Killing Eve struggles to end on a high
The once-brilliant show is starting to feel a little strained, writes James Croot – although its one-liners still pack a punch.
‘‘How can you be so good all the time?’’ It’s not a question anyone who has watched the first three seasons of Killing Eve would expect to be asked of the Machiavellian hitwoman Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and yet, when we reunite with her for the start of season four, she’s the toast of her parish, with the voice of an angel and a reputation for helping others.
‘‘You know, you don’t have to live exactly as they did in the Bible,’’ the local priest advises, now suspicious of her increasingly impatient desire to be baptised. But Villanelle assures him that she just wants to be part of a family, even if her repeated invitations to her old nemesis Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) for the big event have frustratingly gone unanswered.
That’s partly because Eve is unconvinced Villanelle has gone straight, and also as a result of her own preoccupation with tracking down – and taking out the nefarious 12. It’s led her back to Russia and Villanelle’s former handler Konstantin (Kim Bodner).
As she turns up at his office clad in Villanelleesque motorcycle leathers and pointing a gun, he scoffs, ‘‘What are you now? An assassin?’’
‘‘What are you now? A mayor,’’ she ripostes, knowing full well that’s exactly what he’s done, before firing a bullet into him.
However, her persuasive methods yield few results. ‘‘I don’t have a contact to the 12 – Villanelle pushed the last one under a train,’’ he opines, suggesting that Eve try finding a recent recruit who she could then trace back to the 12.
As she heads out to do exactly that, Konstantin offers a parting shot: ‘‘Whatever this is, you won’t come out of it.’’
‘‘Thank god,’’ she laughs.
Debuting in 2018 as part of the tidal wave of Phoebe Waller-Bridge projects that caught the world’s attention, Killing Eve really now feels like a series that is rapidly running out of ideas and exiting on fumes. Let’s just hope it has enough to muster a satisfying conclusion to this allegedly last eight-episode run.
Part of its secret sauce has always been the chemistry between former Grey’s Anatomy star Oh and accent chameleon Liverpudlian Comer, but, after so many confrontations, increasingly contrived plots and supporting characters that simply won’t die, even their once beautiful banter and crackling tension is starting to seem a bit strained. And there’s only so much sending them on separate missions can do to keep interest levels high, when all we want is them to spark off one another.
Part of the problem potentially lies in the decision to have each season helmed by a separate head writer. Sure there’s been an impressive commitment to maintaining the show’s tone, but it has also resulted in an overwhelming feeling of circularity about events – of a narrative simply running in place, relying on its quirky characters to keep audiences engaged. If someone hadn’t had the good sense to pull the plug now, there’s a real danger this could have lost its edge and become a hollow parody of itself a la James Spader’s once global-conquering The Blacklist.
That said, if you strip away all the now slightly tired conspiracy theories and double-crossing, there’s still some terrific one-liners (‘‘I don’t want to see your nipples unless they are in full agreement with me,’’ Eve chides her revengemission partner Yusuf (Robert Gilbert)), fabulous costumes and moments of pure Comer magic.
The fourth – and final – season of Killing Eve debuts on TVNZ OnDemand at 9pm tonight.