'Killing Eve' Season 3 Episode 4 Review: Will Eve and Villanelle's bond be torn by a heartbreaking murder?
Spoilers for 'Killing Eve' Season 3 Episode 4
It is one thing to be unfaithful to your partner but completely another to pose near-fatal threats to his security, drive him over the edge enough to have him institutionalized from PTSD and scare him away so bad that he feels the need to move countries for you. Such is the tragedy of Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) after becoming an unwitting accomplice in Villanelle's (Jodie Comer) twisted and teasing game. On her birthday, when she finally decides to sever all that brings back memories of her target psychopath assassin and travels miles to return to her roots, a brutal murder leaves her shocked and rattled just like the one we saw at the end of the Season 3 premiere.
The murders are back and while not always from the obsessive Villanelle's end, still just as tragic, gut-wrenching and sudden enough to make you want to scream and break down at the same time. In Episode 4, it's the absolute worst because Eve watches her beloved Niko Polastri (Owen McDonnell) die right in front of her eyes. And that's enough to allude that the time of death stamp is not just on her ex-husband's life, but also applies for whatever's left of her and Villanelle's past.
When we meet Eve in this episode, she is living out of former MI6 agent Kenny's (Sean Delaney) old office, working with his colleagues and bosses on the investigative report he had drafted against The 12. Eve is a mess and it's more obvious than just intense body odor. It's obvious she is scared to go back to the house that Villanelle knows the address of, and her receiving a red bus birthday cake only confirms that this is the right decision. Kenny's boss is kind enough to offer Eve a place to put up and thus begins their odd camaraderie about personal choices and who's made worse ones. Eve doesn't win at the game because deep down she still has a heart of gold. So when she finally gets a message from Niko with a selfie that implies she should join him in Poland, Eve decides to take off as one of those non-self destructive choices, trying to make it up to the sad, broken man.
But there's a twisted tale working behind these developments that Susan Heathcote's direction gifts us in bits and pieces, through a jagged narrative. In the manner of Showtime's 'The Affair' where the narrative would be set apart by announcing the names of the characters on the screen at the onset of their part of the story, Season 3 of 'Killing Eve' makes all of that much more colorful and vibrant - kind of like Villanelle's elaborate murder scenes. In this episode, it's her playing gardener for the murdered bank executive's devastated wife, before they play a literal game of scaring each other off and Villanelle eventually strangling her with a hosepipe in the middle of a greenhouse.
But while Villanelle is off doing these little odd jobs for Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) in exchange for him digging into the identity of her family Dasha (Harriet Walter) is off making sure nothing stands in the way of her protege's promotion. The non-linear narrative cuts to flashbacks when one would least expect it, and often it isn't until the scene is over that it's clear all of this was just the backstory leading up to random moments - be it Villanelle staring at a boutique's display in lost despondency, or Eve showing up at Poland only for Niko to act shocked and slightly unimpressed.
Turns out Dasha was tasked with higher authorities at The 12 to drive a wedge long and strong enough between Eve and Villanelle so the assassin doesn't go pursuing her love interest risking everything in London. So Dasha does what she does best and disguises herself as a farm-help in Poland where Niko is, requests him over for a handyman's job, steals his phone and texts Eve to come over, and right when she arrives, Dasha kills Niko in front of Eve's very own eyes.
The murder is so unexpected and out of the blue, until the very moment it happens, one keeps thinking maybe reigniting Eve and Niko's flame is Dasha's plan to hurt the bond with Villanelle. But no, a killer is always a killer, so Dasha goes straight for the hunt and flings a shovel at Niko's throat which guts him from the neck to the front, making him bleed out to his own seat has Eve crumbles on the ground - watching the man she loved die because of her own poor choices.
Albeit shown for just a couple of final seconds, the murder is somehow still more tragic than Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw) completely shutting off from her grief, even with her daughter begging her to open up and allow them to cope together in the aftermath of Kenny's death. But it is what's to ensue in the aftermath of Niko's death that convinces us maybe after that long-awaited kiss, this is it for Eve and Villanelle. When Dasha flung that shovel, she didn't just kill Niko. She nailed the coffin on whatever could transpire between the former MI6 operative and her bratty professional assassin. But of course, the plot can't go on without the two finding their way back to each other, so the how bit of it is what keeps us looking forward.
'Killing Eve' Season 3 airs on Sundays at 9 pm only on BBC America.