The one thing we absolutely need from Killing Eve season 4

Now that the dust has settled on Killing Eve season 3, it’s time to talk about what we need to see when it returns. And one thing matters above all.

The third season of buzzy BBC America drama Killing Eve was a wild ride. From a solo trip to Russia to a long-awaited kiss between our two leading ladies, Season 3 had a whole lot going on. And that’s before it ended with Eve and Villanelle on opposite ends of Tower Bridge, staring longingly at one another and trying to decide what their futures will look like.

The show was renewed for a fourth season before its third had even started airing, so we all knew in advance that this wasn’t the end of Killing Eve’s story, though we have little idea what that will ultimately look like. New showrunner Laura Neal will take the reins of next season and what happens then is anyone’s guess.

But no matter where the story goes in the wake of season 3, there’s one thing that’s crystal clear: The next season of the show absolutely must bring Eve’s character back into focus.

One of the most uneven elements of season 3 was its treatment of the show’s titular character. Eve Polastri started season 3 isolated and in hiding, recovering from the gunshot wound that nearly killed her (and which Villanelle herself fired). Still missing Villanelle and obsessed with finding the person responsible for Kenny’s murder, Eve’s determined to track down the mysterious shadow group The Twelve. But, over the course of the season, none of that really happens.

Halfway through season 3, Eve mostly abandons the hunt for Kenny’s murderer in favor of chasing after Villanelle and digging through trash bins for evidence of her affection. We never find out how almost dying impacts Eve, why she spends roughly 1.5 episodes trying to get back together with her worthless husband, or why she’s suddenly fine with grinding her foot into a dying woman’s chest.

In short: I miss feeling like I know who Eve is or that the show has a firm grasp of what her character wants.

Don’t get me wrong, the idea that Killing Eve is prepared to in some way commit to whatever is going on between Eve and Villanelle romantically is great. But I need to know how these characters – and Eve, especially – got there.

Maybe we’re supposed to believe that this is part of Eve’s journey somehow, that her sudden midlife recalibration is due to her near-death experience. And, you know what? That’d be fine, had Killing Eve shown us anything about how Eve honestly feels about killing someone, almost running away with Villanelle and then nearly dying when she changed her mind.

But at this point, they haven’t done any of the work to back up that sort of massive character shift, and the show seems to be counting on the fact that the ultimate ending (Villanelle and Eve together) is something the audience wants badly enough that they’ll happily ignore the fact that it’s completely whiffed on actually showing us any of Eve’s emotional journey since the events in Rome.

Season 4 has to re-center Eve in the story, or otherwise, there’s no point.

The beauty of Killing Eve has always been the push and pull between its two leading ladies. Yes, stars Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh have incredible chemistry. But the cat and mouse between Eve and Villanelle only really works if we see both women as equals, and as filling something that’s desperately been lacking in the other’s lives.  But somehow, Villanelle was the only one of the two of them that went on a real journey as a character this season, and Eve feels like the one who was left behind.

What did you think of Killing Eve season 3? What do you want to see in season 4? Tell us in the comments.