S03.E04: Still Got It

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Eve is trying to patch up things with Niko; Villanelle receives good news about her upcoming promotion but can't shake the feeling there's still something missing from her life; Dasha seeks a solution to Villanelle's erratic behavior.

Promo:

Original air date: 5/3/20

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sneak peek:

 

[peridot]

It was an interesting format for the show.  I liked seeing the vignettes. I thought I saw her in the pub at the beginning, but wasn't sure.  I know a lot of people finally got what they wanted, but yikes at the execution.

Constantin is cold-blooded, I think all the double-crossing will catch up to him eventually. 

I feel terrible for Carolyn's daughter.  Her mom refuses to acknowledge her in any way.

Edited May 4, 2020 by peridot

[enoughcats]

18 minutes ago, peridot said:

Carolyn's daughter.

So how DO the twelve perpetuate themselves?  

Parent to child might be too close, but 12 to a chosen grandchild?  And take out any possible competing siblings of the chosen 12 next generation?

[stealinghome]

Wow, they really ARE clearing the decks character-wise, but in a much more gruesome way than I expected!!!! Poor Niko. I'm glad he's off the show--we've way, way outgrown him at this point--but the poor man didn't deserve that end. I would have been okay if he had just disappeared and never returned. Eve is going to eat herself up with guilt, and honestly rightfully so; she signed his death warrant several times over by refusing to get out of the spy world. I'm calling it now though: Eve's second kill is going to be Dasha. She's going to find out that Dasha killed Niko and snap, given that she has basically nothing left to lose. It certainly seems like the writers want her to be at the absolute end of her rope for the season's second half, and I can only assume that's because we are headed for something BIG for her. (Also, Eve, honey...instead of collapsing dramatically to the ground, maybe run after the person who just impaled Niko????) Also, my second guess for Dasha's death is Villanelle, if she discovers Dasha tried to turn Eve against her.

Villanelle's stuff was boring and predictable this episode. I'm not sure how they managed that, given that Villanelle is such a dynamic character, but there you go. Whoever the writers are this season, they really don't have a very good handle on her. Very interested in her going "home" next week though, given that she's clearly hankering for some connections (she was kinda enjoying the game with the grieving lady I thought). And with that said, I do love that she sent Eve a bus birthday cake. Now that was a classic Villanelle move. (And I did crack up at Eve tossing the cake over the roof. Oh Eve, you're still obsessed, just own it and move on. I did enjoy her talking to the bear too.)

It certainly seems like the show is setting Konstantin up to die soon--trying to serve a bunch of different masters feels like it's catching up to him--but I do hope they don't kill him off. He remains, other than Eve, by far Villanelle's best scene partner, and I would argue that Villanelle/Konstantin is, after Eve/Villanelle, the best dynamic on the show. The return of Irina was pretty anticlimactic though, and cliche. I have wanted the character back but this was underwhelming. She was every pissy, surly teenager on TV ever.

Glad we got a little look into The Twelve and how they operate. Wouldn't mind more going forward at all, but hopefully it's not quite as cliche/poorly sketched out.

These people were able to trot all over Europe in about 5 seconds. Can I get their time warp capabilities???

Boy, Carolyn is a shit mother. Her stuff also felt perfunctory tonight. What did it really tell us that we didn't already know?

I don't mind the Bitter Pill guys, but I still don't understand why they exist other than because the writers have no one else for Eve to hang out with or talk to. I liked Eve getting brutally honest with the dollar discount Idris Elba guy though--that's more honest than she's been in a long time. Also, Kenny's ex is so obviously shady at this point. The camera made a point of having her hovering in the background of all the office scenes.

Overall, this was a weird episode--it felt both like a lot and nothing happened. There was obviously a lot of setup for the second half of the season, but no real movement forward. The pacing thus far has been really off. Also off was the sound mixing (again)--I think I missed half the dialogue and will need to rewatch for sure.

ETA: oh, and I totally want to know why Geraldine lied to Carolyn about Konstantin coming over.

Edited May 4, 2020 by stealinghome

[Valny]

That might have been the bizarrest buildup to a Villanelle kill I've seen so far.

 At first when I saw the huge NIKO graphic to start it off, I was like oh man I thought we were done with you.   Well then by the end I guess we are really done with him. But I didn't want him to go out that way,(surprised the hell out of me) and not happy that Eve will think it was V that killed him.  Eve sure has had a rough week or two(depending on the timeline)

At first I wasn't loving the flow of all the individual stories but then really liked seeing how it all intertwined

[Ms Blue Jay]

40 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

(Also, Eve, honey...instead of collapsing dramatically to the ground, maybe run after the person who just impaled Niko????)

I'm sure it was shock?

I kind of hate that Niko felt no suspicion towards Dasha.

I liked the hot 12 woman that came to visit Dasha.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Arkay]

I loved it. It took me awhile to realize that some things were happening simultaneously, and that they were circling back around. Although I was sure it wasn't Niko who was responding to Eve's texts, but I didn't expect it to be Dasha. 

 

ETA: what was the bloody mess in the pigpen? Was it the remains of the old woman who first welcomed Niko back to Poland?

Edited May 4, 2020 by Arkay

[scrb]

Why did Konstantin have V. kill the accountant’s widow off book?

If the 12 wanted the accountant dead, they would have the widow killed, especially if he left instructions with her to drop some file if he died?

 

Anyways, obviously the 12 is some Russian organization, likely with the support of the Russian state, in order to be able to operate throughout Europe, have all kinds of resources.

Doubtful it’s just some rogue, secretive organization which just happens to operate out of Russia and have all these Russian agents.

So MI5 and whatever Eve is doing with those reporters, trying to identify the 12 seems a little besides the point.  Just assume it’s a state sponsored organization out to assassinate prominent Europeans and work on taking down the known agents, imposing sanctions, etc.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

The remains of the woman in the pigpen were from the woman who lived at the farm, where Niko died.     

I wasn't fond of Niko, he was fine with Eve as long as she was simply some bureaucrat who catered to everything he wanted to do, but the second she changed jobs to a front line MI6 agent, he absolutely ignored her.   He refused to believe Villanelle was dangerous, until his girlfriend got killed in front of him.   Then he runs off to Poland, doesn't even say goodbye, or it's over to Eve.    It was a brutal way for him to go, but I won't miss him.   

I think the cake shaped like a bus will be the reason that Eve and Carolyn figure out the bus magnet is a bug.  Carolyn's daughter not mentioning Konstantin is very suspicious, and I'm wondering if Geraldine is as clueless as she tries to portray?     Carolyn is determined to find out who killed her son, and pay them back.    

Kenny's girlfriend, Audrey, is absolutely involved in everything, and his death.     I really think she's going to be very important.    She's not just hanging around the office, and snooping for nothing.  

Edited May 4, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[BingeyKohan]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think the cake shaped like a bus will be the reason that Eve and Carolyn figure out the bus magnet is a bug.  Carolyn's daughter not mentioning Konstantin is very suspicious, and I'm wondering if Gemma (the daughter, if I didn't get the name right) is as clueless as she tries to portray?     Carolyn is determined to find out who killed her son, and pay them back.    

Kenny's girlfriend is absolutely involved in everything, and his death.     I really think she's going to be very important.    She's not just hanging around the office, and snooping for nothing.  

Co-sign all of this! I think it was significant that Audrey was the one who carried the cake over to Eve when it arrived. I am repeating myself here big time but we've twice now seen Audrey and Eve encounter each other in a women's restroom, the same way that Eve first encountered Villanelle.

This is totally insignificant but bugs me: since Dasha's first kill (with the chalk) is so important to the thread this season - I'm still confused about why V said "Untouchable" to herself after she mimicked it with the spice in the spice shop. Was she offering grudging respect for that style kill? (At the time I thought she was being delusional in thinking she herself had thought of it and was paying herself a compliment.)

[Chaos Theory]

V said it herself.   Killing Niko was the one thing Eve would never forgive her for so it was rather clever of Dasha.     But also kinda stupid.   By doing it right in front of her it puts Eve back on a revenge trip after V which she hasn’t been on since season one which ironically they both find extremely sexy.    Once Eve takes a breath she will realize that the murder itself is not Villanelle’s style.   If she had killed Niko she wouldn’t have been able to resist taunting Eve with more then a vague note.

i have no idea what the show is doing with Carolyn and her daughter.  The daughter is such an emotional mess while Carolyn is incapable of connecting emotionally with anyone who isn’t a spy.   Does Carolyn thing her daughter is sleeping with Konstantin?   

i see things ending really badly for Konstantin this season.   He is playing too many sides for him to keep them all straight.   He thinks he has a plan but I am thinking someone is going to shoot him in the head by the time the season ends

 

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[stealinghome]

8 hours ago, scrb said:

Why did Konstantin have V. kill the accountant’s widow off book?

If the 12 wanted the accountant dead, they would have the widow killed, especially if he left instructions with her to drop some file if he died?

I'm starting to think that it was Konstantin himself who stole the 6 million and is now desperately trying to cover his tracks. That or he thinks he knows who it is (Dasha? Carolyn? Geraldine? Someone we haven't met yet?) and is trying to play them somehow. Because clearly he wanted that file that supposedly revealed the ID of the embezzler to go to HIM and no one else, and equally clearly he wanted the woman who had it--who clearly knew nada--gone to cover any possible tracks.

28 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

This is totally insignificant but bugs me: since Dasha's first kill (with the chalk) is so important to the thread this season - I'm still confused about why V said "Untouchable" to herself after she mimicked it with the spice in the spice shop. Was she offering grudging respect for that style kill? (At the time I thought she was being delusional in thinking she herself had thought of it and was paying herself a compliment.)

Earlier in that episode, Dasha had said her kills were "untouchable," like she was the greatest ever. I thought Villanelle said "untouchable" with a scoff as she walked away from the woman's body to be like "bitch please, untouchable my ass." Also, I think there was then a scene later in that episode or the following where Villanelle was like "I totally did better than you" and Dasha was like "pfft, the original is always better than the sequel."

Also, I call bullshit on Eve just happening to know that some random Soviet gymnast got killed by chalk in like the 70s. That was way, way too convenient for the plot. That said, it definitely seems like the show is setting up an Eve/Dasha confrontation, between Eve thinking about the chalk kill and Dasha now killing Niko.

18 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

V said it herself.   Killing Niko was the one thing Eve would never forgive her for so it was rather clever of Dasha.     But also kinda stupid.   By doing it right in front of her it puts Eve back on a revenge trip after V which she hasn’t been on since season one which ironically they both find extremely sexy.    Once Eve takes a breath she will realize that the murder itself is not Villanelle’s style.   If she had killed Niko she wouldn’t have been able to resist taunting Eve with more then a vague note.

i have no idea what the show is doing with Carolyn and her daughter.  The daughter is such an emotional mess while Carolyn is incapable of connecting emotionally with anyone who isn’t a spy.   Does Carolyn thing her daughter is sleeping with Konstantin?  

Yeah, I do feel like Eve is actually going to realize fairly quickly that it wasn't Villanelle who killed Niko. Hell, we may even be in for an S2 redux--she enlists Villanelle's help to track down the killer.

I HOPE Geraldine and Konstantin aren't sleeping together given that he has slept with Carolyn and also seemed to have a quasi-paternal vibe with Geraldine from what we've seen so far!!! But I do think it's suspicious that he was at her house and Geraldine wouldn't fess up to it. Also I thought the scene where Geraldine cried and Carolyn brushed her off was cringey, and not in a good way. Geraldine falling to her knees was too much. That was some poor directing imo--unless Geraldine was TRYING to put Carolyn off by being so OTT, knowing that it would make Carolyn run away....

[BingeyKohan]

 

3 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

 

Earlier in that episode, Dasha had said her kills were "untouchable," like she was the greatest ever. I thought Villanelle said "untouchable" with a scoff as she walked away from the woman's body to be like "bitch please, untouchable my ass." Also, I think there was then a scene later in that episode or the following where Villanelle was like "I totally did better than you" and Dasha was like "pfft, the original is always better than the sequel."

 

 

OK, this satisfies me ... I guess I misinterpreted the spin that Jodie Comer put on the line. Although I would argue that Dasha's kill was still less 'touchable' because she was killing someone she had a connection to whereas V was using the method to kill a stranger!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I loved that Dasha took a break from swimming to smoke a cigarette.

Villanelle has shown us twice already this season that she will not hesitate to kill someone even after they try to be nice to her (first the spice shop lady and this time the accountant's wife who tried to help her with the hiccups). But she drew the line at killing Niko, not because she gave a rat's ass about him but because she knew it was the one thing that Eve would never forgive her for. Dasha using that information to follow the Twelve's orders to drive Villanelle and Eve apart was so sneaky but so smart.

Dasha luring Eve to Poland and then killing Niko in front of her reminded me of Angel leaving a trail of rose petals up to the bedroom where he found Jenny Calendar murdered.

I totally cracked up imagining her London itinerary:
(1) kill boring accountant
(2) taunt/flirt with Eve
(3) Jack the Ripper walking tour
(4) scare the shit out of Konstantin

I don't know why anyone is surprised that Carolyn is cold as ice with Geraldine. It was already pointed out by Geraldine herself that Carolyn did no parenting, and Carolyn wasn't exactly shown to be a kind or nurturing parent to Kenny in the first two seasons. I would have been shocked if she had run down the stairs to hug Geraldine and talk about her feelings.

I enjoyed Eve and Jamie's "I'm a horrible person" competition. I'm looking forward to more of their Odd Couple roommate scenes.

Although I hate to see perfectly good cake go to waste, Eve would have been stupid to even consider eating anything that Villanelle sent to her. I can't believe she still has the teddy bear. I would have taken the entire thing apart to make sure there wasn't a bomb or poison or anything else inside and then set it on fire.

[SHD]

The shocking disregard for cake in this episode was tragic.

I’m not sure I loved the vignettes format, but it was kind of cool to piece them together as we saw how they overlapped.

[dubbel zout]

4 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Dasha luring Eve to Poland and then killing Niko in front of her reminded me of Angel leaving a trail of rose petals up to the bedroom where he found Jenny Calendar murdered.

Did Dasha want Eve to see Niko killed? I thought she was surprised when Eve showed up, but Dasha went through with killing Niko because it had to be done.

[scrb]

7 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Did Dasha want Eve to see Niko killed? I thought she was surprised when Eve showed up, but Dasha went through with killing Niko because it had to be done.

That 12 leader who visited Dasha said don't kill Eve but put a wedge between Eve and V.

Plus it turned out Dasha stole Niko's phone and texted Eve, posing as Niko, which caused her to come up to Poland.

So the ploy was to get Eve to think V. killed Niko.

[stealinghome]

8 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Did Dasha want Eve to see Niko killed? I thought she was surprised when Eve showed up, but Dasha went through with killing Niko because it had to be done.

Dasha was the one who lured Eve to Poland, though, when she stole Niko's phone and sent Eve text messages indicating Niko wanted to reconcile (when the real Niko had been steadfastly ignoring Eve). Dasha definitely wanted Eve to see Niko get killed, or at least to find his body (since it's not like Dasha could have predicted when exactly Eve would show up).

[BingeyKohan]

4 minutes ago, stealinghome said:

Dasha was the one who lured Eve to Poland, though, when she stole Niko's phone and sent Eve text messages indicating Niko wanted to reconcile (when the real Niko had been steadfastly ignoring Eve). Dasha definitely wanted Eve to see Niko get killed, or at least to find his body (since it's not like Dasha could have predicted when exactly Eve would show up).

I can't remember - did Dasha (posing as Niko) give the address where he'd be working on the barn door? That wasn't where he was staying, so how would Eve know to take the car to that property?

[Ms Blue Jay]

6 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Although I hate to see perfectly good cake go to waste, Eve would have been stupid to even consider eating anything that Villanelle sent to her. I can't believe she still has the teddy bear. I would have taken the entire thing apart to make sure there wasn't a bomb or poison or anything else inside and then set it on fire.

Haha.  I thought that Eve was staying in Jamie's kid's room (which she is, right?) and just found *a* teddy bear.  And used it to "talk to" Villanelle. 

2 hours ago, SHD said:

The shocking disregard for cake in this episode was tragic.

I’m not sure I loved the vignettes format, but it was kind of cool to piece them together as we saw how they overlapped.

I hate how Villanelle threw the cake in the trash, but it reminded me of Dasha throwing the baby in the trash.  I hated that too but everyone seemed to love it so I'll call it a wash.

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Did Dasha want Eve to see Niko killed? I thought she was surprised when Eve showed up, but Dasha went through with killing Niko because it had to be done.

I thought for sure Dasha planned everything that way.  She sent the text to Eve, then waited and waited alongside Niko for Eve to show up.  If she *didn't* plan it that way she could have just killed Niko immediately!

Edited May 4, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[Ms Blue Jay]

1 hour ago, BingeyKohan said:

I can't remember - did Dasha (posing as Niko) give the address where he'd be working on the barn door? That wasn't where he was staying, so how would Eve know to take the car to that property?

GPS?  Find my iPhone?

[CrazyInAlabama]

Eve found the Teddy Bear at her old apartment, that's why she stopped staying there.     Since Villanelle knew where she lived. 

Apparently, if I had been paying attention I would know that the teddy bear at the editor's apartment is a different one.  (Thanks for helping me with that).    This show has so much action crammed into one hour that I miss a lot.  

 That's why she was living at the magazine office, and why the man took her to his place.       However, if Ashley, or someone else at the magazine is feeding information to V., then I'm sure V. knows where Eve is living.  

I bet the photo had a geographical location attached.   Since I have the computer/cell phone knowledge of Fred Flintstone, I don't know how it works, but I think that's what happened.     Then Dasha just had to send the photo, and the next day when Niko was fixing the barn door, boom.  

I love how everyone on here catches nuances that I miss.   I didn't realize Audrey, Kenny's girlfriend was the one who delivered the cake to Eve.     If it wasn't for the combined viewing, and commenting of everyone on here, I would be totally lost.  

Edited May 5, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[stealinghome]

I thought it was a different teddy bear. If memory serves, the one V sent Eve was obnoxiously bright pink, and Eve pretty much tore it to shreds to get to the heart. I thought the one last night was a normal light brown teddy bear that just happened to be in Jamie's kid's room, and Eve got spooked 'cause it reminded her of V.

Also: why was Eve sleeping at the Bitter Pill office and acting like she had nowhere else to go? I thought she had a flat (not her house with Niko) from the premiere episode on.

Edited May 4, 2020 by stealinghome

[BingeyKohan]

agree, wasn't the same bear. I guess she evicted herself once she realized V had been there. But...if V can find her there I assume she can find her anywhere. Everyone on this show can find anyone anywhere.

 

[rur]

2 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Did Dasha want Eve to see Niko killed? I thought she was surprised when Eve showed up, but Dasha went through with killing Niko because it had to be done.

She attached the "Still Got It" note to the pitchfork she stabbed Niko with, so she definitely expected Eve to see him die. 

But since when does a badass agent fall to her knees -- and stay there --  instead of rushing to the side of the dying person?  Dasha definitely had time to escape.

[Ms Blue Jay]

But it's not just anyone.... it was her husband... I'm surprised that some feel like Eve can be able to just react so quickly to something so horrifying and traumatizing to see and experience... 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Eve wasn't a front line agent, she was an office worker, and then switched to MI-6.   I don't remember if she ever had much in the way of field training, but I don't think she did.    

[ams1001]

I want to know what kinds of benefits the Twelve offer. Somehow I don't think it's health insurance and a 4% match on her 401k...

[Mindthinkr]

I was unhappy with the audio feed this episode. I lost so many words by these quiet pauses. I had CC on, but it wasn’t picking up everything either. I'm not sure that I like the new format either. As I was missing so much of the dialogue I got confused a bit at times. 

[kieyra]

3 hours ago, rur said:

But since when does a badass agent fall to her knees -- and stay there --  instead of rushing to the side of the dying person?  Dasha definitely had time to escape.

I would like Eve so much more if we had ever actually seen her being a badass agent. :) She mostly gets by on luck and bluster, which has been one of my complaints about the character since season one. 

I agree with the poster upthread who said the writing for V seemed off. Lots of odd moments. The OTT “happy dance” she did about getting promoted seemed WAY out of character for someone whose emotional spectrum rarely strays far from “bored” unless she’s with Eve or actively killing someone. Konstantin being able to sneak up on her also felt wrong.

And what was with that little touch of her throat at the very end? Maybe I missed something, but it was like some beat in a supernatural show, like she could sense Niko being stabbed in the throat? (I also missed where she was going and why she was walking along the train tracks.)

I don’t know what’s going on with Geraldine and Caroline, but I love the work both actresses are doing with those extremes. 

[ams1001]

6 minutes ago, kieyra said:

And what was with that little touch of her throat at the very end? Maybe I missed something, but it was like some beat in a supernatural show, like she could sense Niko being stabbed in the throat? 

I thought the same thing.

6 minutes ago, kieyra said:

(I also missed where she was going and why she was walking along the train tracks.)

The place identifier just said "Home"...Konstantin gave her information on who her family was, right? I was guessing she found them; curious to see how she explains showing up there.

22 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I was unhappy with the audio feed this episode. I lost so many words by these quiet pauses. I had CC on, but it wasn’t picking up everything either. I'm not sure that I like the new format either. As I was missing so much of the dialogue I got confused a bit at times. 

I didn't actually have too much trouble with the dialogue this time (didn't even rewind once), but I really wish shows would stop making me read text messages.

[BingeyKohan]

I sort of thought the gesture was to call attention to the turtleneck she was wearing - Dasha and the glamorous Twelve agent derisively referred to someone wearing a turtleneck ... altho I thought they meant Eve actually since she is kind of frumpy. I didn’t totally get the turtleneck reference actually but did notice V was wearing one in that scene when she arrived ‘Home.’

[kieyra]

19 minutes ago, BingeyKohan said:

I sort of thought the gesture was to call attention to the turtleneck she was wearing - Dasha and the glamorous Twelve agent derisively referred to someone wearing a turtleneck ... altho I thought they meant Eve actually since she is kind of frumpy. I didn’t totally get the turtleneck reference actually but did notice V was wearing one in that scene when she arrived ‘Home.’

I think you nailed it here. 

[stealinghome]

Agreed. I thought they dressed Villanelle in Eve’s signature turtleneck for a reason and her gesture was to call attention to it.

[ETA: Can I just say that I love Eve's, like, international reputation here? To Villanelle she's "an Asian woman with amazing hair" and to The Twelve she's Villanelle's "agent friend, the one with the turtleneck." Hee.]

Edited May 5, 2020 by stealinghome

[Cigale]

Konstantin bought the bus fridge magnet and said to the store owner that he was buying it for his daughter...

And then he gave it to Geraldine.

[CarpeFelis]

12 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Although I hate to see perfectly good cake go to waste, Eve would have been stupid to even consider eating anything that Villanelle sent to her. I can't believe she still has the teddy bear. I would have taken the entire thing apart to make sure there wasn't a bomb or poison or anything else inside and then set it on fire.

I thought the look on Eve’s face when she tossed the cake was priceless — like she was just SURE it was going to explode when it hit the ground!

[oompa]

5 hours ago, kieyra said:

I would like Eve so much more if we had ever actually seen her being a badass agent. 🙂 She mostly gets by on luck and bluster, which has been one of my complaints about the character since season one. 

My thoughts exactly. Usually, she just seems to be reacting with a hurt confused expression.

4 hours ago, BingeyKohan said:

I sort of thought the gesture was to call attention to the turtleneck she was wearing - Dasha and the glamorous Twelve agent derisively referred to someone wearing a turtleneck ... altho I thought they meant Eve actually since she is kind of frumpy. I didn’t totally get the turtleneck reference actually but did notice V was wearing one in that scene when she arrived ‘Home.’

Hmmmm...I thought it was about her hiccups and the fact that they appeared to be gone.

[MicheleinPhilly]

On 5/3/2020 at 11:41 PM, stealinghome said:

Wow, they really ARE clearing the decks character-wise, but in a much more gruesome way than I expected!!!! Poor Niko. I'm glad he's off the show--we've way, way outgrown him at this point--but the poor man didn't deserve that end. I would have been okay if he had just disappeared and never returned. Eve is going to eat herself up with guilt, and honestly rightfully so; she signed his death warrant several times over by refusing to get out of the spy world. I'm calling it now though: Eve's second kill is going to be Dasha. She's going to find out that Dasha killed Niko and snap, given that she has basically nothing left to lose. It certainly seems like the writers want her to be at the absolute end of her rope for the season's second half, and I can only assume that's because we are headed for something BIG for her. (Also, Eve, honey...instead of collapsing dramatically to the ground, maybe run after the person who just impaled Niko????) Also, my second guess for Dasha's death is Villanelle, if she discovers Dasha tried to turn Eve against her.

Villanelle's stuff was boring and predictable this episode. I'm not sure how they managed that, given that Villanelle is such a dynamic character, but there you go. Whoever the writers are this season, they really don't have a very good handle on her. Very interested in her going "home" next week though, given that she's clearly hankering for some connections (she was kinda enjoying the game with the grieving lady I thought). And with that said, I do love that she sent Eve a bus birthday cake. Now that was a classic Villanelle move. (And I did crack up at Eve tossing the cake over the roof. Oh Eve, you're still obsessed, just own it and move on. I did enjoy her talking to the bear too.)

It certainly seems like the show is setting Konstantin up to die soon--trying to serve a bunch of different masters feels like it's catching up to him--but I do hope they don't kill him off. He remains, other than Eve, by far Villanelle's best scene partner, and I would argue that Villanelle/Konstantin is, after Eve/Villanelle, the best dynamic on the show. The return of Irina was pretty anticlimactic though, and cliche. I have wanted the character back but this was underwhelming. She was every pissy, surly teenager on TV ever.

Glad we got a little look into The Twelve and how they operate. Wouldn't mind more going forward at all, but hopefully it's not quite as cliche/poorly sketched out.

These people were able to trot all over Europe in about 5 seconds. Can I get their time warp capabilities???

Boy, Carolyn is a shit mother. Her stuff also felt perfunctory tonight. What did it really tell us that we didn't already know?

I don't mind the Bitter Pill guys, but I still don't understand why they exist other than because the writers have no one else for Eve to hang out with or talk to. I liked Eve getting brutally honest with the dollar discount Idris Elba guy though--that's more honest than she's been in a long time. Also, Kenny's ex is so obviously shady at this point. The camera made a point of having her hovering in the background of all the office scenes.

Overall, this was a weird episode--it felt both like a lot and nothing happened. There was obviously a lot of setup for the second half of the season, but no real movement forward. The pacing thus far has been really off. Also off was the sound mixing (again)--I think I missed half the dialogue and will need to rewatch for sure.

ETA: oh, and I totally want to know why Geraldine lied to Carolyn about Konstantin coming over.

ALL OF THIS. 

I've never been a huge Niko fan but this just seemed like an unnecesary, shock kill. I mean, I know why they did it within the context of the show but do they actually think that Eve is going to believe that Villanelle killed him? I know she has shown some questionable behavior in the past but I don't think she is stupid. And I for one am rooting for her to kill Dasha in revenge. Also, Eve and Jamie (is that his name?) had more chemistry in one 4 minute scene than Eve and Niko did in 2.5 seasons. 

I thought Villanelle came across as very cartoonish in this episode. I'm not saying that I didn't laugh and enjoy it but it seemed kind of out of character for her. I think perhaps I'm just not used to her being so transparent with her emotions. She has always come across as somewhat robotic so to see her emote so openly was a bit jarring. 

I need for Geraldine to have a purpose other than demonstrating how bad of a mother Carolyn is. Basically I need them to start showing me what purpose all of these new characters they have introduced have within the larger storyline. Because right now they just feel like filler to me. 

Also really hope Sandra Oh doesn't get overlooked for any award consideration this year. She has been KILLING IT. 

[roughing it]

23 minutes ago, MicheleinPhilly said:

Also, Eve and Jamie (is that his name?) had more chemistry in one 4 minute scene than Eve and Niko did in 2.5 seasons. 

But isn't that the point?  Eve and Nico's marriage was struggling, Eve was bored and looking for excitement that had left her.  So no wonder there was no chemistry between her and Nico.  They'd lost that lovin' feeling, otherwise known as chemistry.

[MicheleinPhilly]

4 minutes ago, roughing it said:

But isn't that the point?  Eve and Nico's marriage was struggling, Eve was bored and looking for excitement that had left her.  So no wonder there was no chemistry between her and Nico.  They'd lost that lovin' feeling, otherwise known as chemistry.

Well sure. But I mean that I've NEVER seen any chemistry between the two of them. So it wasn't hard for me as a viewer to sort of dismiss him as "dead weight." Overall he was a very bland character which I suppose makes sense for purposes of fleshing out Eve and her boredom. Like even in series one when he was dragging her to bridge games all I could think was, "Ugh, kill me now." 🙂

[Loandbehold]

When I saw the title card for the first vignette, I immediately thought of Kill Bill and had a feeling we'd be playing with time. (I doubt QT was the first to use this, but that's what came to mind.)

On 5/4/2020 at 11:55 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Dasha luring Eve to Poland and then killing Niko in front of her reminded me of Angel leaving a trail of rose petals up to the bedroom where he found Jenny Calendar murdered.

Ooh, I like this. Dasha's staging wasn't as poetic, but she did kill Niko in front of Eve, so I'd call it a wash.,

[Arkay]

13 hours ago, oompa said:

Dasha and the glamorous Twelve agent derisively referred to someone wearing a turtleneck ... altho I thought they meant Eve actually since she is kind of frumpy. I didn’t totally get the turtleneck reference actually but did notice V was wearing one in that scene when she arrived ‘Home.’

I thought the agent with the turtleneck meant Carolyn. Doesn't she usually wear one?

I agree that V. jumping in glee at her promotion seemed out of character. I'm looking forward to her meeting her family in Russia. Was her birth name even Oskana? Lots to uncover about her origins. I wonder how many of them she will kill?????

[tennisgurl]

That was freaking brutal, oh my God! Niko wasn't a character that I particularly liked, and I thought that he had run his course as a character on the show, but no way did he deserve that! Killing him off, especially in that manner right in front of Eve, seemed really gratuitous to me. This is presumably to lead to Eve wanting to take down the bad guys even more, or blame Villanelle or team up with her again, but this just seems like something they wanted to do for the sake of being shocking. It seems so unnecessary, especially because Kenny's death is still so recent and that did a lot of what killing off Niko would do in the narrative, and was just done for the sake of drama. They could have easily just given Niko and Eve one last chat to give them some closure, then he could have gone to Poland and he never would be seen again, this seems almost mean spirited. Its like they just want to get rid of as much of the supporting cast as they could, and they cant think of any way to do it except for killing them off in increasingly brutal ways. 

The vignette style for the episode was interesting, if making the whole episode seem a bit all over the place. It was kind of a weird episode in general, it felt like both a lot happened and nothing happened. Probably because, while the stories all advanced stories and kind of went into each other, they also seems disjointed by their nature. Plus, a lot of it just seemed to happen to get the big shocking ending with Eve and Niko. 

So sad to see a good cake go to waste, especially as Eve accidentally used it to reenact Kenny's probable murder. But yeah, dont eat anything that V sends you, and I dont trust Kenny's girlfriend. 

Konstantin is seriously playing with fire here, his daughter is right, he is messing with too many powerful people and playing too many sides, he needs a real plan and a real exit strategy. They're killing off supporting characters left and right, and he could very well be next. Villanelle would spiral even more if Konstantin died, he is pretty much the closest person she has to a consistent relationship, and without him to ground her somewhat, or at least to direct her crazy, who knows what would happen.

Edited May 6, 2020 by tennisgurl

[Ms Blue Jay]

Agree, @tennisgurl about Nico's death.

Edited May 6, 2020 by Ms Blue Jay

[MicheleinPhilly]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

That was freaking brutal, oh my God! Niko wasn't a character that I particularly liked, and I thought that he had run his course as a character on the show, but no way did he deserve that! Killing him off, especially in that manner right in front of Eve, seemed really gratuitous to me. This is presumably to lead to Eve wanting to take down the bad guys even more, or blame Villanelle or team up with her again, but this just seems like something they wanted to do for the sake of being shocking. It seems so unnecessary, especially because Kenny's death is still so recent and that did a lot of what killing off Niko would do in the narrative, and was just done for the sake of drama. They could have easily just given Niko and Eve one last chat to give them some closure, then he could have gone to Poland and he never would be seen again, this seems almost mean spirited. Its like they just want to get rid of as much of the supporting cast as they could, and they cant think of any way to do it except for killing them off in increasingly brutal ways. 

 

 

Completely agree with this. I would have been fine if the last we had seen of Niko was during Eve's conversation with him at the facility in episode 1. Even though I as a viewer have found myself thinking, "Ugh, why are you still here?" it just felt like a cheap ploy. 

[Loandbehold]

13 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

So sad to see a good cake go to waste, especially as Eve accidentally used it to reenact Kenny's probable murder. But yeah, dont eat anything that V sends you, and I dont trust Kenny's girlfriend. 

One would hope Eve would know that after using the lipstick V sent her.

Besides the title cards reminding me of Kill Bill, the scene where Eve and the boss at the magazine comparing the horrible things they did to others reminded me of Jaws where Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw compared their injuries from sharks (or Chasing Amy where Amy and another character compare injuries suffered during sex).

Edited May 7, 2020 by Loandbehold

[seacliffsal]

I am beginning to think that I'm the only person losing interest in the season and the show.  I thought there was a lot of wasted time in the episode and felt the stories did not advance very much.  So, the big action?  Killing Niko which I get is to ratchet up the action (finally!) with Eve getting revenge minded.  But otherwise?  Killing the widow of the accountant who had been killed?  Didn't surprise me at all (cleaning up loose ends), and I always knew Constantine was playing many sides.  Villanelle got a promotion?  About time.  

They may be killing off characters, but they are also adding more-Dasha, Carolyn's daughter and supervisor, mysterious woman at the swimming pool, the investigative journalists, etc.  I have a hard time caring about the new characters.

Okay, maybe I'm just grumpy, but I wish I was liking this season more than I am.

[Stats Queen]

4 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

I am beginning to think that I'm the only person losing interest in the season and the show.

I’m with you on this.

[BellyLaughter]

So The 12 don't want Villanelle distracted by Eve (who is currently investigating them in connection to Kenny's death.... are they unaware that Eve is doing this?)  Dasha was told to get rid of the distraction and she thinks the best way to do that is lure Eve to Poland and pretend to be Villanelle and kill Niko...maybe it's just me but that makes ZERO sense....Dasha just metaphorically held a red rag to a bull...

I'm officially confused.