USA TODAY International Edition
Tension shifts in Season 3 of ‘Killing Eve’
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – “Killing Eve” wowed viewers with its portrait of a hired assassin known as Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), the MI-5 agent tasked with finding her. In Season 2, their relationship became more intense (and more fraught), and in a finale cliffhanger Villanelle shot Eve.
What’s in store for Season 3? Spoiler alert: Don’t expect the gunshot to be fatal.
The new season “retains all of the mashup of heightened thriller, hilarious profane humor and the grounded characters along with the insanity of it,” says Sarah Barnett, president of AMC Entertainment Networks, in an interview at the Television Critics Association press tour.
“At its heart, it’s a psychological study of these two women. And the question and the challenge of the show is, how do you keep this tension going? I think where we’re taking it in Season 3 is we evolve the cat-and-mouse thing, so it isn’t the same feel of tantalizing. Even though the two of them are electrically connected, and you can never snip that thing between them, It takes on a different (tenor). How far can we push it without it feeling repetitive?”
The scripts are written, but Barnett was mum about plot details. The season is expected to begin filming in September and air next year, Barnett says.
“Eve” nabbed nine Emmy nominations this month, including best drama, actress (for both Oh and Comer) and supporting actress (Fiona Shaw). Ratings spiked when the series, first aired by BBC America in Season 1, was simulcast on the larger AMC network this year, a plan that will continue.
Each season is led by a new female writer and executive producer: Phoebe Waller-Bridge created the show and led the first batch of episodes; the third season will be led by Suzanne Heathcote (“Fear the Walking Dead”).
And Waller-Bridge, who is nominated this year for writing and acting in comedy “Fleabag,” which streams on Amazon, told London’s Mirror last month that she wants to play one of Villanelle’s murder victims.
“I am going to write myself a part so that I can be murdered by Jodie,” she says.