Killing Eve season 2 finale: A shocker of an ending asks where we go in season 3

Killing Eve wraps up its second season with a game-changing finale that leaves us all wondering where this story can possibly come next.

This episode could have really been the series finale of Killing Eve

There, I said it.

Those final shocking moments, in which everything reverts to form and Villanelle reminds us all that as much as we may love watching her, she is not a safe person to root for, are perfect.

If we don’t all think this should and/or would end with Villanelle murdering Eve after she realizes they’re maybe not as alike as she thought they were, well. What show are we even watching?

Of course, that’s clearly not going to happen here. It seems obvious that this moment is meant to mirror the ending from the season 1 finale, when Eve tried to kill Villanelle.

(Of course, Villanelle is probably a much better shot than Eve is a stabber, but then again Konstantin is still alive somehow, so who knows.)

At any rate, it seems safe to assume that, when season 3 rolls around next year, Eve will miraculously survive a gunshot wound, and Killing Eve will go back to its initial premise of these two messed up women trying to or arrest one another.

Eve has confronted her darkest self now, and what she saw within herself frightened her. Will that be enough to scare her straight? Maybe. Probably? At least for a while.

Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri – Killing Eve _ Season 2, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Gareth Gatrell/BBCAmerica

In many ways, Eve’s actions in this episode mirror Villanelle’s AA confession back in “I Hope You Like Missionary,” in which she talked about how nothing could satisfy the gaping pit inside her.  Here, Eve gets to do everything she seems to have always wanted. And none of it is the way she imagined it.

She runs point on a major operation. It turns out to be a fake front for a mission no one bothered to tell her about. She murders a man, with little to no consequence. It’s not exciting like she thought it would be. She dramatically bursts into a room to “rescue” Villanelle. It turns out she doesn’t need it. She thinks maybe she can run off to some life on the lam with Villanelle. That doesn’t work out so well, either. Then, finally, she wants her old world – and self, perhaps – back.

We shouldn’t be surprised that that self doesn’t really exist anymore.

In the end, Eve never understood Villanelle at all, or even saw her true self. Her shock over the fact that the assassin had a gun, but refrained from using it, in order to force Eve to kill Raymond to save her life is surprising, if only because it’s so foolish.

Of course that’s what Villanelle would do. She thinks Eve is like her so, naturally, encouraging her to commit her first murder would fully bring her over to the dark side, and give them a chance to be together as equals. At least in her mind.

Instead, it looks as though something might have finally gotten through to Eve.

For much of this season, we’ve seen Eve fall further and further into her fascination with Villanelle. Gone is her anger over Bill’s death, or any of the actual (many) crimes that the assassin has committed. Instead, she seems to view Villanelle as some sort of partner, and the lines between whether that means in a professional or romantic manner become increasingly blurred as the season goes on.

By the time Villanelle’s working as an MI-6 asset, Eve seems to think the two can be something like friends – or perhaps something more depending on whether you think the tension and attraction between these two women is something Eve would be willing to act on.

In some ways, we’ve been as blinded by this season’s story as Eve has.

For the past few episodes, we’ve all wondered why no one seemed to have much of a problem with Villanelle, a known murderer and assassin for hire, working openly for MI-6. Everyone appeared to have forgotten that she killed Eve’s BFF last season, along with at least a half dozen other targets and countless random passersby along the way. And it turns out there was a reason for that.

Jodie Comer as Villanelle – Killing Eve – Season 2, Episode 8 – Photo Credit: Gareth Gatrell/BBCAmerica

At the end of the day, the idea of Villanelle the secret agent was just another persona for her to wear for a little while. Carolyn and the rest of MI-6 expected – technically, wanted – her to be the killer she always was, so they could blame her for taking out a messy and dangerous threat in Aaron Peel.

MI-6 couldn’t kill him officially. But Villanelle could. It’s what she does, after all. And there’s no paper trail to indicate that she was ever involved with Eve, the agency, or the government at all. And we all know Villanelle doesn’t care. She seemed fascinated by the chance to take out another serious psychopath, and the idea of working for MI-6 was only ever a method to get – and remain – close to Eve.

Villanelle is still a monster, after all. But she always has been. The trick of this season is that Eve – or we, the viewers – ever thought that could be any different.

Much like Eve herself, we’ve all been largely charmed by Villanelle. Her sassy one-liners. Her iconic outfits. Her utter disregard for norms and rules. She’s so much fun to watch that it’s easy to just disregard that fact that she’s, well, cruel. And just because we see her display something that looks like vulnerability every so often, that doesn’t change.

Part of the arc of season 2 is about reminding both Eve and us, as viewers, that no matter how much we enjoy Villanelle, she’s not a hero. She’s not safe, or tame, and she’s certainly not the kind of woman you should throw your entire life and career over for, as Eve has done.

Does Villanelle love Eve? Probably. Or, at least, as much as she can love anyone, she does. But part of that affection is so clearly based on the fact that Eve finds her both intriguing and weirdly aspirational. (In the sense that Villanelle is a woman who doesn’t respect any rules, chases thrills and lives her life on her own terms.) So in some way, it’s based on as false a pretense as Eve’s fascination with her.

They’re both chasing after women that don’t exist.

Forced to confront that truth – that Eve might not choose her and the consequence life free of expectations she offers – Villanelle shoots her and leaves her for dead in a Roman ruin.

Is this the moment the spell breaks for all of us? And where does the show go in season 3?

Killing Eve will return for a third season in 2020.