stealinghome

Interesting interview with Damon Thomas, who directed all three season finales and a handful of other KE episodes. Of particular note, on postproduction: I wonder if some of these challenges account for some of the sound issues S3 had at times.

No, Paul was legitimately a member of T12. That was confirmed an episode or two ago when he's waiting for Konstantin in Konstantin's bedroom in the dark (the first instance of that running gag) and is like "you need to find the missing money ASAP." Carolyn figured out that Paul was a member when her friend at the coroner's office (I think) said he'd sent files to her ages ago and they "got lost" so he gave her the hard copies. She'd never received the e-files, and the clear implication was that Paul was hiding them and trying to obstruct her investigation. That's when they have that great "Are you a member?" "Are YOU?" face-off in the office. I am not surprised that Paul didn't know who Helene was. I don't think every member of T12's organization knows each other. Which is only logical--if you're helping run a shadowy global syndicate that has probably hundreds of operatives around the world, do you reveal yourself to every rank-and-file person the organization employs, or do you just leave it at "this person's boss gives them orders and is the only person they know"? I imagine T12 is split into a number of cells so if one person is discovered/flips/whatever, there is only so much they can reveal. The show always wants us to wonder about Carolyn's true loyalties, as it's always hinting that she knows way more than she lets on (for example she knows of Helene without being told), but I think it would be illogical for Carolyn to be a full-fledged member because...then why would she have brought T12 to Eve's attention in the first place? Why open any investigation into them at all? Isn't that just drawing attention to something that would otherwise fly under the radar? The only way that works for me is if Carolyn is somehow part of a "splinter faction" of T12 that wants to overthrow the original T12 and supplant it. But even then, recruiting Eve way back when to track down Villanelle seems an unnecessarily roundabout way of doing business--like to what end would that be done? With that said though, I DEFINITELY do think Carolyn knows/suspects way more about T12 than she ever lets on, and holds that information in for her own purposes.

I finally was able to watch the first 15 minutes of the episode and have to say, Carolyn and Villanelle's "job interview" was so random. It seemed there only to further kick Villanelle when she was down (though I do think Carolyn was trying to teach V something when she asked who killed Mo and Kenny) and make V's existential crisis EXTREMELY OBVIOUS (as if anyone could have missed it). Carolyn and Villanelle's scenes last season were much better. I did, though, guffaw at Carolyn's description of MI-6's canteen. Ah, workplace cafeterias are disappointing everywhere! (Also: Villanelle actually has a lot to offer as a potential spy. I'm not saying Carolyn was wrong to turn her down, but turning her down because she doesn't want to be an assassin anymore is a bit shortsighted. V actually does have other useful skills.) Also the irony of Villanelle accusing anyone else of being overdramatic is pretty hilarious. But that all said: how does Carolyn know of Helene's existence? She clearly knows more about T12 than she ever lets on.... I did also laugh at Paul's "Helen from the Treasury Office?" line later in the episode. I was surprised but liked that Konstantin turned back when Dasha asked him to stay, and enjoyed their "parents who disagree how to bring up their child" dynamic re: Villanelle. That was a nice scene and decent sendoff for Dasha. Though Dasha, honey, I'm going to suggest that the fact that you're in this hospital bed means Konstantin's approach to handling Villanelle worked a bit better. Eve and Villanelle in the dance hall was uh-may-zing. So much complexity to their relationship, so many layers. You can see how they just get each other--Eve twigged immediately that Villanelle was really, really off. And I think Eve gave herself away, first when she went to dance first (which was clearly to cheer Villanelle up) and then when Villanelle asked if Eve wanted to be like the older couples--I don't think Villanelle meant "you and I" but a more general abstract "do you want that?" Yet Eve totally interpreted it as about them (and Villanelle's little grin after that confirmation was everything). I TOTALLY want to see them consume each other! Also Eve's increasingly weirded out looks as Villanelle got more and more morose at the table were everything, as was their little "Are you leading or am I?!" kerfuffle (only for Eve, I think, to end up leading). And then Villanelle looked so forlorn and lonely when she sent Eve away to protect her, and some excellent acting by Jodie Comer--you could see Villanelle visibly struggle to be her "normal" self with Rhian. I can't believe I forgot to mention "Tallulah Shark," Eve's adorably fumbling attempts to bribe someone, and deadpan "I'm in disguise." Just hilarious. Sandra Oh has great comedic chops. Konstantin and Eve's never-ending mutual loathing never fails to crack me up. They just have such disdain for each other and don't bother to hide it, it's awesome. And Villanelle with the Bitter Pill crew was such a highlight. "Everyone at your work is so WEIRD!" indeed! That bridge scene remains EVERYTHING. So much going on there. Eve looks at Villanelle like she holds all the secrets to the universe and I can't get enough. Really excited and curious to see where S4 goes! Oh, and tunefind tells me that the song that played as Carolyn held the gun to Konstantin's head was the same one that played when Bill died. Nice touch, show!

Totally agree with your assessment of this season. I thought it was better than last season for sure on a number of levels, and ultimately better for both Eve and Villanelle as characters, but they got lost in their own show a bit. And I agree that the show needs to re-center Eve--she got particularly lost in the sauce this year. Last season, Eve was still very much at the show's forefront, but the writers had no clue what to do with her so they basically just replayed her S1 arc. This season, the writers had a much better grasp on what they wanted to do with Eve--not only processing what happened in S2 but have her give up once and for all the "normal life" she was clinging to, admit her own culpability in what her life has become, and embrace her new life (because this new life is really what she wants if she is honest with herself)--and the season started out strong for her in the first 2 episodes, but her arc faded into the background when Carolyn/Konstantin got foregrounded and Eve's own investigation into Kenny went exactly nowhere. I applaud Sandra Oh's lack of ego about the show but Eve and Villanelle need to become the real drivers of the show and narrative again, not Carolyn and Konstantin, and Eve needs to be the focal point of the show. I do think one structural problem the show had this season is that it wanted the Big Four to be at loggerheads with each other, but that meant it had to invent a bunch of secondary characters to have the leads interact with, which just diluted the story. Villanelle had to have Dasha and Helene, Eve the Bitter Pill crew, Carolyn Geraldine and Mo, and Konstantin I don't even know--he ducked in and out of everyone else's plotlines. I don't know if it's possible, but the show needs to either have the leads working in tandem a little bit more to cut down on the secondary characters OR just don't feature Carolyn and Konstantin as much if you don't really have story for them (ahem, unnecessary Geraldine plotline; Irina's stuff also kind of fizzled). Re: Villanelle, my interpretation is that it's a combination of A, B, and D. Even back in S1 we got hints that Villanelle wasn't happy with the assassin life that involved nice clothes and a nice flat but had no human connection: she went on a date with the ill-fated guy that accidentally died thanks to poison perfume, there was the time she shot the guy in the office building but then sat down and looked super dissatisfied afterward, Konstantin hauled her in front of the therapist (the memorable pink dress and boots outfit) because she seemed off, all the Anna stuff, etc. She got obsessed with Eve in part because she felt seen by Eve, and then they did have a connection. So I do think Villanelle, across the three seasons, has grown increasingly dissatisfied with her empty life, hit a breaking point after Eve's crushing rejection at the end of S2, and this season was looking for change that would make her happy (why she was desperate to be promoted this season, then why she wanted to go find her family). So she's looking to change her life to be happier. And she's definitely burned out on taking orders all the time--she wants to feel like she's in control, not a puppet for other people. Not a sheep. That's also why she went to find her family, to feel in control of that knowledge. But with that all said, the show this season also strongly implied that killing her mother broke something inside her--she didn't have any problems with killing itself until she went to Russia. I do hope they delve into why that is next season, even if Villanelle eventually is able to kill again like she used to--did Villanelle think on some level that killing her mother would solve all her problems and is even unhappier now that it didn't? Is Villanelle haunted now by the fact that she will never get what she wants from her mother, so actually regrets killing her because she will never get what she was seeking? Was her mother really what she wanted to kill all along, and now that she has done it, the fire is simply extinguished, or even does every kill remind her now of killing her mother (which she regrets)? Is she unconsciously trying to tamp down on the murderous side of herself in the hopes that she can then have a normal life (the irony being that Eve had that normal life and now wants what Villanelle has grown tired of)? Super interesting stuff that I hope the show dives into.

Some good news on Killing Eve's fourth season from one of the EPs--maybe we won't have to wait until 2022 after all! From this interview: Exciting! Re: what was the point of Rhiannon, I think it was a couple things. 1) If she's going to be Villanelle's last kill for a while, killing her was symbolic of Villanelle's severing ties with The Twelve through the very act the T12 groomed her for. This is the most obvious and textual interpretation--Villanelle rejecting T12 (and perhaps hinting that she will start proactively hunting/killing them at some point in the future--they will be the architects of their own downfall by creating the person who will take them down). 2) At the same time, I also think it was Villanelle rejecting that part of herself--the one who was a "sheep" and just followed orders blindly without asking questions while fooling herself that she was in control. By killing Rhiannon, she was killing that past version of herself that Rhiannon represented. Represents her emotional growth and change in character throughout the season. 3) I also think it served to demonstrate why T12 has been relatively lenient where Villanelle is concerned (which many posters here have been puzzled by). V took out T12's "hot young assassin thang" like yesterday's garbage. It served to show that when V is on her game, she really is head and shoulders above any other assassins. You don't throw away a potential asset like that, especially if you figure at the end of the day she will always come back to you.

For those wondering, Kenny and Konstantin met at the end of S1, when the team went to Russia to interrogate Nadia in the Russian jail. Konstantin was pretending to help them while secretly working for the Twelve. That’s also how Eve met Konstantin.

I missed the first 15 minutes, but still, what an episode! What a last scene! I don’t for a second believe that Konstantin was trying to talk to Kenny and Kenny “accidentally” fell. I think Konstantin panicked because Kenny was getting so close to figuring out Konstantin was stealing the money and tossed him over. And Carolyn clearly thinks the same thing. I SO enjoyed Eve and Villanelle as the childish interlopers in the Carolyn/Konstantin/Paul drama. (Though it also highlighted the structural problem of the show this season—Eve and Villanelle were secondary to what became the main plots all season.) that was a great scene—the closest we’ve ever seen Carolyn to breaking. It was just powerful. I’m not surprised she couldn’t kill Konstantin though (but color me shocked he survived the season). I wonder if that was an open-ended way of writing Konstantin off...his two big ties (Carolyn and Villanelle) have now effectively been severed. But he’s not dead so could come back whenever if they want him. If she’s not a nefarious mastermind, what was the point of Geraldine this season other than to give Carolyn a scene partner? We already know Carolyn is emotionally constipated. I couldn’t tell if she kicked Geraldine out out of concern for Geraldine’s safety, because she’s over her, or some combination thereof. What they have done with Villanelle this season is fascinating. I loved her in that last scene—what a contrast with last season’s final scene. She wants out now, she kind of gets where Eve is coming from (and is evolving to understand even more), and tried her hardest to NOT bring Eve down to her level. She was the one who said they should walk away. It’s now really Eve who can’t let go. They had such a frank and lovely conversation...this show just soars when Oh and Comer share the screen. NOW is the time to elope to Alaska, you two!! Seriously, Bear couldn’t have checked his damn camera before now? That plot point was too convenient. Oh, and I did enjoy Villanelle playing the bogeyman to the Bitter Pill crew. I do love Villanelle having fun with people. I can’t believe we may have to wait two years to come back to the show after THAT ending!!! It somehow is the worst cliffhanger of all three seasons!

Which I could totally see Villanelle doing!!

Yeah I didn’t get that from the episode. What I got was that Helene wanted the golfer dead, but V’s plan all along (with Konstantin) was to take out Dasha, hence why she asked Helene if she could bring Dasha on the mission.

Really good episode, but poor Mo. I hope V takes out The Twelve lady’s pet killer next episode in return. Eve totally would have killed Dasha if not for the sirens. Dark Eve is a-coming. Konstantin finally had his heart attack...I’m surprised he survived, I thought for sure that would be what did him in. He and V’s bickering never gets old. It was wildly implausible, but I also totally laughed when he realized Dasha was “next door” and laid back in the bed like “what is my life???” I still bet he doesn’t make it back to Irina in two days, though, and am still not confident he makes it out of this season alive. His confrontation with Geraldine was emblematic of how his reckonings are coming. Death anvils have started to fall around Carolyn, no? I thought her line tonight was anvilicious in its own right. I hope the show doesn’t kill her off—it would lose an incredible amount if it did. Her “personal” line is totally pointing to Geraldine I swear! The Bitter Pill guys still seem kinda pointless but I enjoyed Bear with Eve tonight, so progress. cant believe there’s only one episode left! They are so clearly setting up V and Eve to really partner up next season. Oh, and three cheers for continuity—it’s two seasons late but I like that Eve finally asked Carolyn what she and Villanelle talked about in that jail cell all the way back in S1.

The show ran out of story for Niko by the end of S1, but insisted on focusing on him even more in S2 while replaying the same story from S1.

Kenny’s query to Konstantin coupled with Geraldine kissing Konstantin is also icky because if Konstantin was potentially Kenny’s father, wouldn’t that mean he could also potentially be Geraldine’s?!?! Squick ahoy. I agree with @tennisgurl’s assessment of this season. On the whole I like it better than last season, as I think it has a clearer sense of what it wants to do and be, more interesting themes/character work, and is better plotted. But for some reason it feels like it’s struggling to get out of first gear and for everything to fire on all cylinders. I don’t know if the issue is that what has become the narrative driver (the 6 million Euros stolen from The Twelve) is really Konstantin’s story so Eve and Villanelle are decentered from their own show, too many characters ascending to basically lead status (Konstantin and especially Carolyn have really surged to the forefront and Dasha has also been in the mix), the relative marginalization of Eve in the last 2 episodes, too many mysteries (who killed Kenny/who stole the 6 million Euros/now for Eve who pitchforked Niko) or what, but it still feels very fragmented in a moment when the plot lines should be converging and gathering steam. Also I’ve noticed that Konstantin keeps putting his hand to his heart when he is startled (and I’m pretty sure he told Villanelle being startled is bad for his heart). I still kind of feel like the death anvils are falling all around him and think it would be ironic if what does him in at the end of the day is a simple heart attack. Also, assuming it was Konstantin who stole the 6 million Euros, I hope the show delves into his thought process a little more. I get that he wants out, but surely he is smart enough to know the T12 would notice the missing money and be absolutely determined to track down who took it? that seems like a bad call from a character that ought to be smarter than that.

This episode was a mixed bag for me. There was some payoff but it felt more like yet another setup episode, yet there are only 2 episodes left! I think part of my frustration is that the show is losing sight of Villanelle and Eve and their connection. Eve disappeared for like the middle 30 minutes of tonight's episode, and Villanelle was in more but not a ton more, it didn't feel like; their connection has also been fairly marginalized I think. I like Konstantin and Carolyn but I don't watch the show for them and their family dramas, I watch for Eve and Villanelle and their connection. That said, the best scene in the episode was probably Carolyn and Konstantin in the car, because I was convinced for a minute that one of them wasn't getting out of that car alive, and I liked the symmetry of the two car rides (Carolyn and Konstantin's so fraught with a sense that the walls are closing in, and Villanelle and Irina's so freeing for both of them even as Villanelle digs for information on where Konstantin's bolt hole is). Also Konstantin's "You don't have to do this, I already know you're scary!" was the line of the episode. What they are doing with Villanelle is really interesting, and Dasha's comments about how she molded a younger Villanelle into the assassin we know now help shed light on Villanelle's emotional immaturity. (Konstantin is a much better father figure than Dasha is a mother figure--he knows what's going on in Villanelle's head!) Even back in S1 we got a strong sense that Villanelle was unfulfilled with her life and desperate for human connection, and that's just been kicked into overdrive this season after everything with Eve fell apart spectacularly at the end of S2. She clearly feels things strongly, but equally clearly doesn't have the emotional vocabulary or maturity to really process and understand what is going on inside her. She knows connection will make her happy, but can't manage to connect with anyone. So she's just...flailing around making herself more and more unhappy, and her promotion in place just exacerbated her feeling that no matter what she does, nothing changes. They really are pushing her to the limit. Break V down to build her up again I guess? Or be willing to join up with Eve, whatever Eve wants to do, if Eve wants to disappear? Or burn down The Twelve? I'm glad that Eve has already twigged that it wasn't Villanelle who went after Niko (who apparently has nine lives like a cat. Will we never be rid of him?). I thought Eve pretty clearly suspected Dasha after their bowling game, and I wouldn't be surprised if Eve REALLY goes after Dasha now. I too jumped when Creepy Paul spoke out of the darkness in Konstantin's bedroom (and I got a good chuckle out of Konstantin's "people need to stop doing this to me!"). After his conversation with Carolyn--which was also an excellent scene--I wasn't at all surprised to find out he was part of The Twelve, and I actually wish they had dropped that bomb earlier. I would enjoy way more of Carolyn and Paul circling each other and playing each other, each knowing what the other is after but neither revealing their hand. I wonder if he killed Kenny. I found Carolyn/Geraldine's scenes to be better than they have been, largely because it felt less like a repeat of the same dynamic and more because they are finally making some progress. That said, there is clearly something up with Konstantin and Geraldine and I don't think it's that she has a crush on her mom's ex-boyfriend. Geraldine, secret member of The Twelve? Geraldine, secret murderer of Kenny, is a bridge too far...right? (Or would that explain why he left his phone in his office instead of calling for help/taking it up to the roof?) That end with Irina was a shocker. Legit didn't see that coming! Konstantin crying was a great touch. This is why you don't let your daughter hang out with Villanelle.... ETA: So it's pretty much confirmed that Konstantin stole the 6 million Euros, right? (Unless THAT is what he and Geraldine are in on together!) Oh, and I snorted at some of the "place tags" this episode, especially Not Cuba and This Is Bullshit (that was the best!).

I also got the sense that since he was "the stepbrother," he either got a little shafted and/or just wanted to escape the house with the asshole stepbrother (the episode made a point of showing the guy being a jerk to Pyotr) and his creepy mom.

Just had a chance to watch and first, I either have Villanelle's plaid pants or pants very much like them, which really tickled me as I was watching--I kept staring at the pants instead of the action! Also, they were seriously channeling one of Keri Russell's The Americans disguises when Villanelle was in that Elton wig and glasses, hee. Second, the actress who played Villanelle's mother was really well cast. She had absolutely dead eyes no matter what the hell was happening. That she didn't bat an eye--or show any emotion--when Villanelle said she'd killed a lot of people, and then that she'd have to kill her mother, was everything. Third: Villanelle is heading for a massive breakdown, which doesn't bode well for anyone. She looked like she was about to absolutely snap and kill the whole world in the last scene on the train. I think this whole debacle is just going to strengthen her attachment to Eve and Konstantin, as the two people she could maybe belong with that are left, and she will not be pleased when she finds out what Dasha did. (Speaking of Eve, I didn't miss being in London for a single moment this episode, which I don't think means good things for that half of the storyline.... And I even object on principle to killing Niko and not showing one whit of the aftermath.) Which is why, even though this episode did a lot of character work, I also think it advanced the season-long plot, because now both Villanelle and Eve are at the absolute end of their ropes emotionally. They're both also now totally alone in the world, feeling bereft of all meaningful connections. The show is setting it up to where all they have left is each other. Fourth: the fact that the prize for the shit-throwing contest was a fan is inspired, ha. Yeah, I'm wondering about this myself. I mean, everyone apparently lied to Villanelle for years about her whole family being dead, so what's one more lie about her dad? The bigger question would be, who is he that he is important enough for the additional need to hide his death? We didn't see how Villanelle killed her mom, nor any clues that I could see, which I find super interesting. The show is usually (for better or worse) quite explicit in showing her kills, so that it chose to keep this one hidden from us is quite interesting. How did V do it? What emotions did she show/feel when she did it? How did her mom go out? What was the dynamic between them at the very end? We don't know, and that's kind of a tantalizing knowledge gap in my view. It also suggests, I think, that V took no pleasure in the kill, which is interesting in its own right. Yes, I think the show strongly indicated that it's a both/and situation instead of either/or. I totally believe that Villanelle was a bad seed from the start and Tatiana saw it, but equally, I believe that her mother was also really, really off (dead eyes!), that she was able to see that V was off in part because she shares that same void inside, and that that void in her mother helped shape Villanelle into who she is. I also didn't think the family was made overly quirky. If anything, they were a lot of stereotypes--the decent man V's terrible mother convinced to marry her, the annoying and boorish stepbrother contrasted against the nicer hardworking biological brother, the precious and innocent little half-brother. Agreed. I would also add that Season 3 has been quite consistent in showing that Eve's rejection of Villanelle--and the crashing down of Villanelle's dream of them going off to live in Alaska--at the end of S2 has been just burning up Villanelle and making the lack of connection something that is driving her crazy. She tried to get married in 3x01, she had that moment of connection with the disaster baby assassin in 3x02 over rejection, she's fixated on the baby and reuniting with Eve in 3x03 and also goes out of her way to connect with Konstantin again, she makes Konstantin search out her real family and also had that moment of connection with the lady she kills in 3x04.... She's desperate for some sort of meaningful connection right now. Which is why what she's pissed at her mom for isn't for leaving for her at the orphanage--it's for not admitting that she (Tatiana) is just like Villanelle. Her last terrible act as Villanelle's mother is to deny the connection that Villanelle wants by refusing to confirm that she and Villanelle are two peas in a pod. And more broadly, it's for being a terrible mother to young Oksana--in other words, for never connecting with Villanelle when she was a child. Or both? And an equally interesting question: when Young Villanelle cried, was it heartfelt, a manipulation, or both?