'Killing Eve' Season 3 Finale Review: Is Eve and Villanelle's connection more than just a rushed kiss?
Spoilers for Season 3 Episode 8 'Are You Leading or Am I?'
As far as most love stories go, there are either happily ever afters or brutal heartbreaks. You either walk hand in hand, off to the beautiful sunset of eternity and forever ever after, or you shatter into a million pieces and vow never to fall in love again because what's the point? And then there are those love stories that despite no conclusive aftermath, never seem to end somehow. Frustrating, incapacitating and all-consuming at the same time — such is the love story of Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) and her former target-turned-romantic interest, Villanelle (Jodie Comer), and while neither of them could go on knowing the other is single somewhere, they can't quite cave into that magnetic pull either.
Once again, at the end of yet another round of a cat and mouse chase, Villanelle and Eve find each other standing at the crossroads. This time it's not the Colosseum in Rome or a beautiful apartment in Paris. After that teasing and rushed kiss in the bus that no one saw coming, this time their face-off is closer home, on the London bridge with moonlight in the background; perhaps that's why it hurts to watch them frantically look for reasons to hold on. Predictable as the story might get, our only respite from an otherwise rushed and somewhat flat finale is the final scene exuding some solace for people who have shipped these two polar opposites right from the get-go, even when the possibility of a chemistry brewing between them was obscure.
Story-wise, we find several answers, perhaps a little more than we bargained for. On one hand, there's Carolyn Martens's (Fiona Shaw) shoddy unfairness as a mother — still scrambling to find her son's killer while practically kicking her only living child, Geraldine (Gemma Whelan), out of her own home. On the other hand, there is a revelation about Konstantin Vasiliev (Kim Bodnia) meeting Kenny the day he died, and unraveling certain aspects of his and Carolyn's past that we were somewhat sure of all along. On the individual character front, Villanelle's personal kill in this episode is her replacement at The 12, whom she mocks and mimics first, only to beat to a pulp and throw in front of an oncoming train. And then there's Konstantin's spitfire in the hospital cabin with Dasha, right before he looks at her dead in the eyes and tells her she's going to die in there.
Tragic as the morbid reality of these incidents might be, the screenplay and dialogues make it hilarious beyond the usual tropes of dark humor. Once again we are left marveling in the brazen unabashedness of each character that began with Phoebe Waller-Bridge tailoring them for the screen of an intense spy thriller, followed by Emerald Fennell's imaginative twists to gore and horror. And now, in Season 3, as the essence of crime and murder were taken over more for a character developing coming of age tone akin to romcoms, perhaps the very romantic setting for the ending is more apt than anything could ever be.
What begins with Villanelle approaching Carolyn about a job, soon transcends to replacing Konstantin with Eve in her escape plans. In the end, we are content knowing Kenny didn't kill himself, neither did Konstantin push him over the terrace. There's fun in watching Villanelle appear live in flesh at Kenny's former workplace and terrify the wits out of his boss and coworkers. There's also pure satisfaction and bliss watching Carolyn point the gun at Konstantin's head, but turn it last second to wipe the smug grin off Paul's face. But above all, there's hope knowing Eve and Villanelle might finally be a thing; after secretly meeting up at tango lessons, going on a scavenger hunt and promising to walk away from each other, they turn around and look back with an all-knowing smile that comes only with acceptance and giving up inhibitions.
Eve admits when she thinks about her future Villanelle's face is all she sees, and even though Villanelle quips hers is too beautiful a face to overlook, it all boils down to their monsters within. In those moments, as Villanelle confesses to Eve how many people she's killed and how she doesn't want to do it anymore, Comer excels with a raw brokenness beyond quivering voices and raging tears. Oh is spectacular in her stoic cynicism, almost as if shoving into our faces how impractical their union is, but also secretly wishing that's the only outcome they live to see. Her Eve doesn't quite approve of how much Villanelle's darkness inspires and encourages her own, but is there an escape? Probably not. Right now our peace lies in knowing they tried to let go and failed, or so it seems until The 12 will inevitably butt in. But let's leave that for Season 4, shall we? There love story, albeit stagnant, is far from over. And for an entire season that gave us less than an hour of VillanEve action, it is this little win we shall find our peace in.