Killing Eve: The game is officially on

Killing Eve levels up thanks to a shocking twist that will inevitably impact Eve’s hunt for Villanelle for the rest of the season.

BBC America series Killing Eve took things to the next level in its third episode, graduating from a creepy, occasionally uncomfortable spy series to one that punches you right in the throat.

In “Don’t I Know You,” the series slowly brought its two lead characters — MI-6 agent Eve and assassin Villanelle — closer to one another. So close, in fact, that the two shared sidewalk space and one of them (Villanelle, natch) surreptitiously went through the suitcase of the other.

Things are getting pretty weird between these two and they haven’t even met yet. (Or, at least, not officially.) And that’s not even counting the bit where Villanelle commits crimes while using Eve’s name. Or calls her new lover “Eve” and makes her dress up in the real Eve’s stolen clothes.

Admittedly, all of that is very strange. But for all that we know Villanelle’s a violent killer, we also kind of like her. It’s not clear that viewers really saw what kind of immediate threat she could pose to Eve until this week. Her previous murders, after all, were shocking, but not especially intimate. Bill’s death is different.

Not only did we see Villanelle truly unleashed, we lost a main cast member. Perhaps Killing Eve deserves props for expertly making us all think that Bill was a primary part of this story. As he reminisced about his more sexually fluid younger days in Germany, Bill seemed like a character with more story to tell.  Until he wasn’t.

Yes, you can argue he made stupid decisions. For example, following Villanelle with no back-up seems colossally dumb, in hindsight. But he also seemed like the one person Eve was generally honest with. (It’s certainly not her husband.) Furthermore, Bill served an important role: Calling Eve out on her crap.

Eve is clearly all-too-willing to both make assumptions about and wax rhapsodic over the skills of their mystery killer. Bill provided a much-needed balance in this regard. He also helped us remember — because at various points we can all feel a little obsessed with Villanelle ourselves — that Eve’s fixation on this woman is something that’s very out of the ordinary. Who will fulfill that role in Eve’s life now? Will anyone? And what will she become on her own?

Bill’s death will obviously have a huge impact on Eve’s life, as well as on her investigation into the mystery female assassin. What was a fascination for her is now also deeply personal. Therefore, it’s hard to know where this particularly mix of emotions will lead. Will Eve go off the rails seeking vengeance for her friend and mentor? Will she double down on her investigation and attempt to bring Eve to justice? Thanks to “Don’t I Know Him” it feels as though the show, and her character, could pretty much go in any direction.

Next: Killing Eve episode 3 review: Don’t I Know You

Killing Eve airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on BBC America.