Killing Eve season 3 finale review: Isn’t it time to pick a side?

Killing Eve wraps up its third season with an episode that feels like it gives fans what they’ve always wanted — but did it?

So, Eve/Villanelle shippers are probably going to be very happy with the Killing Eve season 3 finale.

In it, both characters admit their feelings for one another – even if neither ever goes so far as to use anything like the “L-word” – and basically seem to accept the fact that even if it’s weird and dark, it’s real. And it makes sense that after three seasons of chasing each other around and trying to kill or arrest one another – this does feel like it ought to be the next step.

But, despite the fantastic as always chemistry between leads Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, the sudden reconciliation and declaration of…whatever is between them, it’s still not clear Killing Eve truly earned this moment, with Eve and Villanelle facing a gulf between then and (ostensibly) admitting they can’t live without one another.

Why? Because the show never bothered to tell us how Eve got there.

Villanelle’s journey in season 3 has been complex, as she’s chased a promotion, found her long-lost family, and wrestled with her own perception of both who she is and who she wants to become.

Eve, unfortunately, has had no such arc. In fact, when reflecting upon season 3, it’s hard to even identify whether she had a story, as such. Sure, she was spiraling after her near-death experience. And she threw herself into the investigation of Kenny’s murder. But…both of those plots sort of petered out on their own – Eve definitely hasn’t seemed to be thinking about poor dead Kenny in these past few episodes, and even her desire to reunite with her husband disappeared pretty much as soon as he got stabbed.

Eve goes so far at one point to tell Villanelle that her face is all she can see now when she imagines her future and just…when did that happen?

The thing is, admitting her feelings for Villanelle should be such a huge moment for Eve. It should rock the very foundations of her life – she briefly references here that she used to want things like a husband and a house, but doesn’t anymore. It’s the sort of thing that certainly deserves more narrative bandwidth than…well, zero, but since she’s barely even been onscreen this season, there’s been no real focus on how she’s changed.

Eve almost died because Villanelle shot her last season. She killed a man with an ax to save her. She legit thought about running away with her. And yet Killing Eve has never truly shown us what that means for her, or even how she felt about any of it. (The answer is…fine, apparently?)

I mean…how did we get from Eve living alone in hiding to slow dancing with Villanelle in public?

Season 3 ends with Eve and Villanelle trying – and failing once more – to leave one another behind. That they both hesitate and turn back toward each other is an interesting and at least more hopeful place to leave the characters than previous cliffhangers. Maybe these two crazy kids can work it out. Maybe they can’t. But, they – and the show itself – can’t keep running away from whatever’s between them anymore.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not still going to be salty about the way the show got them both here.

The rest of the finale is…well, there are some loose ends, but nothing honestly feels all that pressing. Carolyn kicks Geraldine out, which I guess is fine because I’m not sure why that character needed to be part of the show in the first place, much as I like Gemma Whelan.

Konstantin somehow walks away from a massive heart attack roughly four hours later and almost has another before nearly being shot by Carolyn and forced to run for his life. Corrupt MI-6 dude Paul is dead because Carolyn shot him in the face and everyone may have just given up on the entire mission of finding out who The Twelve are and stopping them.

Is season 4 going to be a story of Villanelle and Eve on the run together, trying to make things work? There’s something so appealing about that prospect – is this show capable of really exploring that relationship and show us why it’s most likely doomed to total failure? I don’t know anymore – and that makes me really sad.

What did you think of Killing Eve season 3? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.