THE HIT- GIRLS無情女殺手
Killing Eve is an addictive and surprisingly funny feminist spy thriller. By KEVIN MA
由兩位女性擔綱主演的間諜驚慄劇集《Killing Eve》不但劇情引人入勝，而且充滿出人意表的笑料和幽默感。撰文：馬樂民
MIXING SELF- DEPRECATING,
scathing humour into the story of one woman’s self- destruction, TV series
Fleabag established playwright-actor Phoebe Waller- Bridge as one of the boldest up-and- coming female voices in British comedy. It was a surprising shift when she followed that success with a spy thriller – but one that’s displayed her range and versatility as a writer.
Based on a novella series by Luke Jennings, Killing Eve is a show that’s less interested in spy games and more concerned with the psychology of its players, namely Eve, a low-level MI5 officer (Sandra Oh), and Villanelle (Jodie Comer), a psychopathic assassin based in Paris. When the two women become adversaries, they develop a twisted obsession with each other that makes it unclear who is hunting whom.
Like Amazon’s Patriot, Killing Eve is a clever mix of spy thriller and deadpan comedy. The story is deadly serious and the stakes are high, but Waller- Bridge – who wrote four of the first season’s eight episodes – sets a dark, dryly humorous tone. Villanelle’s hits – such as when she tells her target where she would prefer to execute him – are often simultaneously chilling and absurdly funny. Comer exudes both charm and pure evil as the ruthless killer who approaches murder with the excitement of a schoolchild on a field trip.
Killing Eve is a spy show on the surface, but it’s also about a more quotidian issue: the challenges that women face in maledominated workplaces. The women in the story are often underestimated and undermined by their male counterparts, no matter how driven and how correct they often turn out to be. Later in the season, Villanelle also realises that she is merely a tiny pawn in a much bigger game between powerful men.
In a rare move, BBC America commissioned a second season of
Killing Eve before the first even aired. It seems like a risky move, but it’s easy to understand the network’s confidence by the end of the first episode. Addictive shows like Killing Eve show exactly why we’re in the golden age of television.
劇集《Fleabag》講述性格不討好、生活又一團糟的女子不肯面對現實的人生，充滿自我貶抑與尖酸刻薄的幽默，編劇兼演員
Phoebe Waller-Bridge 亦因此成為英國喜劇界的後起之秀，並以敢於為女性發聲而見稱。繼這個成功劇集之後，她推出的新作卻是間諜驚慄劇集《Killing Eve》，令人出乎意外之餘，亦顯示她多才多藝的編劇才華。
《Killing Eve》改 編自 Luke Jennings的中篇小說系列，以兩位女性為主角：在軍情五處任職低級情報分析員的Eve（Sandra Oh飾），以及居於巴黎、具有反社會傾向的殺手 Villanelle（Jodie Comer 飾）。不過劇集的重點不在於爾虞我詐的諜戰，而是探討兩位主角的心理。當這兩名女子互相較量時，彼此均對對方產生一種扭曲的執念，到後來到底是誰在追捕誰變得愈來愈模糊。
這個劇集跟在 Amazon網上電視播出的《Patriot》一樣，巧妙地將間諜驚慄與冷幽默式的喜劇糅合在一起。《Killing Eve》的劇情極其嚴肅認真，高潮迭起，但是第一季的八集裡，有四集的劇本由 Waller-Bridge執筆，為整個劇集定下一個陰沉中帶著冷幽默的調子。Villanelle下手殺人時，固然令人不寒而慄，卻同時又令人覺得荒謬可笑；例如有一次，她事先告訴目標人物，她喜歡在哪個地方將他處決。Comer飾演的無情殺手，在行兇時表現得有如小學生去旅行般興奮，既迷人又邪惡。
表面上，《Killing Eve》是間諜劇，但同時也觸及一個更貼身的議題：女性在男性主導的工作間裡面對的各種難題。劇中的女性角色無論多麼努力發奮，或者事後證明她們如何有先見之明，她們總是經常被男同事低估和貶抑。劇集發展下去， Villanelle 亦發現，她不過是一群有權有勢的男人所操控的大棋局中一枚小小的棋子而已。
在《Killing Eve》首季尚未播映之前，
BBC美國台就已簽下製作第二季的合約，這是非常罕見的。此舉看似冒險，不過當你看完第一集之後，就不難明白為何電視台對劇集如此有信心。像《Killing Eve》這類令人忍不住追看的劇集，正好說明我們現在確是身處電視的黃金時代。