voice* EVEEE?! oh she is even though she can’t and won’t admit it in the most typical way but when are these two idiots ever typical. remember that eve is a woman who’s entire early-forties existence before v was implied as relatively predictable — “i basically married my dad.” while i have no doubt there’s always been a dark ribbon of hunger running through eve’s life that we haven’t been privy to fully comprehend yet that only just started to fully unearth itself, the sheer weight of these upheavals and changes that v served as catalyst is not something i can imagine one just accepting and admitting to in less than a few months time let alone it being wrapped and tied to a woman who is an international assassin, who everyone in eve’s life is telling her is incapable of feeling anything, who murdered her best friend and manipulated her into killing a man. phew. but they are inexorably tethered, for better or worse. listen to the differences in the two “no’s” she utters in relation to v telling eve she loves her (vehement) vs. saying eve is in love with her (softer, more unsure)…the delivery difference of those lines is quite stark, thank you queen sandra. not to mention how eve independently committed to v in deeper ways than we could’ve known in first watching that scene with carolyn in 2x08 — knowing what v was capable of in the face of standing up to her and embracing it nonetheless. it’s all so tragically romantic it makes my organs ache.

anon my brain litchurarlly melts thinking about v and eve having sex liiikke can you imagine just how intense their first time would be? the fusion of anger, frustration, desperation, passion, and sheer obstinance these two share …. i will say though that doesn’t mean i think that hours of mindblowing sex would magically resolve all of the obstacles in their way (though i’d like to see it shshshshhhhh) related to their own individual perceptions of what the other means to them and what they mean to the other. right now those lines have not intersected and while the sex would be beyoooond, ultimately it wouldn’t be enough if their intentions and expectations aren’t aligned. which brings me to the possibility of v getting bored of eve which — at this current point in time — i do think so, yes, she could eventually. however one thing i want to make clear is that her boredom would not be a direct effect of finally having sex with eve nor is it the same as getting over eve which would be impossible for v.

the reasons i think she could get bored of eve at this point in time is that because, as i mentioned before, part of her perception of eve is built upon a matchstick foundation of her idealization of normality. while v may crave for some version of it it ultimately is something she doesn’t completely understand what it entails to have and maintain and deep down will want in the long term. we also know she’s completely bored of a more supposed ‘free’ life where she can buy and travel and kill but still feels ‘nothing.’ i also don’t see eve being content with that existence, nor with her former one as much as she may try to fall back upon it. while we understandably think first and foremost about the possibilities of v getting bored of eve there’s also the very real possibility of eve getting bored of v, esp if we’re taking seriously villanelle’s ‘we are the same’ and viewing konstantin’s assessment of the hungry caterpillar as it relates to not only v but eve as well. from eve’s very introduction we got the sense of restlessness within her. how unsatisfied she seemed even in describing her earlier days in her first ‘interview’ with carolyn in the empty restaurant. similarly eve is in the process or already has systematically destroyed her close relationships, has manipulated, lied and so forth in the name of personal pursuits and in discovering these deeper parts of herself. we know they can only find it in each other but will there ever be a respective point of fulfillment for eve and v? what does that look like?

i think what it comes down to with them both is that while boredom seems like a huge roadblock to them finding some sort of medium, to me any ‘success’ in establishing something is less about somehow ‘avoiding’ or ‘removing’ it but rather how do they factor that INto their own version of normal. is it forever leaving elaborate gifts of the bloody and not so bloody kind? is it forever chasing each other around the world? when even the show doesn’t know the endgame and are discovering it as they go, it’s certainly hard to theorize…. but it’s also exciting. they truly aren’t like any other couple.

that brings me to v ever ‘getting over’ eve and to me that’s an emphatic no. not by a long shot. in this scenario boredom does not necessarily equate getting over someone especially when it comes to eve and how irrevocably she has changed v (and vice versa). villanelle has met her match in eve and those emotions that jc herself said that in s3 we’ll see more of that have been unearthed bc of eve that v has pushed down for so long are not something she can detach from eve, though she may try. between that and their physical dual scars, they’re bound.

while i don’t have a step-by-step guide for how this could realistically pan out as there’s still so much we don’t know about them and this show is wildly unpredictable in the best way to me, at least, it all goes back to what i said before of them needing to recode and redefine what normal means individually and between each other — to continue their self-actualization, in other words. ultimately the hope is fulfilling their respective needs without trying to mold and control it for the other. we saw v attempt something along these lines with her learning from her past experience with anna and her husband and actively deciding to not kill niko even though no doubt that would’ve been the fastest point A to B route in getting eve in her mind (we’ll save the whole framing niko for gemma’s murder for another time lol). she may not fully understand it but she understands it enough to know that it would have lasting consequences for her and eve. “but eve would never forgive me if i hurt you, niko. would she?” the delivery of that line, thank you queen jodie.

i probs presented more questions than answers… but this show ya know smh. what do you think? would love to know your thoughts and thanks for the q’s.

[wearevillaneve]

Killing Eve S3, E1: “Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey” is a big, flashing yellow light.

The wait is over!  Last night we got our first taste of sinful Eve and sinful Villanelle in over a year and after the shitstorm that was their final encounter in Rome, we were were all left wondering what comes next for our malevolent Murder Wives. The answer is “Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey” which some KE stans are taking as a caution to chill, sit back and let the show continue being the slowest of slow burns it has been in its 16 previous episodes.    Sorry.  I just can’t.  This episode was choppy erratic and some parts weren't put together well. The wedding itself was a huge letdown.  There was like NO chemistry between Villanelle and her bride. Like zero.   No kissing, no hand-holding, no excitement.   Were you thirsting for V to lip lock her lady love?  Me too, but the Killing Eve writers seemingly said, “HA!  YOU GET NOTHING!” Villanelle just seemed like she was sleepwalking through her so-called “special day.”    

Then Dasha shows up, Villanelle immediately attacks her and the wedding ends up in an all-out brawl with the two Russian killers, nursing shared bloody noses as their car with a “Just Married” sign on the back and tin cans tied to streamers rattle and clatter.  

It didn’t work.  Any of it.  What the fuck happened to those promises that Villanelle was very much “loved up” with her Spanish senorita?   I didn’t see anything remotely resembling affection between V and her boo.   Maybe in another episode we’ll learn more, but conceivably that could be the last we see of The Bride of Villanelle. 

The high points of this muddled premier was Villanelle’s sloppy kill of a shop owner and Kenny taking a tumble.   Off a building.  Insert your preferred South Park joke here.  I’m sure Sean Delaney’s heard them all by now. 

It would really make Carolyn a monster if she were to off her own son, but would I be totally surprised if she did? Nope.

Meanwhile, Eve be Evein’.  Working a shit job, visiting her PTVD (Post-Traumatic Villanelle Disorder) suffering hubby in the convalescent home and protesting way too much how much she’s totally done with her old life...right up until she’s not. Drunk texting Kenny was cute, and they had a sweet moment just sitting there and talking. I’m going to miss Kenny. He was the only character (Niko’s not a character. He’s a foil) whose moral compass wasn’t hopelessly damaged or totally broken. Sandra did so much with so little to work with while Jodie’s Villanelle seemed slightly bored by the whole proceedings. I know the feeling.

It's not an unfair observation to note that while Phoebe Waller Bridge thought it was a good move to empower other women by changing out the showrunner/head writer each season it does cost KE the continuity that other shows have.  Vulture writer Jen Cheney explained how these substitutions may explain Killing Eve’s maddening inconsistency. And those qualities sprang from series creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also acted as lead wrier in season one. Though she’s still an executive producer, Waller-Bridge has passed that baton to a different woman each season. Last season it was her friend, actress (Call the Midwife, The Crown), writer, and now director (Promising Young Woman) Emerald Fennell. In season three, it’s Suzanne Heathcote, a British playwright who previously worked on Fear the Walking Dead. It’s wonderful that different women are getting this opportunity and being encouraged to pursue their own visions. But inevitably, it leads to a show that, season to season, lacks consistency and has lost the idiosyncrasy that originally defined it.

Killing Eve is empowering women in front and behind the camera and that’s good.  But none of them have topped Waller Bridge’s opening act and that’s bad.  Case in point: Better Call Saul which just had maybe their best episode last week and was directed by creator Vince Gilligan and his number two, Peter Gould. I think it helps to have an overarching vision and creative continuity for a show to truly grow and flourish. I'm all for putting women in positions formerly occupied by men, but I can see why some critics and fans feel Killing Eve may have reached the end of its shelf life with the whole "cat-and-mouse/will-they-or-won't-they" dynamic. There's still space to explore, but not a whole lot. At some point they have to move the story along. We still don't know much more about The Twelve in S3 than we did in S1, as we learned nothing about them in S2. KE is a compressed show due to its limited number of episodes. Sometimes in erratic episodes like the S3 opener where the wedding turns into a brawl it doesn't entirely work. Nor would I place too much faith in the suggestion by some fans that PWB is overseeing the entire workings of the show behind the scenes. Phoebe doesn't seem the type to be looking over the shoulder of her successors and telling them, "Do this. Don't do that." Being a showrunner means just that: You Run the Show. The six-month time jump was an error.   It robbed us of Eve’s recovery and how Villanelle moved on and into another relationship.  If you drop the entire opening sequence of Dasha’s origin story and instead focus on how Eve survived her last encounter with Villanelle or show where she went after she shot her obsession down in cold blood.

The bloom is off the KE rose.  You’re only news for a short time and then you’re old news with a past track record that is ripe for to be reviewed and compared.  That may not be fair to the show, but it is fair for critics and audiences to compare what Killing Eve is to what it was and conclude while it’s better than 99 percent of the competition,  it’s just not as good as it once was.

 If we had been given that scene perhaps we might have a better perspective why Eve is so pathetic and why Villanelle is trying to put on a happy face when she’s anything but. I mean she treated her supposed bride like one of her dead exe’s.  

That would have been enough to up the premier to a “B.”   But we didn’t get that scene so I’m dropping the grade down.  

Oh, and fuck you Niko. Mr. Nice Guy and a permanently weak, wimpy, wuss of a character.  Every time you show up with your droopy mustache I have to resist the urge to projectile vomit.  It should have been your pitiful ass one to take The Big Drop instead of Eve’s last link to normalcy and possibly, sanity. 

Rest In Power, Kenny Stowton.   You met someone all right, but it turned out to be the Grim Reaper.   Plus, you probably died a virgin. You deserved better, but then so did we.  

FINAL GRADE:  B-

[plockd]

SO. Before I begin, I’m going to come out and say (and this will be no surprise to anyone who’s read anything I’ve written) that I am in fact a huge Eve + Villanelle shipper, but I’ve found myself thinking about something tricky on several occasions, so here’s an attempt to put it into words. Oh, there are spoilers in here, so skip if you haven’t seen season 1. 

A lot of people are wondering whether or not we’re actually going to get something canonically romantic with these two characters, and while I hope to God we do, here’s the issue: Villanelle is a psychopath. Yes, we all know this, and yes, I love her to bits, but no matter how funny she is, no matter how much I want to make her into a real cinnamon bun and just eat her up, she is a psychopath. Now, that’s an obvious issue for many reasons, but here are some things that sort of, at least I think, currently stop V + E from becoming anything on screen. 

Villanelle’s personality: she’s a child at heart, a child that gets really mad when she doesn’t get what she wants. She says she wants normal things, wants “someone to watch movies with”, but if the person next to her doesn’t agree to share the popcorn, what will stop V from stabbing that person in the knee with a fork? Nothing, because she’s a psychopath. Her whole “how dare someone hurt me / disagree with me” shines through her character in the series. In episode 1, “Nice Face”, she kills Cesare Greco, and the look on her face is euphoric, like close to orgasmic (kudos to Jodie Comer’s incredible acting), and as Jennings has stated in the novel, Villanelle does get real physical satisfaction from killing. In the book, she nearly hacks off Simon’s head with a big knife with name starts with a c, can’t remember, a chukabongo or something, and she literally “feels something so intense, it nearly brings her to her knees”. Now, if someone can get something like that, something better than sex (again, Jennings, killing gives V something sex never can quite deliver), then why would that person give that up? Love? Ergo, Villanelle, based on what we have so far, will not stop killing. Now, what does that mean? 

I think it means, if these two are going to become something, it’s Eve who’s going to have to adapt. She’s going to have to either face her own darkness, which I see as very problematic and complicated, because in episode 8, she did release her own inner demon, she did do exactly what she’d planned to do, and what did she realize? That she wasn’t cut out for it. She stabs Villanelle, feels victorious for a total of two seconds, and then bang, so many flashes of panic and regret on her face (kudos to Sandra Oh, she’s brilliant in this scene), because stabbing someone in reality turned out to be a lot different from stabbing someone in her mind, and at least to me, that tells that Eve’s fascinated with morbid things and the psychology behind the people who do these morbid things, but Eve herself is not a person who wants to be doing the morbid things. 

Now, this same woman who went through this process of realizing her mistake, realizing who she isn’t, would have to adapt, would have to accept Villanelle’s violence and the physical satisfaction she gets from her kills, would have to throw her own rules of morality and justice and “what’s right or wrong” out the window. Villanelle is capable of her own version of love, but so far, her version of love was egoistical, self-centered, obsessive, and made her kill Anna’s husband just to get him out of the way. She no doubt knew killing Max would hurt Anna, but did she care? No, because it’s all about what Villanelle wants. She knew, without a doubt, that killing Bill would erect a huge barrier between her and Eve, but did she care? No, she could have got out of that club without being seen, easily, but she killed him anyway, because he upset her by grabbing her arm at the U-Bahn and stopping her from following Eve, plus her whole “you shouldn’t touch a person without their permission” (agreed, btw). If you ask me, her whole “he was following me!” excuse was complete bullshit. And now, there’s a freaking hole in her stomach, and Villanelle no doubt knows exactly why Eve did it, but will she care about her reasoning? No, because Villanelle “really liked her”, as in “how dare she do this to me when I liked her?” So, basically, Eve’s the one who’s going to have to do all the work because there’s nothing to indicate Villanelle hasn’t been like this since she was a kid, and can I see Eve doing it? I don’t know. It’s easy to dream, it’s easy to want things to happen, and I freaking hope the writers will give us what we want (because I swear, if they don’t and they end this show without even a kiss, I will be so mad I’ma freaking fly over there), but if they do, it’s going to take time, it’s going to take so much character development, I doubt we’ll be seeing it in season 2. I don’t see that much development happening inside of Eve over 8 episodes, but who knows, we might get more than 8? Yes, she changed so much during season 1, but to go from “hunting a psychopath who kills people for a living, including her best friend” to “I’m gonna go full on Clarice and hook up with this woman” is just, it would take too much, I think. So, there needs to be a season 3, or a really long season 2. 

I don’t know if any of this made any sense, but it’s just something I’ve been thinking about while writing and it’s stopping me from writing all the lovely fluff I’d love to write for these two because they’re dorks. And for some reason, tonight, I had to get my fear of “we’re not going to get our ship in season 2″ into words.