Killing Eve: Episode Analysis
Season 3, Episode 8 - Are You Leading or Am I? [Part 2]
We then see the switch from ‘Oksana’ to ‘Villanelle’, when Rhian comes to tell her that Hélène wants to see her. Villanelle watches longingly as Eve leaves, but when she turns around her expression suddenly changes and she puts her act back on. She tells Rhian that if she wanted to dance she would “just have to ask”, and then as a power play, she proceeds to dip her.
We continue to the next scene, where Villanelle’s in the Tube station and trying to provoke Rhian into fighting her - so that when she kills Rhian to protect herself and Eve, she has an excuse for killing her). Rhian tells Villanelle that “autonomy is overrated, sheep are happier than wolves”; which is exactly how Villanelle was when we first met her in Season 1, if someone had told Villanelle to “jump” she’d “just jump”. But we can see how far Villanelle has come since then, as now she recognises that she was a “sheep” and is trying to break out from that.
Villanelle then attacks Rhian, after annoying her enough to get a reaction out of her, and the scene is shot in the same way as the choking of the girl in the Amsterdam nightclub from S2E4. Just as in the scene in S2E4, Villanelle is fighting from pure emotion and vulnerability - more like Oksana than Villanelle - because she’s trying to protect herself and Eve. Both the Amsterdam club scene and this fight with Rhian are messy, hands on fights. This is unlike when she’s doing kills with the Villanelle persona fully up; where her kills are, like she says in S2E3, “nice and clean, just like you [Konstantin] taught me”.
As Villanelle is leaving the Tube station, a song last used in S3E5 is played over the scene (presumably another unreleased Unloved song, but it’s not certain). The lyrics are:
“Nothing matters if you bury it deep,
And I won’t hate you somehow”
In the same way as the lyrics of the song suggest, Villanelle is visibly distraught at having to kill Rhian, but has to “bury it deep” in order to protect herself and Eve from Hélène and The Twelve.
A funny but subtle moment that’s what makes Killing Eve special - Carolyn’s unmatched pettiness of doing the unnecessary action of putting her glasses on to then read a blank page, after Geraldine has read her letter to her.
In the next scene, we continue as we see Eve go into the betting shop, ‘Bridgeway Bets’, to cash-in the betting slip which was given to to her by Villanelle, at the dance hall. Amusingly, Eve clearly needs to work on her fieldwork skills of bribery and persuasion. She uses the same technique, as she did with The Ghost in S2E4, of pretending to drop some money on the floor and offering it. However, now the monetary value of the note she ‘drops’, has gone up from a £10 (The Ghost) to a £20 (now) - the increase of the value of the money Eve offers, shows how Villanelle is more important to Eve than The Ghost; and also how the stakes are much higher in this situation than they were with The Ghost.
It turns out that Konstantin’s betting slip gave access to a package, containing a set of Matryoshka dolls (aka Russian dolls), which has a barcode giving access to another safety box containing emergency supplies. Matryoshka dolls are traditionally used as a symbol of family and, more specifically, of mother and child. Although Villanelle didn’t know that Konstantin’s betting slip accessed a package with Matryoshka dolls in it, her decision to pass on to Eve the task of retrieving it, is a symbolic one for their relationship - representing how, through the exchange of the betting slip, Villanelle is not only passing on the importance of her freedom to Eve, but also the mantle of becoming her only family. At Paul’s house, Villanelle lets Konstantin leave with the dolls, and without her, because she’s realised that he’s “not family”; but she stays to be with Eve, because Eve is now her ‘Matryoshka doll’.
When Villanelle goes to the Bitter Pill office, she has changed outfits and is now wearing a mustard yellow coat. Mustard yellow has been used throughout Season 3, as a colour to represent family. It was the colour of the ‘bin baby’s’ dress in S3E3, and seeing the reaction that people had to the baby was the catalyst for Villanelle wanting to find her family and people whom she would feel that same belonging and love, that she had never been able to experience; in S3E5 the colour was used for Villanelle’s mother’s cardigan, to represent the person who she thought would (and should have) shown her this love that she was searching for; and now Villanelle is able to wear the colour herself, because after her conversation with Eve at the tea dance, she realises that she has found the love, acceptance and everything that she was looking for in Eve.
When everyone is gathered at Paul’s house for the big ‘whodunit’-esque reveal of who killed Kenny, Villanelle asks Eve “what is going on?” and Eve says “I have no idea”. This exchange is mirroring the one they had earlier, at the tea dance, when Eve asked Villanelle “are you leading or am I?” and Villanelle replies in the same words, telling her “I have no idea”.
The switch from Eve asking the question and Villanelle answering, to Villanelle asking the question and Eve answering; is used to again show us how they’ve reached a middle ground where they’re now in synch with each other. Both Villanelle and Eve having “no idea” also emphasises their mutual confusion; and therefore how - just like the tea dance scene - neither of them is ‘leading’ or ‘being led’, but they are both equal to one another and their relationship can work when they’re balanced.
The fact that in two separate instances Villanelle and Eve both “have no idea” about what is happening, also demonstrates how neither of them are certain about their future, or what their next step even is; but what they do know, having tried to be apart, is that the other has to be a part of their future.
When Carolyn demands for Konstantin to explain what happened when he went to visit Kenny on the day he died, Villanelle says “tell her” to him, and after Eve says “you killed Kenny”, Villanelle adds that “he doesn’t kill people, he makes other people do it for them”. In S3E4, after finding Villanelle’s family for her, Konstantin says “but I need you to do something for me, something personal, off the record”, which Villanelle is able to repeat, at the same time as he’s saying it.
Just as she repeats when Konstantin tells her “no, I can’t, I’m sorry” after she asks him to stay and watch a movie in S1E1, and when she repeats the advice that Konstantin gave her and Irina that “information is everything” in S1E8; Villanelle being able to repeat these things, illustrates how these are all things that Konstantin has repetitively said, or asked of her. And so we can see from Villanelle’s reaction, that she’s realised what a coward Konstantin is. Konstantin “doesn’t kill people” himself, but she remembers that he has asked her numerous times to do kills “off the record” for him, to fix his messes for him.
Villanelle saying “tell her” to Konstantin, also parallels with Konstantin telling Nadia to “tell them” in S1E6. The parallel demonstrates to us the switch in the power dynamic and Konstantin’s fall from grace. At the beginning of the series, Konstantin was a powerful figure, who could control the assassins who worked for The Twelve with a simple stare. Where Konstantin was once the one commanding others to do as he asked; now Villanelle is the one with the power over him, commanding him to tell Carolyn what happened.
Konstantin’s actions are made even more detestable to Villanelle, when he tries to claim that he “wouldn’t do that to someone I once” and then Carolyn completes his sentence by saying “don’t say loved”. We can see from Villanelle’s shocked reaction that she wasn’t aware that Carolyn and Konstantin once loved each other, and so this makes his actions even worse. Through the whole of Season 3, Villanelle has gone through a journey of finding her family or someone who will provide the unconditional love that a family is supposed to, Konstantin killing the son of a woman he once loved will hit a very personal nerve for her - and in the moment, the situation that’s unfolding between Konstantin and Carolyn is probably prompting Villanelle to imagine herself and Eve in the same scenario, where one unforgivably betrays the other’s love, which they both once shared and held so dear.
Konstantin trying to claim that he “once loved” Carolyn is also the same thing that he did with Villanelle in S1E7. In an attempt to get out of being killed by Villanelle, Konstantin stroked her ego and told her “I love you more than my family” (throughout the series, Villanelle has been trying to get Konstantin to choose her over his family); and in the same way as in S1E7, Konstantin is again trying to manipulate the love that other people have for him to get out of a sticky situation.
It’s when Villanelle says that Konstantin “makes other people do it for him”, that Villanelle starts to realise that he is “not family” to her, as we can see from her reaction that she doesn’t approve of him killing Kenny. However, this is even further reaffirmed to Villanelle when Carolyn is pointing the gun to Konstantin’s head. Konstantin yells at her “Villanelle, do something”, confirming to Villanelle that he only values her as his personal ‘attack dog’ - able to be called upon to do his dirty work for him and to protect him whenever he pleases.
After Carolyn spares Konstantin, and shoots Paul instead, Eve angrily says “why kill him, he had everything we wanted to know about The Twelve... he was a source”. In S1E4, Carolyn tells Eve “we’re not out for blood, Eve, we’re after information”. The reversal between Eve and Carolyn’s main concern, emphasises how their characters have developed since Season 1 and how their priorities have changed - Carolyn was once most focused on gathering intelligence about The Twelve and scolded Eve for getting off track with her continual obsession with Villanelle, but now only cares about getting revenge for Kenny’s death; and Eve was once blinkered in her pursuit of Villanelle, but now seems to be more focused on finding out more about The Twelve.
In the next scene Eve proceeds to run off from Paul’s house, after Carolyn tells her that she should go “cold turkey” and quit her ‘addiction’ with The Twelve, and then we get the bridge scene on Tower Bridge. It’s notable that Villanelle and Eve have their honest conversation on a bridge, as bridges are symbolic of communication, union and the ending of one cycle to the beginning of another. The conversation that they have on the bridge, which is a continuation of the conversation they were having at the tea dance, is a liminal moment for their relationship - it’s not only the full acceptance of one another and of themselves, but more importantly, their mutual decision that they want the other to be in their life going forward.
After discovering that they each had a hand in killing Dasha, Villanelle says “isn’t that romantic?”, and Eve replies “you know the only people who would think that are?” Villanelle asks “who?” and Eve answers saying “us”. Eve saying this, is not only an outward acceptance of the romantic aspect of their relationship, but more importantly her recognition of the darkness and the abnormality within their relationship - which is everything that she’s been trying to reject and ignore up until now - yet by referring to them as one, with the collective pronoun of “us” (rather than saying something like “the only person who would think that is you”), it’s evident that she also agrees with Villanelle that it’s “romantic”.
Villanelle tells Eve “I don’t want to do it anymore, any of it”; which was repeated in S1E5 when Villanelle similarly tells Eve “I don’t want to do this anymore”, and in S3E6 when she says the same thing to Dasha, that “I don’t want to do this anymore”.
Looking at the passers by on the bridge, Eve continues to tell Villanelle that “I used to be like them” but Villanelle tells her “you were never like them, you only thought you were”. Throughout the whole series we have already seen that Villanelle, as well as others, could see that Eve was different and had this darkness; but this is the first time that Villanelle has told Eve this properly, and that Eve hasn’t tried to contest what she says.
Villanelle goes on to ask Eve “did I ruin your life? Do you think I’m a monster”. In the same way that Eve said “I know” when Villanelle said she’s “killed so many people”; Eve doesn’t reject or judge her, but instead says that everyone has a monster, not just Villanelle, and Eve even accepts the existence of her own monster by saying “I think I wanted it [Villanelle’s monster] to [encourage her own monster]”. This acceptance from Eve is what Villanelle has been searching for this whole time; Eve doesn’t reject her or judge her for being a monster, like everyone else in her life has, but she accepts her for who she is and accepts her own monster - which is what Villanelle’s mother couldn’t do.
Then Villanelle tells Eve that she has a way to “make it stop”, “if that’s really what you want”. She tells Eve to “stand up straight and look at me”, and then she takes a moment to look at Eve, before telling her to turn around and face the other way. Villanelle probably knows - especially from the tea dance earlier where she told Eve to “go” and she turned round to look at Villanelle in her reluctance to leaver her - that Eve will turn around, but she’ll still be aware that there’s a chance that Eve won’t turn round, but will continue walking; so her taking a moment to look at Eve, is her taking the moment to look at Eve so that she’ll be able to remember her, in-case this is the last time she will be able to do so.
The song “Tell Me” by Johnny Jewel feat. Saoirse Ronan, begins to play when Villanelle is getting Eve to make her choice between her or returning to a normal life. The lyrics that can be heard are:
And you’ll never leave me,
The song is mirroring what Villanelle is thinking in this moment. She’s giving Eve the option to choose her own future, but she already knows that Eve is her family and that she wants Eve to be a part of her own future - so she wants Eve to decide for herself to turn around and therefore “tell” her that she’ll “never leave” her and “be [her’s] forever”.
Villanelle then tells Eve to walk away and never look back, to leave her behind and be able to pursue a normal life again. Unlike what happened in Rome, through giving Eve the opportunity to make a decision that is 100% her own choice, Villanelle wants to display to her that she truly loves her: by showing Eve that if it’s the future that she really wants, she’ll put her own wants aside and let her go.
We also see that this scene is mirroring the tea dance scene, where Villanelle was the one who was stood and watching Eve turn back to look at her; but in this scene, Eve is the one who is stood waiting for Villanelle to turn back and look at her. This switch stresses the balance between Villanelle and Eve, as well as how neither of them knew for certain if the other would turn round for them; but even so, they both made the blind decision to choose each other.
Just before Villanelle turns around, Eve has already turned around and is waiting in anticipation of Villanelle’s choice, but Villanelle is taking a moment to prepare herself for potentially seeing Eve walk away from her forever when she does turn. Villanelle was the one who proposed this exercise, only as a way for Eve to be able to decide what she really wants for herself, but Villanelle already knew what she wanted and so knew that she would turn - so we see Villanelle take that moment to prepare herself to lose yet another person in her life, because although she thinks Eve will choose her, she can’t be completely certain.
The imagery in the final shot of Villanelle and Eve looking at each other on the bridge, as well as the promotional pictures (of Villanelle, Carolyn and Eve) which were released for Season 3, also invokes imagery from the Lovers tarot card. The symbolism of the card, is “in its purest form, the Lovers card represents conscious connections and meaningful relationships. While the Lovers card typically refers to a romantic tie, it can also represent a close friendship or family relationship where love, respect and compassion flow”. This makes the chosen imagery very fitting for Villanelle and Eve’s relationship, and what it’s developed into, in this scene. Both of them have come to recognise and accept that they have a deep “connection” with one another which, although they’ve attempted to break free of, clearly cannot be ignored.
You can read my previous Killing Eve posts here:-
First Introduction to Villanelle
First Introduction to Eve
S1, E2 - I’ll Deal With Him Later
S1, E3 - Don’t I Know You?
S1, E5 - I Have a Thing about Bathrooms
S1, E6 - Take Me to the Hole!
S1, E7 - I Don’t Want to Be Free
S2, E1 - Do You Know How to Dispose of a Body?
S2, E3 - The Hungry Caterpillar
S2, E6 - I Hope You Like Missionary!
S3, E1 - Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey
S3, E2 - Management Sucks
S3, E3 - Meetings Have Biscuits
S3, E5 - Are You From Pinner? [Part 1]
S3, E5 - Are You From Pinner? [Part 2]
S3, E7 - Beautiful Monster
S3, E8 - Are You Leading or Am I? [Part 1]
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