****SPOILER WARNING – Please note the series review below may contain spoilers from the latest episode of Killing Eve.
Each previous episode of Killing Eve has raced along at an almost break-neck pace, building in intensity and purpose. The show's latest episode, "Sorry Baby" (1x04) takes a slower, more deliberate and somber tone, and gives us Sandra Oh's (Eve) best performance of the series. While the pace has slowed the intensity has been magnified.
The somber tone is intentional as the entire episode is the aftermath of Bill's (David Haig) murder at the hands of Villanelle (Jodie Comer). Until now, in an odd way, Eve's pursuit of Villanelle has been almost like a game or challenge built upon her fascination with serial killers. Villanelle changed all that when she killed Bill. His death has shaken Eve to her core. With this likely being the first time Eve has lost someone close to her in such a violent fashion, it's no longer a challenge, she is on a mission now. The episode begins with Frank's funeral, where Eve appears to be in a stupor, going through the motions. When everyone's favorite "dick-wad", Frank (Darren Boyd) gets up to deliver Bill's eulogy she breaks and bolts from the service. Outside, talking to Elena (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) Oh vibrates with Eve's righteous anger and declares they aren't giving up the case and that she wants to kill this woman with her bare hands. Her delivery of those lines gives no doubt that Eve is capable of just that and that now this case is personal.
Later at home with her husband, Eve is surprised when her stolen suitcase is returned. In it, she finds new, expensive clothing but is really rattled when she finds the "Sorry, Baby!" note from Villanelle. Sandra Oh perfectly captures Eve's panic, she lashes out at Niko (Owen McDonnell) when he tries to help her. He thinks it's because of him but in reality, Eve's suddenly terrified for him. Villanelle's brazen move only hardens Eve's resolve to catch her. Eve may be shaken, but she is more determined than ever. From the flash drive given to Eve by the Chinese attaché in Berlin, the team learns that there is a mole in the ranks of British Intelligence. The mole turns out to be none other than Eve's former boss, "dickwad" himself, Frank. Using Kenny's (Sean Delaney) computer skills, they discover Frank hiding in his mother's quiet English village. Eve and Elena go to bring him back because to Eve, Frank is the key to tracking Villanelle and the people who are paying her.
Unfortunately for Frank, Eve isn't the only one hunting him.
Having fallen out of favor with her bosses for her impulsiveness in killing Frank, Villanelle is sent to work with a team in England. Their mission, to kill a member of British Intelligence whom her employers feel has become a liability. That liability is Frank. On arriving in England, she is teamed up with another female assassin, Nadia (Olivia Ross) and her lover, the ill-tempered Diego (Edward Akrout). It is not an ideal partnership. Diego keeps having to separate the two women from killing each other. Apparently, the two trained together in Russia, and Nadia appears to feel Villanelle cheated her out of prime recognition as the top assassin. Diego is stunned to learn that not only were the women training rivals but were lovers as well, which further complicates their mission. He orders them to put their bad blood aside and get the job done. They've tracked Frank to the same quiet village that Eve has and travel there.
Comer is once again masterful at showing yet another layer to the complex Villanelle. On this mission, she keeps the soulless assassin, methodical and in control, except where it comes to Nadia. She quickly and literally takes charge, sliding behind the wheel of their car when Frank slips away from him and they give chase through the English countryside. She becomes an even more first-class manipulator when they momentarily stop to track Frank on foot after finding his abandoned vehicle. She convinces Nadia that she was always coming back for her and that they can be together again. She maneuvers Nadia into killing Diego. Then she follows that by sending Nadia to get something from the boot of the car and then calmly backing over her former lover, twice with the car, all the while uttering a single word, "Oops."
As this has occurred, Frank has frantically contacted Eve and Elena by phone and they are racing toward him from the opposite direction. To get to them Frank has to run across an open field and climb a fence with Eve waving him on from the other side. Behind him, Villanelle calmly follows, shooting at him. Eve manages to get Frank over the fence and into the car. She looks up in time to see that the assassin stalking Frank is her new nemesis, Villanelle. And she's stalking her way toward them, firing her gun. Cat meet mouse. In that final instant, the low-key tone of the entire episode changes. The stakes have never been higher and the audience is left on tether-hooks as Eve and Villanelle finally come face to face as adversaries.
What will happen next? Share your theories and thoughts on this episode in the comments below.
