S03.E03: Meetings Have Biscuits

[sugarbaker design]

2 hours ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

I view Villanelle's kills (with the exception of Bill) in the same way that I viewed Dexter's - they're inherently terrible people, at least those we've been given any information on, so really in a way she's doing a public service*.

*insert obligatory disclaimer about not condoning murder or admiring actual psychopaths IRL*

Some of Villanelle's victims didn't get any back story, we don't know if they're inherently terrible.  They couldn't be more inherently terrible than a hired assassin.  One of her victims did have a back story, he was Bill, Eve's mentor/boss, and he was not terrible.  Killing Bill was not doing anyone a service.  I'm not a shrink, so I won't diagnose Villanelle, but one thing is clear, she's a stone-cold killer.

[akr]

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

The baby couldn't identify Villanelle, so there was no reason to kill it. As psychopathic as Villanelle is, she's very pragmatic about her kills. Either it's because she's being paid to do it or there's a strategic reason for it. She doesn't kill random people just because she can.

I think it's less that she wouldn't, as that she does whatever suits her purposes. If she'd gotten bored of the baby,  I could easily see her abandoning it somewhere where it wouldn't be rescued, not out of deliberate cruelty but out of indifference. There's no strategic necessity of killing it, but she also sees no reason not to.

I don't get the sense that killing is something she actively seeks out, but she has no compunctions about doing it; she does, however, clearly enjoy being good at it, & putting her own shocking, stylistic spin on it, although some of that is just that otherwise she gets bored.  And, of course, she likes the money.  So, she kills for hire, or for strategic reasons, rather than out of compulsion or inherent pleasure in the act. 

And I agree that she doesn't care whether or not the victim is "deserving" of it in some sense; the person is either inconvenient to her (Eve, or her failed clown assassin protege), or she's getting paid. Dexter had a compulsion to kill, but enough moral center to have an aversion to it, so that necessitated finding an acceptable outlet for the compulsion. Villanelle doesn't have a compulsion; she just doesn't care.

Edited April 30, 2020 by akr
minor edit

[stealinghome]

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Some of Villanelle's victims didn't get any back story, we don't know if they're inherently terrible.  They couldn't be more inherently terrible than a hired assassin.

Yeah, I actually would argue that many (not all) of Villanelle's victims are probably people doing good work in the world. Quite often The Twelve seem to send her after political protestors/agitators/dissidents/etc., and I've always interpreted that to mean that The Twelve are very invested in the world's status quo (presumably they are part of the 1%) and don't like people who threaten to rock the boat. One of the threads S2 dropped from S1 that I hope this season picks up was Villanelle in S1 beginning to question WHY she was sent after certain people.

Now, equally, have some of Villanelle's targets been scummy people? Probably. Fat Panda was an intelligence officer, I'm sure he was no angel. But I actually feel the show has, if anything, pulled no punches and suggested that most people Villanelle kills are decent human beings.

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I don't get the sense that killing is something she actively seeks out, but she has no compunctions about doing it; she does, however, clearly enjoy being good at it, & putting her own shocking, stylistic spin on it, although some of that is just that otherwise she gets bored.  And, of course, she likes the money.  So, she kills for hire, or for strategic reasons, rather than out of compulsion or inherent pleasure in the act. 

I agree, but would also note her speech in Season 1 to Frank, that she likes watching people die and the light fade from their eyes. I think she does have a fascination with killing and death, on top of taking pride in and enjoying being good at her job--though I agree she doesn't seem to have a compulsion to kill. She could probably go the rest of her life without killing someone if she found the right set-up that could keep her entertained and occupied that didn't involve murder.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Teddy Bears

Konstantin's Surprise Guest

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I'm practicing my characters

 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Seemed surprising to me Villanelle didn't know there was a baby in the house where she did that hit. One would think she'd have done better advance work. Anyhoo, sure hope she's been sterilized.

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The baby couldn't identify Villanelle, so there was no reason to kill it.

That brings to mind the Black Mirror episode, "Crocodile," where someone does kill a baby to avoid leaving an inadvertent witness to another murder. But there was a gotcha of course.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Joimiaroxeu

[Chaos Theory]

I think people are trying to make Villanelle less a psychopath because they want some sort of sweet romantic happy ending for her and Eve at the end of the show.   My issue is that I would find that the most unrealistic thing.   Both Villanelle and Eve would get bored. Boredom was a  major issue between Eve and Niko.   Both women  would quickly get restless and bad things would start to happen.     I see people compare Villanelle to Dexter but if anything I would compare her to the tv version of Hannibal and the only and best way for this to end is the way that show ended.   

Edited May 4, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[stealinghome]

I finally had a chance to rewatch this episode and love it even more. From Sandra Oh's hilarious delivery of "It's not good" to Dasha bitching about The Twelve hiring subpar baby assassins to Eve's "Before I tell you, you need to know your lives are in danger--" "Then don't tell us!" "--They're called The Twelve" to Carolyn in the bath, this was Killing Eve at its peak.

The music as Villanelle stalked Carolyn and Mo's car was phenomenal. Really added to the tension of the scene.

Villanelle's messages to Eve are so interesting because all of the rejected messages--"I should have shot you in the head," "I should have shot you in the head and watched you die," "I can't stop thinking about you"--are all about her. But they clearly feel too vulnerable, because the message she eventually settles on--"Admit it, Eve, you wish I was here"--is all about Eve, not Villanelle herself. She doesn't have a language for what's going on inside her, really, I don't think, and so she defaults to making it all about Eve and making it a mind game instead of saying something real. Speaking of getting real: Villanelle held true to her S2 pattern of doing something real (finding Eve, confronting her, getting kissed by her) and then needing to run away because she can't handle doing something real. There's some nice character consistency there, as is her desire to never go to London again, just like Villanelle avoided Russia forever after Anna.

On rewatch, I DEFINITELY think the accountant was trying to size up whether Konstantin knew anything about the missing money. And I'm wondering what Konstantin has told Carolyn, because again, clearly he relayed his conversation with the accountant to Carolyn before she confronted the guy. He really IS playing all ends against the middle. Also, I love how unfazed Konstantin is when it comes to Villanelle. She is in his bed and pulls a Simba and he's just like "go away, I'm sleeping on the couch." (Also: "You had a big head. Bulbous. Unnatural.") Hee. They really do have a great relationship. If the show kills K off before season's end, it's going to be a BIG loss.

Mo and Eve actually make a good team--the actors have chemistry and the characters bounce off each other in fun ways, especially now that Eve is so done with Carolyn and can be a little more jaded to Mo's more babe in the woods attitude toward Carolyn. "We get it, you had a lot of fun in the '80s!" remains a fantastic line.

Snarky Geraldine, she of the "that's more parenting than anyone in this house has ever done," can stay. She's much more fun than overwrought Geraldine, though her last scene with Carolyn was touching.

That perfumer's deadpan "A little more woody, then?" was especially hilarious. At least he looked at Villanelle like she's nuts. That's more sense than most people show around her!

Watching Eve and Villanelle fight was like watching a tiger take on a baby sloth, bless Eve's heart. And even the headbutt--her only significant hit--did more damage to Eve herself than Villanelle!

Eve at the bus stop after Carolyn almost died was a nice callback to S1. Also a nice callback was Eve just collapsing on her bed at the end of the ep, which I think was intended to mirror her flopping onto the bed in 1x08. Whoever wrote this episode definitely did their homework.