#tear into s4 writing like oksana did to that s1 prison girl

[wsome1ushouldntve]

THINGS I WANTED TO SEE IN 4X08 OF KE:

“Oksana.” Like, not her alter ego, but her real name, being privately and reverently uttered by Eve.

Why is Eve still a Polastri? Warrants thorough explanation.

A not-so-shitty characterization of Carolyn Martens. A very uninteresting writing off of a potentially nuanced character. Her ending made her one-dimensionally evil, despite all the emotional build-up that was the majority of her arc with Geraldine and Villanelle.

Eve’s “rebirth” being making peace with both sides of her personality; the one that is “normal” and the one that is embracing of her darker tendencies.

Villanelle working through her trauma. “Are You From Pinner?” did a somewhat inadequate job of this. So did her kidnapping Martin and having a small and civil breakdown. I would have liked to see her tackle all this head-on. Nothing needs to be obvious or voiced-out about it (like that “I remember Bill” left so many things unsaid in the most wordlessly eloquent way possible and was good, but her “Goodbye, old bastard” while throwing darts felt too on-the-surface, even beside Pam)

WHERE IS IRINA WHAT HAPPENED TO HER

THE TWELVE. For all that talk, all that suspense, all that mystery, this may be the single biggest anticlimactic and incomplete sorry excuse of a resolution to such a significant and insidious part of the plot (esp. In S3 and 4)

Pam is seen as a parallel to Oksana. Konstantin offers her a way out, and it is only after making the mistake of killing him does she realize what a gift it is that he’s given her, so she defies Carolyn and leaves. Oksana, in contrast, grows closer to Carolyn across S4 and is ultimately betrayed in the most undignifying way, without confrontation and without grace. I would have liked to see more of Pam and Oksana, certainly more than that arrow removal scene (rare example of good, snappy dialogue and tension in S4) and the darts in the Barn Swallow (boring, lacking in meaning, a dull lull in pacing).

I need! Very much! An at-peace smile from Oksana the moment she realises her efforts have not been in vain. The closest thing we got to security was 1. the look of enrapturing adoration when she saw Eve on that dance floor and 2. the certain reflex of her shielding Eve from the bullets and pushing her to jump. I’m not sure if it was a trick of light or something but I could have sworn that after a bullet missed Eve underwater Oksana doubled her efforts in swimming towards her, trying to block more bullets, knowing she probably had little chance at survival. I would have liked to see just a subtle indicator of her giving Eve the chance to live and being happy about it, completing her arc of discovery of self, peace, and love, whether that be a satisfied smile or even a panicked “go” or “live” that should have happened in the last seconds of life underwater, in contrast to Eve’s yell of torment after resurfacing was animalistic.

Nothing needs to be obvious or even voiced in this. What little excellence I found in this season overall was the blatant choice to not have them voice out their feelings vocally but still make it painfully obvious in their comforting familiarity of that dance they have around each other and with each other. An example would be the “piss kiss,” no words exchanged and no words needed. Another more subtle one would be the sleeping bag scene, especially the bit where Oksana traces Eve’s scar after they’d shared a look when the bothy couple had showed off their kidney replacement marks. They’ve never had explicit sex. They’ve never even properly exchanged “I love you’s” onscreen. Neither is needed, because in their actions and looks and obsession we can decode the underlying tension that finally comes to domestic fruition in the comfort with which they not so much collide but rather tentatively meet in the middle. Refreshing.

Regarding the silence with which Oksana had died, swallowed up by water while Eve had emerged fighting and yelling and breathing, it was a good anti-parallel showcasing character development where once Eve was restrained and Villanelle was flashy and notorious for her violent outbursts, BUT BUT BUT taking the fight out of Villanelle, while adding another dimension to her fluctuating personality, does ABSOLUTELY GODDAMN NOTHING to the development of her personal life/ feelings towards Eve. She should not have died in such a quiet, muted, dismissive way.

Which begs the question: Should either of them have even died? My view on this is that, pushing aside the debate of the “bury your gays” trope or even the tangent on queerbaiting, is that this is quite lazy writing on what could have been a much more meaningful resolution independent of the decision of killing off one of the title characters. The show’s title is Killing Eve. The twist is inherently clever. What I want to reiterate is that what is decidedly NOT CLEVER is the way they executed (no pun intended) Oksana’s death without much dignity, with so many strings left untied.

These are just some very immediate thoughts. Might think of others.