#killing cake

Our first look at season 2 has finally arrived!

Some choice excerpts from the article:

Season 2 of Killing Eve — which premieres this spring — delves into the ramifications of that jarring, piercing event. “Eve has done something, which may have changed her forever, that will have repercussions with every relationship in her life,” says executive producer (and new head writer) Emerald Fennell.

Eve is clearly affected by what transpired, as is Vilanelle. “It’s a ripple effect that both of them have experienced,” notes Fennell.

What struck Oh about the story in season 2? “How Eve and Vilanelle’s relationship progresses and deepens,” she says.

New tease at what’s in store for season 2 from Sandra here:

“Emerald Fennell is taking over from Phoebe Waller-Bridge as lead writer on the show, and two women have joined the directing team.

...[Phoebe Waller-Bridge] will remain actively involved as executive producer on the new season, which has started shooting in Europe. Lead writing duty now goes to writer-actor Fennell, who will serve as an executive producer and is best-known for her role in the BBC and PBS series “Call the Midwife.” Waller-Bridge brought Fennell on board, and was also instrumental in attaching two new directors to the series, Lisa Bruhlmann (“Blue My Mind”) and Francesca Gregorini (“Electric Dreams”).”

This is interesting news. I suppose it’s hardly surprising that, given how in-demand she now is, and her prior commitments (e.g. ‘Fleabag’), Phoebe Waller-Bridge felt it necessary to hand over the reins for the lead writer position. I’m pleased to see she has brought on a couple of female directors this season; the lack of women directors on the first season was certainly strange given the show’s overall female-centric bent.

some great understated moments from the finale I haven’t seen much/any mention of:

- Eve and Kenny thinking Carolyn’s hotel room had been trashed but no, Carolyn is just really messy with her personal space (which clearly her son was not aware of so maybe it’s only when she’s travelling)

- Kenny is the one who discovered the existence of Nadia’s note, which was a nice surprise. how will he get hold of it, and what did it say? (more to the point, how is the investigation going to continue, given Carolyn has disbanded their office. Elena surely won’t be happy her idol has left her out of a job)

- Villanelle got played twice in this episode. The first time was pretty innocuous - Irina fooling her into thinking she had the upper-hand with the Mandarin test, and then more life-threateningly with Eve, and, well, we know how that turned out.

- it was legit scary how easily Anna disarmed Villanelle with just a few sympathetic words. Oksana may have been the seducer but it was clear that Anna held quite some sway over her, and given that Oksana can’t have been any older than 18 back when they were together, it’s not all that surprising. I won’t get into the shady ins and outs of their relationship - that’s for another post - but it was certainly a skewed power dynamic, no matter how manipulative and dangerous we know V to be. When she conceded to Anna’s offer of cleaning up her wounds - “it does sting a bit” - she reverted back to that (effectively) orphaned teenager who just needed a bit of extra care and attention. Comer played the scene brilliantly.

- in that same scene: “you look older” - this kind of statement is usually deployed as an insult or rebuke, especially to women; Villanelle totally meant it as a compliment towards Anna. She definitely has a thing for the older ladies

- like me, you may have yelled when Villanelle found the ‘sorry baby’ note from Eve inside the coat. I paused and rewound several times just to get a good look at V’s face and see how she reacted. It didn’t dawn on me until later that this is why, in the previous episode, Eve told Anna the coat should stay at her apartment, and why she asked for pen and paper - her reasoning was so she could give Anna her phone number but of course Anna could have just entered that into her phone. Eve knew there was a possibility Villanelle would eventually return to collect the stash, so she made sure there was something there for her to find. the devil’s in the details

- “I think the best sex we ever had was on that chair” - the chair with the cactus cushion. got it. say no more.

- Villanelle hugging Irina after they mugged the lady with the pram - she sustained that hug just a little longer than was necessary for the con. You see the moment where she catches herself, and quickly releases the child.

- Villanelle laughing at Irina’s passport photo. There’s not a lot to say about this, it was just fucking funny

- the way Villanelle softens her voice and says “oooh, suits you” when Eve points a gun at her in the tea room. Very very flirty, goodness me.

- Eve: “tell me what you want” and looking just a little taken aback when Villanelle says “him” in reference to Konstantin. Part of Eve really did think that Villanelle’s endgame here was to get her. 

- Eve admitting she has no idea how to safely use the gun, and immediately putting it back down

- Villanelle says she likes Konstantin’s daughter. We saw it in the hug.

- the spectacle in the tea room - all the other patrons hidden and gasping at each new development like they were witnessing a spectator sport was hilarious enough, and then Villanelle got one of them to help her retrieve her passport and money, with a little “thank you, Eve” thrown in, because Villanelle is nothing if not a very polite assassin.

- Eve’s total lack of empathy at the ‘news’ of Konstantin’s ‘death’. “There goes that lead” is her response. We knew she didn’t like him but wow that really is cold. (Also none of us believe Konstantin is actually dead, right? The information came from Carolyn, one of the least trust-worthy characters on the show, who still has not justified or explained any of her actions beyond pointedly reminding Eve and Kenny that she is their superior, and then eventually making them jobless)

- Elena’s “please take me with you, I’m dying here!” had me momentarily on edge. After Bill’s “Daddy’s going to die, isn’t he!” I propose a ban on all characters making such morbid jokes that could very easily become literally true.

- “Bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?”   “Ugh, I don’t like to ... but I can”

- Villanelle’s elderly neighbour is an asset! Presumably for the Twelve. Sandra Oh’s facial expressions and tone fluctuations as Eve played along, pretending she worked for the same organisation, were a masterclass in acting.

- “A bit like an ours” - the elderly neighbour using the French word for ‘bear’ and leaving Eve utterly baffled by the animal impression because it sounded like she was saying ‘horse’ in a French accent.

- Eve is now using this lady as an asset but is that likely to be of any use considering Villanelle has done a runner?  Is V likely to return to that apartment again? And how long until the neighbour’s report of what happened reaches her actual employers? In fact, how did this lady get recruited by them in the first place? Who does she think she’s spying on, and what was the justification she was given? Or is she not particularly scrupulous anyway, and uninterested in the reasoning?

- Eve’s chiding of Villanelle like she’s just a thorn in her side, and not a dangerous assassin who killed her best friend. “Don’t be a dick!” “Put that down!”

- Eve’s sexy laugh when Villanelle congratulates her on finding her. Sandra Oh brings so much warmth to this role, gosh darn