BBC America’s ‘Killing Eve’ first framed itself as procedural: a show about assassins and the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service that attempts to take them down. More than that, though, the show tangoed through an elaborate cat-and-mouse game between Jodie Comer’s assassin and Sandra Oh’s MI6 agent. This season, that game evolves for the better, and our weekly coverage will keep an eye on how this show’s transforming, and it (along with those kills) is only growing bolder with the passage of time.
Killing Eve follows up on last week’s smell of power with an episode called “Still Got It,” which takes its name from a note that’s on the pitchfork used by Dasha (disguised as “Magda”) to stab Niko. Fatally? We don’t know yet, but it’s not looking good for the long-suffering husband of Eve. This scene culminated in what was possibly the worst birthday imaginable for Eve, who’d already received an ominous “present” from Villanelle (who, meanwhile, is being wooed by two warring handlers). And Eve threw that cake off the roof — reminding everyone what happened to Kenny not too long ago. So, a lot of balls are up in the air this season, but let’s try and unravel whatever it is that Dasha meant to do by attacking Niko. This guy just can’t get a break.
Poor Niko, man. He had apparently made some progress following his PTSD — he suffered a heavy dose after being terrorized by Villanelle and seeing what happened to Gemma in that storage unit. He hightailed it out of his treatment facility and headed not to Eve but to Poland, where he seemed awfully happy to enjoy some freedom. Yet Eve, full of delusion, has still somehow kept hope alive that he’d want to reconcile, despite her cheating on him and generally making him feel like hot garbage in their marriage. Niko seemed to be open to talking but nothing else, and then Dasha-Magda swiped Niko’s phone and gave Eve the go-ahead to come on down to Poland. So, what was Dasha’s motive, and what does the “still got it” note mean?
Obviously, Dasha’s panicking over her visit from a higher up in The Twelve. She wants to return to Russia in glory, but she can’t do that with Villanelle behaving so erratically (and being “skittish”) while she’s obsessed with Eve. It sure seems that she lied to Villanelle about the promotion business going well, and she’s probably trying to frame Villanelle for this pitchfork stuff while believing that Eve (and everyone else) will suspect Villanelle of being the attacker. The “still got it” note is a nice touch, and a message from Dasha (to Villanelle) that she’s still the superior assassin (while maybe making it look like Villanelle’s saying that she and Eve have “still got it”). One certainty: Dasha’s also capable of doing laps in an Olympic-sized pool while pausing for cigarette breaks.
What a nutso character. However, we can’t yet predict the ultimate effect of this attack on Eve. Will she finally crumble under the weight of mounting trauma, or will she be spurred to further action against The Twelve? Dasha clearly wanted Eve to witness this brutality while aiming to drive a wedge in between Eve and Villanelle, though it’s unclear whether that will work in Dasha’s favor. Clearly, Eve’s still just as drawn to Villanelle as she’s always been, even while fruitlessly refusing to give up on Niko. So, Dasha doesn’t really understand the Villanelle-Eve dynamic. In fact, Dasha doesn’t really get relationships at all — she’s only feeling desperate about her own legacy. She definitely would have taken out Eve if a higher-ranking The Twelve member hasn’t told her that’d be too messy. And Eve should eventually realize that Villanelle isn’t Niko’s attacker.
In the meantime, whatever Dasha’s doing to keep Villanelle working is being screwed up by Konstantin, who pays Villanelle back (for scaring him in bed) in his own way.
That wasn’t what gave Villanelle a bizarrely persistent case of the hiccups, though. That affliction began high up in the sky when Konstantin revealed that he had knowledge of her birth family, but yeah, he needed a little favor first. And that favor involved dispensing with the wife of Charles Kruger (The Twelve’s accountant), who knew far too much about that Geneva bank account. The garden scene was pure madness and really makes one wonder who’s the biggest loose cannon here.
Also, what do those hiccups mean? They could be a callback to a second season scene, in which Villanelle slaps a resistant Eve and smirks, “You needed a surprise… like hiccups.” They also suggest/signify a dent in Villanelle’s generally impenetrable armor after she learns about Niko leaving London and the possibility of learning more about her family. In the end, Villanelle presumably receives the knowledge that she desired from Konstantin, and she disembarks after a train reaches her “Home” with the strong suggestion that we’ll learn more next week (probably in Russia).
Some loose ends:
– Is the Bitter Pill boss going to be alright by season’s end? He’s not only a super-cool boss but seems like a decent guy, even though he pees in the shower (don’t judge, I’m sure this is a lot more common than some would like to admit) and claims to self-loathe to a greater degree than Eve. Watching the two of them try to one-up each other with their misdeeds was more delightful than it should have been, given Paul’s bleak past. And the writers have endeared Paul toward the audience so much that I fear for his safety.
– The Konstantin stuff is pretty sticky, but we got more of a followup regarding his daughter, at least, far beyond him calling her “a little sh*t taking a sh*t on a big sh*t and three sh*ts combined into one enormous sh*t.” I enjoyed hearing Konstantin’s daughter calling him out, for sure. She knows that he’s in some dangerous business, and she’s not gonna let this keep happening without a fight.
– Speaking of fed-up daughters, will Geraldine get a better story soon? I’m down to see Gemma Whelan kick some ass like she did on Game of Thrones, but it doesn’t seem like that’s in the cards here. It’d be nice to see her move beyond falling into Konstantin’s jester trap and being upset with Carolyn. Perhaps we’ll hear more about the roots of their conflict soon. That’d be a swell compromise!
– Really though, is Niko alive or dead? I can’t even begin to guess, but we’ll likely find out soon enough.
BBC America’s ‘Killing Eve’ airs on Sundays at 9:00 PM EST with simulcasting on AMC.
