ALL ABOUT ‘EVE’
Oh returns as British spy tracking ruthless killer in BBC drama
‘Killing Eve” is fun until it's not.
And that's meant as a great compliment.
This stylish, dark thriller from BBC America and based on a series of novels by Luke Jennings marks the return of “Grey's Anatomy” favorite Sandra Oh to series television as a British intelligence agent tracking a wily assassin.
But who's the hunter and who's the prey?
That answer seems to flip several times an episode.
When we first see Villanelle (Jodie Comer, “The White Princess”), she's eating a frozen treat in an ice cream shop in Vienna and taking in the clerk behind the counter and the other customers.
It's almost as if she's studying them.
She caps her visit off with a random act of cruelty, because that's how she rolls.
Villanelle is a trained assassin who excels at eliminating her targets in fiendishly clever ways. Always, always, she looks into their eyes as life slips away, searching for something.
“Why are you doing this to me?” one victim begs.
“I have absolutely no idea,” Villanelle says.
Eve (Oh) is searching for something, too. Her MI5 desk job bores her.
“Trouble's not interested in me,” she grouses.
She's married to a wonderful guy, Niko (Owen McDonnell), but there's something off in their playful banter, and they both know it, even if they don't speak about it.
(Those who hoped to hear Oh with a British accent will be disappointed. Her character holds dual citizenship and grew up in Connecticut.)
When an influential Russian is murdered, Eve floats her theory that to get close enough to the victim, the killer had to be a woman.
Her immediate supervisor, Bill (David Haig, “Penny Dreadful”), and her colleague Elena (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) are intrigued. Their boss, Frank (Darren Boyd), thinks Eve is a “tiresome think-bucket.” Another operative, Carolyn (Fiona Shaw, “True Blood”), offers Eve an opportunity, but it could come with a price. It's always exciting to track a killer until those in your orbit are jeopardized.
Villanelle is getting reckless. Her handler Konstantin (a good Kim Bodnia) finds it increasingly hard to keep her focused. Tasked with making one killing look like a suicide, Villanelle takes out several passers-by.
“I just want someone to play with,” Villanelle says early on. The problem is, so many of her playmates end up dead.
The script is deliciously witty, but it never lets you forget some nice people are coming to perfectly horrible ends.
Comer plays Villanelle like Dexter without a shred of a moral compass. Oh mines Eve's curiosity that encompasses so much more.
Who's going to come out on top in this devilish dance? It would be a crime to miss one swerve of “Killing Eve.”