wearevillaneve

[wearevillaneve]

by LaToya Fergunson/AV Club

Killing Eve (four seasons, 2018-2022)

The question for Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodie Comer) wasn’t so much “will they end up hooking up?” as it was “will they end up murdering each other?” But to be fair, the answer by the end of the series wound up being “they will” on both fronts. (Fun for all, right?) That said, even viewers who wanted those answers ultimately ended up being disappointed in the execution.

Created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who served as the head writer for the first season (followed by Emerald Fennell, Suzanne Heathcote, and Laura Neal in subsequent seasons) and based on Luke Jennings’ Villanelle novel series, Killing Eve was a cat-and-mouse tale between intelligence operative Eve and unhinged assassin Villanelle. The latter quickly found herself attracted to the former, and both women became obsessed with the other. While Villanelle’s infatuation with Eve was explicitly made sexual in the first season, Eve’s wasn’t necessarily portrayed as such, despite the pair’s will-they/won’t-they energy. Instead, the obsession seemed to stem from an emptiness in Eve’s life. Think pieces about the show at the time spoke of the “queer ambiguity” of Killing Eve, under the assumption that the series would never make any romantic aspect of the series anything but one-sided. And the “nice” moment the two end up sharing at the end of the first season is cut short by Eve stabbing Villanelle and Villanelle fleeing. 

Eve and Villanelle continue to be consumed with each other in their own ways, with Eve spiraling (and destroying her personal and professional lives in the process) and Villanelle having a reason to continue stalking Eve, as she’s tasked with living up to the show’s title. It all culminates in Villanelle trying to get Eve to continue down a dark path that will make them the same. But Eve doesn’t fully go down the rabbit hole and also rejects Villanelle when she tells her she loves her…so Villanelle shoots her and leaves her for dead. (If nothing else, no one can say Killing Eve didn’t deliver on the “enemies” part of “enemies-to-lovers.”) 

Villanelle spends a portion of the third season believing she did kill Eve and tries to move on—but that’s all for naught once she discovers her beloved is still alive. So Villanelle continues to pursue Eve, sending her presents and messages, as if the attempted murder was just a lover’s spat. The two end up finding each other and fighting on a bus, in a moment where Eve turns the tables by kissing Villanelle before headbutting her. The season ends with the two discussing their future together, or lack thereof. It’s a far cry from the ambiguity and subtext of the first season, even as the two walk away from each other to end it all.

In the final season, Villanelle tries to prove to Eve that she’s changed and is no longer trying to make Eve more like her. But there is no happy ending—until the series finale, when the two finally do end up running off together, romantically entwined…only for Villanelle to die, saving Eve’s life. (On a metaphorical level, Eve had definitely been “killed” by then.) Again, the series definitely answered the will-they/won’t-they question with “they will.” But by that point, interest in Killing Eve had seriously waned, and even those who wanted Eve/Villanelle to get together were disappointed. Compounded by the creative turnover from season to season, the execution of Eve/Villanelle was proof that not every will-they/won’t-they should. But all of these examples do serve as reminders that there are plenty of ways to make the love-hate/enemies-to-lovers scenario work—and just as many to completely bungle them.  

[wearevillaneve]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SANDRA OH!

[wearevillaneve]

Sandra Oh Knows What's Great About Middle Age

[wearevillaneve]

Eve Polastri. Before Villanelle & After Villanelle.

[wearevillaneve]

Dressed for dinner. (original illustration by sokolovagallery/Instagram)

[wearevillaneve]

Sandra Oh and the cast of "Twelfth Night" (photography by Emma Summerton for Vanity Fair)

[wearevillaneve]

A previously unreleased Happy Sad Confused with Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh playing "Game Night"

[wearevillaneve]

Together Forever. (art commission by Nosnexus)

[wearevillaneve]

My Favorite Killing Eve Commissions #1 (art by KayworxX)

[wearevillaneve]

My Favorite Killing Eve Commissions #2 (art by Vodkafinger)

[wearevillaneve]

My Favorite Killing Eve Commissions #3 (art by Rellygc)

[wearevillaneve]

I know, I know.. I SAID this wasn't going to turn into a Jodie Comer or Sandra Oh blog, but for a change, here is an article with J.C. for 28 Years Later with a bit more meat on the bone than most.

Jodie Comer: ‘There’s a fashion to see how much you can torture yourself’

“I do feel fortunate,” Comer says. “I’ve had amazing roles.” She smiles wryly. “But it’s interesting because even though the women I’ve played have been these fantastic characters, they are mostly in support of the male lead. You are often the only woman on a male-dominated set. It’d be lovely to do one as a lead.”

[wearevillaneve]

My Favorite Killing Eve Commissions #4 (art by MekareMadness)

[wearevillaneve]

My Favorite Killing Eve Commissions #5 (art by drawing llamas)

[wearevillaneve]

My Favorite Killing Eve Commissions. #6 (art by Marianna Scherer)

[wearevillaneve]

My Favorite Killing Eve Commissions. #7(art by rabentanz)

[wearevillaneve]