****SPOILER WARNING – Please note the series review below may contain spoilers from the latest episode of Killing Eve.
From the very beginning, Killing Eve has captured viewer's attention with its intricately woven cat and mouse game between Eve Polastri and the deadly assassin, Villanelle. Killing Eve continues to raise the bar and set new standards for gripping suspense. This week's episode is no exception, "Don't I Know You?" (1x3) continues that trend with an expertly crafted script and superb performances from Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer. Each week seems to narrow the focus on these two women, bringing them closer and closer to confrontation. Killing Eve continues to raise the bar and set new standards for gripping suspense. It seems we're destined for a future episode featuring just these two outstanding performers for the entire episode.
This week's raison d'etre is the investigation of the murder of a Chinese diplomat in a Berlin fetish palace. What draws Eve (Oh), and her colleague, Bill (David Haig) to Berlin is that this time the killer boldly identified herself by using the alias Eve Polastri. Bill accompanies Eve to Berlin, as he lived and work there for two years and is not only familiar with the city but oddly also with the city's fetish and sexual deviancy culture underground. This allows for some wonderful and revealing scenes between Sandra Oh and David Haig. They have a nice, comfortable ease in their banter together as perhaps they both learn more about their colleague than they wanted to know. Bill begins to wonder about Eve after listening to her describe the woman she met in the hospital that she is certain is the killer they are pursuing. He calls her on whether or not her interest in the woman is purely professional after listening to Eve describe her in detailed almost romantic terms. Eve learns that she'd made the wrong assumption about Bill being in the perfect marriage and doting father. It seems Bill explored all sides of his sexuality while in Berlin and shares an open marriage while admitting he and his wife only got married because he wanted a child. They make a good team, having each other's back, however, in this case, that leads to tragic results.
Sandra Oh wonderfully continues to peel back the many layers of Eve Polastri. More and more we find that while professionally she is a master at putting the pieces of a case together, she's socially awkward. We also learn that she can become so absorbed in a case she forgets those around her, as we see that her obsession with this case may be causing cracks in her marriage. And while it has been her professional dream to be a spy, when push comes to shove she's just not very good at playing the Mata Hari, femme fatale role the job calls for in their investigation. Her dinner with the Chinese attaché is Oh at her best, blunt and honest to a fault, socially awkward with just a touch of endearing goofiness, that makes her Eve such a rounded character.
On the other side, watching Jodie Comer take Villanelle further and further down a dark, psychotic rabbit hole is a sheer delight to watch. She is so convincing as this cold, souless character that at times watching her brilliance in crafting this wicked woman is a little like watching a traffic accident, you know it's going to be bad yet you can't look away. After displaying the first sign of emotion from this twisted character last week when learning that the MI6 agent hunting her is the woman she encountered in the hospital, she turns that emotion into a deadly obsession this week. But that obsession may be what leads to her downfall. She has become so obsessed with Eve, she's not only grown bold but somewhat reckless. In this episode alone, she gives Eve's name as her alias when she killed the diplomat; then she waits and watches for Eve to arrive in Berlin to investigate. When Eve arrives, she steals her luggage, wears a scarf that belongs to Eve, and plays a deluded game later picking up a female tourist for a tryst and insists the woman call herself Eve. She brazenly follows Eve into a dress shop and watches her try on dresses knowing her stealing Eve's suitcase is the reason Eve is there. Her ego even allows her to hang a belt as a suggested accessory and she preens when Eve takes the suggestion.
The subtle smirks and grins from Comer as she watches Eve from afar at times are disturbing and chilling. However, when following Eve to her dinner with the attaché her focus on Eve is so intent, she makes her first mistake. While wearing a scarf from Eve's suitcase she does not see Bill notice and then follows her. It seems as though Bill recognizes the woman as more than the suspect from Eve's description. When he confronts her and stops her from following Eve, she seems at first startled, then takes it as a challenge. She leads Bill away and into a club where she later coldly, repeatedly stabs him to death.This is where she's made her mistake. Unknown to her, Bill had alerted Eve he was following their suspect. Eve had finally left her dinner, but not before the attaché had given her a flash drive that may contain vital information, had left her dinner to join Bill at the club. Only, Eve arrives too late and sees someone attack Bill before she can get to him. This arrogance from Villanelle just changed all the stakes in the series. The gauntlet has been thrown, this is more than a game of cat and mouse now. No longer is catching this killer a challenge to Eve, it just became very personal.
The intrigue grows with each episode of
Killing Eve. What were your thoughts on this episode? Do you think Bill recognized Villanelle? Share your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
