"Killing Eve," Year One

Minor spoilers ahead.

There has been so much media constructed around serial killers and assassins over the years, it's difficult to be surprised by them anymore.  However, "Killing Eve," a BBC America series created by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is definitely something new. Frankly, I'm not sure how to classify the show, because it does so many things at once, some of them contradictory.  Let's just say that this is a very adult, very idiosyncratic serial killer dramedy, with a lots of violence, lots of talk about sexuality, and a really sick sense of humor. And yet, weirdly, there's also a lot of heart.

The Eve of the title is Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), a member of the British intelligence who is on the trail of a splashy young contract killer codenamed Villanelle (Jodie Comer).  Villanelle is an unpredictable psychopath, but very good at her job, taking her assignments from a Russian handler named Konstantin (Kim Bodnia). Eve has a bureaucratic role at MI5, supporting her boss Bill (David Haig), but wants to see more action and has an obsession with female serial killers.  She is also very good at her job, which puts Eve and Villanelle on a bloody, nerve-wracking collision course.

The show's first outing is short and sweet. Eight episodes, full of violence and mayhem, chart the relationship that develops between Eve and Villanelle, as it moves from mutual fascination to something more complicated.  Beautiful Villanelle is casually cruel and clearly a monster, but there's a wacky sweetness to her deplorable behavior that makes her sympathetic. She's lonely and wants to connect to people, but has a tendency to show her affections in the most horrifying ways possible.  Her extravagant lifestyle and disdain for typical social conventions are also frequently hilarious. Comer's performance is mesmerizing, and key to the show's peculiar atmosphere and chemistry.

And on the other hand you have Eve, a very unusual lead character on television who is East Asian, female, and well over forty.  Sandra Oh portrays her as a little spazzy and well-settled into a domestic rut. She loves her husband Niko (Owen McDonnell), but there's a growing sense of dissatisfaction with both her personal and professional life.  She's drawn to Villanelle, it's suggested, because she represents what Eve finds lacking in her own world. Oh gives Eve just the right amounts of loveable prickliness, sharp-minded professional competence, and self-destructive impulses while remaining totally relatable.      

The supporting cast is also fantastic all around.  I love Fiona Shaw here, as a more senior MI5 agent with an epically unflappable demeanor.  Bill Hargrave gets some of the best lines as the constantly put-upon and exasperated Bill. Kim Bodnia plays a common type of ne'er-do-well, but one with a lot of different facets and a lot of interesting ambiguities.   I'm still not sure whose side he's actually on from moment to moment. Even the actors in some of the very minor roles are great, particularly Villanelle's various victims, and it's often a surprise who survives a scene with her and who doesn't.

However, it's the writing that sets "Killing Eve" apart from the rest.  I sat through every episode completely in the dark about where the plot was going, because it refuses to follow any of the usual rules.  Eve and Villanelle are both likeable protagonists, and they clearly have a connection on some level. But should I be rooting for one over the other?  Should Villanelle be reformed? Should Eve break bad? Do they belong together romantically or are they more fun as enemies? Similar shows like "Luther" and "Hannibal" explored these themes, but not to this extent this quickly.

    

The ratings success of "Killing Eve" means we'll get to see the story play out fully, and I can't wait.  There are a lot of places that the characters could go, and I hope the globetrotting continues. We've explored Villanelle's past already, so why not Eve's next time?  Yet, I'm wary of too much coming too fast. There's a delicate balancing act between the two sides of the show that needs to be maintained, and the unusual quasi-comedic, occasionally horrifying tone would be easy to upset.  I'm hopeful that the creators will tread carefully and keep the show on track.

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