Killing Eve – Are You Leading Or Am I?

By: Kelly Kearney

Each season of “Killing Eve” has ended in a cliffhanger and the Season Three finale is no different. Eve and Villanelle have spent an entire season dancing around their inevitable conclusions and they do so as easily together as they do apart. Change is n the air for out favorite charmingly toxic couple they’re on a mission of self-discovery with the keen realization that who they were is not who they have become.

Royal Albert Hall

We begin in London at the famous Royal Albert Hall where Villanelle (Jodie Comer) tracks down Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) hoping to take her up on an earlier job offer. “What do you want Villanelle? You want to kill for us now,” Carolyn asks ,but the killer has lost her taste for murder. Now, she wants to work for MI6 in a non-lethal sector. Carolyn can’t see this world class assassin being an effective fact finder and pencil pusher and since she can’t offer Carolyn any information on who killed Kenny she is of no use to the MI6 team. Carolyn then poses the question, “Without Villanelle who is Oksana?” Whoever she is she isn’t someone Carolyn is interested in adding to the payroll.

Over in Scotland Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) is recovering from his massive heart attack, but khe nows he’s a sitting duck for The Twelve. For his own good he decides to bail on the hospital, but not before he pays his roomie Dasha (Harriet Walter) a deadly visit. It’s apparent the two keepers go way back and both think the other is responsible for Villanelle’s rebellious ways. Both groomed her to be the person she is today and neither want to be blamed for her recent change of heart. The blame game between the two doesn’t last long when Konstantin tells his old friend to forget Mother Russia because she’s never leaving the hospital bed. He grabs Dasha’s hand in what seems like a friendly goodbye, but as he walks away the alarm on her monitor goes off. Dasha is dead.

Let’s Dance!

After their missed connection at the train station Eve (Sandra Oh) catches up with Villanelle at a throwback club for ballroom dancers. It is the location of her first kill and Villanelle is taking a stroll down memory lane. Wondering what she would have become without that first kill, would she be an interior designer? Eve says that would have “saved me a lot of heartache,” which is just clear example of how Eve has spent the last season coming to terms with her and Villanelle’s relationship. She can no longer deny her twisted and highly emotional feelings for the blonde. In fact, she is so woke to it that she asks Villanelle to dance! “Dancing is not my thing,” says Villanelle. Smirking and reaching for her hand Eve responds with, “Mine either, but it’s good to try new things.” After some confusing, “Are you leading or am I,” banter the two women find their flow and embrace for a slow dance. With their eyes closed and their faces pressed together, they breathe each other in as the sway to the music. Out of the corner of her eye Villanelle spots an older couple dancing and asks Eve if she one day hopes to be like them. Eve doesn’t dream of growing old and comfortable with Villanelle because assassins rarely live to see their golden years. According to her, “We would consume each other before then.” While that sounds fantastic to Villanelle, the fact Eve even thinks about a ” them” means there is always a chance. Villanelle becomes emotional and with tears in her eyes she whispers, “I’ve killed a lot of people, Eve.” “I know,” Eve responds as the two hang on to each other like a life raft. Eve’s acknowledgement doesn’t come with judgment but with the tone of understanding. The knowledge that Oksana is trapped inside Villanelle and she’s desperate to get out. Eve sees her, the real her, just like Villanelle can see the killer parts of Eve. They might be the only two people in the world who truly understand each other and because of that, Villanelle will always protect her. It’s why she orders Eve to leave when she spots fellow assassin Rhian (Alexandra Roach) enter the club. She slips something she calls “freedom” into Eve’s hands and tell her to go and that they will meet up later. As she leaves Rhian informs Villanelle that Heléné wants to see her. The two head down to the tube station and talk assassin fashion. Rhian was trained to look comfortable, something completely foreign to Villanelle who brags, “I was trained to look devastating…obviously.” She does her best to annoy Rhian and when that doesn’t work death enters the equation. Rhian tries to pin Villanelle to the wall and a fight ensues. In a split second, the fashion assassin has the choice to kill Rhian as she begs for her life or let her live. Villanelle predictably chooses death. Totally not minding the gap, she kicks Rhian off the tube platform just as the train speeds past the stop. It’s a terrible way to go just from the grimace on Villanelle’s face.

Dear Mum…

When we last saw Geraldine (Gemma Whelan), she was sniffing around her mum’s ex looking for companionship. It wasn’t long until she learned Konstantin was just using her to keep tabs on her mother. After Mo died Geraldine couldn’t take her mother’s attitude and comes clean about her romance as well as belittling her for how she’s dealt with death. Now she’s offering Carolyn a well worded apology letter with the contents falling on deaf ears. Carolyn has no idea how to respond to her daughter’s emotional needs and chooses to do the only thing she knows how to do…push Geraldine away. She tells her she has until the end of the day to leave and go live her life outside her mother’s home. Shacking up with mum is not good for either of them. The truth hurts Geraldine, but Carolyn ends the conversation by saying this is how she proves she loves her daughter. Carolyn Martens might be MI6’s employee of the year, but she’s never winning that award for best mother. At least not in any traditional sense of the word.

A Bitter Pill To Swallow…

With the clue Villanelle slipped into her hands Eve makes her way to a bookie’s office to collect whatever it is she referred to as her “freedom.” We soon learn these mystery contents are in a safety deposit box set up by a Russian man, more than likely Konstantin. At first the bookie, Bruce (Jack Chissick), doesn’t buy that a nice lady like Eve would be mixed up with the Russian, but Eve leans over him to let him know, “I am not a very nice lady.” Her delivery comes off as a threat and Bruce has no choice but to hand over the contents of the box, which we later find out is nothing but a gift for Irina. Of course, we all know Konstantin’s gifts come with hidden surprises and these Russian nesting dolls for his daughter are probably no different.

After Carolyn’s disappointing talk with Geraldine she heads over to the Bitter Pill offices where she quickly learns her old friend and shag-mate is up to his Russian eyebrows in the death of her (their?) son. On the day Kenny (Sean Delaney) took a swan dive off of the roof he had a visitor in the form of Konstantin! Carolyn’s face goes from mildly disinterested to lethal in one video time stamp. Could Konstantin have killed Kenny?

Speaking of the Russian, he is desperate to get Irina’s gift from Eve. When he finds her outside of the bookie’s office he demands she hand over the dolls. After a little game of keep away Konstantin finally comes clean about why they’re so important. There is a bar code on the dolls that opens another security box containing the missing six million dollars as well as a few fake passports. Everything he and his family need to escape The Twelve relies on that bar code and time is ticking.

While Konstantin is trying to get out of the country before he winds up dead, Villanelle arrives at the Bitter Pill offices looking for Eve. The staff is in awe of her since they spent the better part of the last few months tracking her kills. Some of which are Dasha’s and she refuses to take credit for. Like some rock star, the starry eyed group can hardly believe THE VILLANELLE is sitting in their office. Before they can ask what she wants, her phone rings and it’s Konstantin begging her to convince Eve to hand over the dolls. He also wants to know why she would include Eve in their plans…as if he just met these two. Villanelle will always carry Eve up her ladder of chaos. Their lives are as intertwined as a single strand of DNA. Villanelle tells Konstantin to let Eve hold on to the dolls for now since she doesn’t want him taking off without her. As Villanelle heads their way, Konstantin gets a call from Paul (Steve Pemberton), who knows he stole the money and he wants to see him immediately. Since Eve isn’t handing over the bar coded dolls, she has no choice but to go with Konstantin to meet Paul in the hope that Villanelle will track her down there.

Justice for Kenny…

All at once the characters converge into one place, Paul’s apartment. First Eve and Konstantin show up, surprising Carolyn who is standing over Paul with a gun in a menacing fashion. Then, Villanelle enters and Carolyn barks out orders that if the two women are going to stand there gawking that they need to take a seat and watch the show that’s about to unfold. Like two kids being yelled at by their teacher, they sulk over to the couch and watch as Carolyn points her weapon at Konstantin and Paul. Paul works for The Twelve and ordered Konstantin to take out Kenny. This explains why he’s on video with Kenny moments before he died. Carolyn asks, “Why did you kill my son?” But Konstantin has an excuse and everyone in the room is all ears. He claims he offered Kenny a job with The Twelve as a way to protect him. Unfortunately, the offer scared Kenny and he stepped back from Konstantin and fell over the edge of the roof and plummeted to his death. He swears he would never kill Kenny because he loved, and possibly still loves, Carolyn. This ignites her rage and Carolyn orders Konstantin to get on his knees. His story isn’t plausible and it’s time someone pays for her son’s death. She holds the barrel of the gun to his forehead as he begs Villanelle to save him. Unfortunately for him, she’s enjoying the show and makes no effort to jump to his defense. Just as Carolyn is about to pull the trigger she turns the gun on Paul and puts a bullet in his head! She tells Konstantin to leave before she changes her mind and he does, but not before asking Villanelle if she wants to run away with him. She declines because this entire scene has made her realize that he is not her family. Apparently, that honor goes to Eve and possibly Carolyn if the fangirl look on her face is any indication of how impressed she is with the woman’s power. With that, Eve and Villanelle leave the apartment so Carolyn can call in Paul’s “suicide.”

Don’t Look Back…

As Villanelle and Eve make their way towards London’s bridge, the season ends like the last two before it…with our two leading ladies together and talking about what’s next for them. Carolyn suggested they might consider going cold turkey from each other, but is that even possible at this point? “What has happened to us?” Eve wonders because since she’s met Villanelle the life she had before is over. Is it Villanelle’s fault? Possibly, but the person Eve is now is the person she always was – she was just trying to get out. Now that she has, what’s next for her and, likewise, what’s next for an assassin who no longer wants to kill? Maybe their change was a tag team event, much like the death of Dasha who both had a hand in killing. Villanelle manages to put things into perspective when she wonders if Eve’s monster feeds off of her own. Eve responds with, “Maybe I wanted it to,” and that leaves them both with a tough choice. Do they continue on with this game of star crossed lovers meets cat and mouse chase or do they take Carolyn’s advice and go cold turkey? Villanelle decides Eve’s happiness is worth more than her love and tells Eve to turn around. They stand back to back and take in the moment and then Villanelle tells her to start walking and never look back. The two slowly distance themselves from each other but as they get further apart the tears stream down both of their faces. Finally, Eve makes a choice that Villanelle was hoping she would make. She turns around and Villanelle does, too! From across the bridge their eyes meet with the realization that Villanelle finally figured out what it means to love someone enough to put them first and Eve finally understood that loving someone means you can’t look away, even if what you see terrifies you. We do not know if these two eventually run to each other and live out their days in that Alaskan cabin they dreamed of or if they turn back around and keep walking. What we do know is that there is a fine line between love and hate and these two dance along that line keeping fans guessing and begging for more.