It’s time to talk about Anna on Killing Eve

The most mysterious character on Killing Eve right now likely holds the key to how this season will shake out.

We first heard about the mysterious character named Anna back in Killing Eve’s second episode. The reference is pretty vague – a throwaway line in regard to a drawing that assassin Villanelle did – and doesn’t explain who Anna is or how the two women connect to one another. The physical similarities between the drawing and Eve were immediately apparent. But other than that we really didn’t know whether Anna was an adult or a child, or even dead or alive.

Over the course of the season, we learned more — like that Anna was the wife of the first person Villanelle killed. (And that she subsequently mutilated said husband’s body.) Nadia, an ex, described Anna as the reason that Villanelle is the way she is. And we’ve seen Villanelle react interestingly to other strangers with similar hairstyles. For this character, somehow everything goes back to Anna.

In Season 1’s penultimate episode, “I Don’t Want to Be Free,” we finally meet Anna herself. And things aren’t entirely what we expected.

Sure, this woman has big hair. But that’s about where all of our correct guesses about her probably end.

Because Anna is definitely lying about something. We just don’t know what yet. Because for all that she acts the part of the bereaved widow, she also seems pretty darn interested to know that Villanelle is still alive. (And might be nearby.) She still – YEARS later – has a suitcase full of letters from her former student. Think about it: Who keeps hundreds of letters from their stalker? What kind of person holds on to photos with the murderer of their spouse? On purpose?

Eve also discovers a passport and some cash stashed in the lining of a coat Villanelle ostensibly sent Anna. Killing Eve doesn’t indicate either way whether Anna knows about the presence of these hidden items. (Although it would be kind of weird if she did, given that she pointed the coat out to Eve in the first place.) But this stuff is a pretty strong signal that Villanelle at least considers Anna’s home a safe space of some sort. And that she planned to return to it one day.

Killing Eve also goes out of its way not to confirm whatever happened between these two women way back then. Anna stridently insists she and Villanelle didn’t have a sexual relationship when Eve asks. But there are other ways to love someone than physically, and there are many relationships that go behind things like sex. Clearly, whatever passed – or still exists – between Villanelle and Anna is one of those things. It certainly seems safe to say that they weren’t merely teacher and student to one another.

Will the two women run into one another in the season finale? It seems like a distinct possibility, and one which would provide a great deal of clarity about both Villanelle herself and her obsession with Eve.

Next: Killing Eve episode 7 review: I Don’t Want to Be Free

Killing Eve Season 1 concludes Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on BBC America.