Killing Eve – Management Sucks

By: Kelly Kearney

After last week’s shocking death Eve struggles to steer clear of The Twelve and her never ending connection to Villanelle. Meanwhile, her partner in crime finds herself in a new position of management but being the boss is not all it is cracked up to be.

The Wake…

Kenny’s (Sean Delaney) wake reunites Eve (Sandra Oh) with Carolyn (Fiona Shaw), Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) and Kenny’s sister Geraldine (Gemma Whelan) to say goodbye to the young man who everyone assumes killed himself. The gin is flowing and the memories of Rome are something Eve cannot drink into submission, especially when Konstantin pops up to remind her of the time her assassin girlfriend plugged her with a love bullet. He claims that deadly expression of romance left something behind and he is not wrong. Eve’s heart is permanently scarred. Pushing him off, she has no interest in being dragged down memory lane and soon the conversation circles back to Kenny. Eve is convinced Kenny was murdered, but Konstantin warns her to stick with the suicide story for her own good…and survival. After she fails at a fact-finding mission with Kenny’s shady co-workers about his last state of mind, Eve heads to the bathroom where she spies a young woman crying at the sink. Likewise, Carolyn witnesses the same scene and neither woman offers her any help. Who is this woman to Kenny? Maybe the answer is in his phone? Luckily for Eve she swiped it before the police and medics came to collect Kenny’s body. If only she had the password to unlock whatever he was working on before he was killed.

Speaking of the mourning mother, Konstantin offers Carolyn his gentle condolences and then talks with her daughter Geraldine. The two know each other, but she has not seen him since she was eight years old and he calmed her nightmares. He always took a somewhat paternal interest in Kenny’s life and it seems Geraldine is no different. What is different is how the young woman and her mother handle grief. While one expresses it, the other bottles it up and focuses on the tasks at hand; mainly the wake and trying to convince Eve to come back to work. Only Eve is not interested in hearing Carolyn’s offer or her theories on how Kenny killed himself. She screams at his mother to leave her alone as she walks out of the wake. Turning to her guests in pure Carolyn dry humor fashion she says, “She didn’t like the buffet.”

Barcelona…

Dressed in the finest couture Villanelle (Jodie Comer) walks the streets of the Spanish city like a model walks a runway. The ancient city’s architecture pales in comparison to her style and lethal smile. It looks like The Twelve granted her wish. She ends up at her very upscale villa apartment and Dasha (Harriet Walter) is waiting for her. “You ask Dasha for the best, you get the best,” the Russian mentor says. It was everything Villanelle wanted and more. The neighborhood is nice and the women are even nicer. Each catch her eye, much to Dasha’s dismay. Offering Villanelle some sage advice about dating, Dasha reminds her that Keepers and assassins have no room for love in their lives. The conversation quickly segues to Eve and Villanelle immediately turns tense. Love makes a killer’s life complicated, but Villanelle says she “handled it.” Dasha knows a lie when she sees on and asks, “You don’t think about her?” Villanelle through clenched teeth reiterates, “I handled it.”  With that, they move on to more pressing matters, namely The Twelve and Villanelle’s promotion into management. Their bosses are impressed with her, but to truly prove she has the Keeper skills they want her to work with someone. Be a mentor like Dasha was for her. This new recruit will be someone she can guide in all the ways of killing. If the student wants to surpass the teacher, she is going to have to prove she can be a teacher herself.

Back in London Carolyn shows up at work and steps on Paul’s (Steve Pemberton) newly appointed toes. The two battle for power until she is effectively dismissed and told to go home and mourn her son. She is not the only one having employment issues as Konstantin gets his orders from The Twelve and it looks like he is headed on a trip. Barcelona perhaps? Across town Eve takes a break from her dumpling gig to find Carolyn waiting for her outside. The small talk is cut short when Carolyn finally she admits she knows Kenny was murdered. She has chosen to remain discreet while she investigates what really happened. That is why she needs Eve’s help. She wants to know about the last conversation she had with Kenny, but Eve is not interested in getting tangled up in this web. The last time it almost killed her. As she tries to leave, Carolyn drops a file into her lap. Villanelle is back at work and so are The Twelve. Eve refuses to help, but the bait has been set, the line cast and all they need now is for Eve to just take to bite. But, for now, she’s not hungry. She walks away from Carolyn and immediately vomits. Reminders of your ex can wreak havoc on anyone’s digestion. Later, while trying to break the password to Kenny’s phone, it rings and follows with some incoming texts. Somebody knows she has the phone and, apparently, it contains some highly sensitive information. The call is from Kenny shady co-workers Bear (Turlough Convery) and Jamie (Danny Sapani) who definitely do not give off journalistic vibes. Eve offers them a deal – access to the phone if they hand over whatever stories Kenny was working on before he died. Eve is hoping she will find a clue as to why poor Kenny took a forced swan dive off the office rooftop.

Clowning Around in Côte D’Azur France…

In France Villanelle is serving looks and orders with her new employee Felix (Stefan Iancu). He’s a scrawny nineteen-year-old and full of bravado. Green but not unexperienced and that’s where she comes in. According to her, she is a legend in the biz and is going to take him under her professional wing. At first Villanelle eye rolls through his bragging over what a hard killer he is but soon she realizes there is more to this kid than meets the eye. Like her, he too suffered from heartbreak. He killed for the man he loved only for that man to never love him back. It’s a familiar story that Villanelle knows all too well. Maybe this match up between killer teacher and killer student will work out?

Back in London Konstantin conveniently runs into Geraldine outside a shop and the two engage in some small talk. She is still suffering in her grief, so Konstantin does the friendly thing and gives her the souvenir he bought for his annoying daughter. It’s nothing special, just a London magnet he thought might cheer her up…or so he says. That small act of kindness warms Geraldine and the two have a tender moment. Konstantin might be a killer, but he plays the father role nicely. It’s something he does very well with Villanelle too and it’s a testament to his ability to both stay focused on the job and hang on to a piece of his humanity.

Speaking of his favorite “problem child,” Villanelle and Felix’s first lesson takes place at a child’s birthday party. Dressed as clowns and terrifying the pint-sized partiers, Villanelle orders Felix to kill one of the guests. Clean and easy, a stab behind the ear was just what Doctor Death ordered. But Felix decided to freestyle the kill and put his own spin on it. Instead of quick and clean, Villanelle finds Felix bashing the victim’s skull into a bloody mush on the bathroom floor. Having no choice but to punish him for his insubordination, Villanelle shoots the victim and then kills Felix with a bullet to the brain. She just got one of life’s most important lessons – “management sucks.”

Villanelle Learns The Truth…

With The Twelve back in business, it’s imperative that Eve gets to the bottom of who killed Kenny before she’s next. His co-workers are able to get into his phone and discover that the woman from the wake was Kenny’s girlfriend. Any clues to his death will take longer thanks to an encrypted drive they all store their work on, but maybe Eve could offer her investigative expertise? Jamie comes right out and tries to guilt her into talking about what went down that led Kenny to leave MI6, but she is not interested in discussing it and leaves the office. Elsewhere, Carolyn meets up with Kenny’s girlfriend (Ayoola Smart) to ask about her son’s state of mind. “Do you think Kenny was happy?” He apparently was, although a little sad about falling out with his mom. Carolyn admits to being hard on him and offers the young woman an awkward pat on the shoulder. Once again Carolyn is not good with feelings. That’s even more clear when Mo finds her hiding in her car eating sandwiches to the sounds of classical music. She confides in him about being stuck between staying away from Geraldine and her emotions at home and not being allowed to come back to work. So, she plans to sit in her car, eat and think about the tragic end of poor sweet Kenny. As a mother she struggles with the loss and how he died, but as an agent she struggles more with letting this investigation grow cold.

Later that night Eve shows up on Carolyn’s doorstep with information about Kenny’s phone. She too needs to know how her friend died and is now willing to help uncover any clues that can lead them to his killer. As Eve fills her in about the encrypted thumb drive, the camera scans to the gift Konstantin gave Geraldine hanging on the refrigerator. The London magnet was not a kind gesture. It’s a bug and it’s recording all the details of their conversation for The Twelve! Speaking of Konstantin, he makes his way to Barcelona and is waiting for Villanelle at her new posh pad! The two have a memorable and brutal reunion. “Nice place,” he says and immediately Villanelle starts throwing things at him and screaming about how he was not invited. She knees him in the “little Keeper” and he seethes in pain and says, “I missed you.” These two have a love/hate relationship and ever since he chose his family over her it is been more hate than love. That does not stop Konstantin from warning Villanelle of the trouble she is in. The Twelve will never make her a Keeper and Dasha knows that. The woman cannot be trusted. Villanelle reminds him that he can not be trusted either, so right now she will stick with the Russian gymnast. Konstantin laughs at her stubbornness and then gets the point of his visit. “She is alive,” he says and Villanelle’s world comes to a dizzying halt. As one single tear falls from her eye, she knows who he means. How can it be possible? Looking like she was kicked in the stomach, Villanelle orders him to leave but not before he drops some more bombshell news. He never stopped working for The Twelve, but that does not mean he loves her any less. He can be both a lying scoundrel and a loving friend, but Villanelle cannot hear him. She only has one thing on her mind and that’s Eve.