A classic cat and mouse drama on the small screen
With the multitude of streaming services available these days, it’s a wonder any of us still have cable. I for one still pay an ungodly amount of money to EPB monthly (although it’s pennies compared to the bill we used to receive from another company) for my husband to get his fill of sports, but also because of the access I’m granted to stream from network websites through my cable provider.
A&E, TLC, AMC, MTV and more offer the ability to stream full episodes of shows and movies you may have missed or didn’t have room for on your DVR. Add another site to the list because a coworker recently turned me onto BBC America, a channel I’ve always breezed by while searching the guide. British accents abound, I’ve found a new love with an old favorite in the starring role that stole my heart and then massacred it in the most gratifyingly gripping way possible.
Based on the novel “Codename Villanelle” by Luke Jennings, Killing Eve follows MI5 officer Eve Polastri, portrayed by Grey’s Anatomy alum Sandra Oh, as she attempts to track down an assassin played by Jodie Comer. A true game of cat and mouse, Eve becomes increasingly obsessed with catching the ever-elusive Villanelle just as Villanelle develops a chilling obsession of her own with Eve.
Within the first three minutes of the pilot episode, Comer’s performance enthralls you as she sits in a Vienna ice cream shop post-kill having a sweet afternoon treat. Across the room from her is a little girl she greets with a closed-lipped smile that is not reciprocated. After watching the ice cream shop attendant smile a toothy grin at the little girl, Villanelle does the same, finally gaining a smile from the little girl.
A quick glance down at her watch shows a speck of fresh blood that Villanelle casually wipes away before tipping the ice cream attendant and knocking the little girl’s ice cream off the table into her lap as she exits into the title card with a true smile on her face.
It’s moments like these that we step briefly into Villanelle’s psychotic mind, but as the show develops we see her character is much more complex than we could have imagined.
Each lead’s performance is breathtaking, with Sandra Oh’s portrayal of Eve gaining her a Primetime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, the first Asian woman to do so. Although she gained multiple nominations for her supporting role in Grey’s Anatomy, she kicks ass as Eve Polastri, something that wasn’t all that unnatural after her time portraying cardiothoracic surgeon Christina Yang.
A drama by most standards, Sandra Oh’s dry wit and biting sarcasm give the show a breath of levity not found in most crime-centered dramas. Within the first few minutes of Oh being on screen she is briefed on the murder of a powerful man in Vienna and whispers to her co-worker, “Twenty quid it was a woman.” Taking bets on the killer’s gender is our first clue into not only how perceptive Eve is, but also just how much wit she is going to supply to the story.
The first season is a mere eight episodes, not nearly enough for my suddenly spy-obsessed state of mind. And the plot leads us all around Europe, from Vienna to Tuscany, Bulgaria to Russia and often centering around Villanelle’s Parisian flat where her armoire drawers hold boxes of tampons next to boxes of bullets.
To me, the show is unlike any other simply because I’m rooting for both the heroine and the villain(elle). The more you get to know Eve, the more enthralled you become with her search for Villanelle and you’re desperate for her to catch the mouse.
And the more you get to know Villanelle with her sharp mind and excruciatingly skilled ways to bleed out a man in the streets of Vienna, the more you want the chase to continue.
As much as you want Eve to successfully capture her, it’s too much fun watching Villanelle outwit her pursuers and slaughter people across Europe.
Killing Eve is a gripping watch and a hilarious time that makes me wonder if I could get away with murder. I’m probably on a watch list now, but maybe Villanelle’s trickery and elusiveness will have taught me a few things should I need them in the future.
At least I can revel in the fact that my cable subscription is going to good use, even if it is making me feel a bit murderous.