'Killing Eve' Recap: 'I Have a Thing About Bathrooms'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

It’s rare for a television show to infect my mind to the point where I’m consistently thinking about what comes next, well before the next episode airs, but that’s precisely what happened when it comes to Killing Eve. Because last week’s intense tale and epic cliffhanger had my mind racing, meaning that I was damn near pacing in front of my T.V. set right before this week’s episode kicked off, simply because I had feeling in my gut that the cliffhanger in question, wherein Eve and her friends were staring down the barrel of Villanelle’s pistol, was going to be resolved in epic fashion and while ‘I Have a Thing About Bathrooms’ did deliver when it comes to said resolution, it had so many more incredible moments to offer.
 
Case in point, how the escape in question was resolved. Because this tale had the opportunity to simply end this mess with a quick chase where the group escaped by the skin of their teeth. But rather than give us something by the numbers, the show surprised us all by having Eve stop the car and step out of it to talk to Villanelle face to face and attempt to get her to stand down and this made for one intense moment since who knew what our favorite assassin was going to do with her nemesis standing in front of her. In fact, I’d venture to say the move confused her thoroughly, which may have helped influence her decision to sneak off into the shadows, meaning that Eve’s mission to save Frank was a success, and now…we could finally learn more about Villanelle’s employers.
 
This is where the trademark black humor of the series shined, since I did not have a clue that a cuddle session would end up being the key to getting Frank to talk and I’m glad there were some chuckles to be had early on, because things went from giggly to deadly serious in a matter of minutes when Frank finally provided us with all kinds of incredible answers about the mysterious group behind all of these assassinations. They’re called ‘The Twelve’ and this group of individuals are apparently looking to destabilize the world by slowly gutting as many governments as possible of key officials and well…let’s be honest that’s downright chilling and as Eve dug deeper on all of this, she also uncovered Villanelle’s true identity.
 
It turns out her real name is Oksana Astankova, and the Twelve faked her death to get her to work for them and well, while it seemed as though all of these revelations were taking us somewhere important and fast, this was nothing more than the show giving us just enough because something far more fascinating was waiting in the wings for us; the most unique face-off between spy and villain that I have ever seen in the history of this genre. Because normally when those two characters meet, it’s in epic fashion, nearly at the end of their journey and it’s filled with monologuing and posturing before a violent and satisfying end. But instead of getting that, we got to enjoy dinner between Eve and Villanelle/Oksana shortly after the latter broke into Eve’s home. 

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​Yes, that’s right. Dinner. Where Sheppard’s Pie was served, and what should have been a dangerous and violent sequence ended up being a brilliantly wicked cat and mouse game as both of these women sized one another up and what really impressed me about this scene, is that any posturing or scheming here was in essence a waste for both of them, because these women see one another for who they are, and that made this whole sequence riveting and powerful and tense and sadly, it ended with Villanelle getting the upper hand so that she could complete her mission and put down Frank in brutal fashion and just like that, it seems as though British Intelligence is right back where it started, with more questions than answers.
 
So, when all is said and done, I absolutely loved this episode. I didn’t think it was possible for this series to continue to top itself week after week, but this is another fine example of how it accomplishes that and really, what I’m really digging about the series right now, is the shift in Killing Eve’s storytelling style. I say that, simply because the first wave of episodes were incredible character studies, filled with depth and slower moments and now all of a sudden, this series has kicked into overdrive and well, it’s brilliant. Because by giving us so much down time with these colorful characters, we are fully invested in them, and that made the danger in this episode palpable, and the tense moments thrilling, and it adds more depth to an already fascinating storyline because we truly want to see Eve succeed now that the bad guys have tried to back her into a corner.
 
If anything, raising the stakes in this tale helps us to root for her because if she doesn’t stop Villanelle and the Twelve, real trouble will sneak its way into the everyday world and honestly, she’s likely the only one who can defeat such a nefarious organization. Because if Eve can stand toe to toe with a cold-blooded killer and still soldier on, taking on a group of twelve monsters should be a breeze. But, while it was great to learn so much in this episode, it still leaves us with some burning questions, mainly…is it possible for Eve to bring Villanelle back from the darkness?
 
Because it does seem that she’s a touch curious as to who she works for, now that she listened to Frank’s interrogation tape. Either way, my mind is still reeling over how brilliant this episode turned out to be. They really had the opportunity to delve into some traditional tropes for this genre but found a way to give us something new every single step of the way and if this episode was this good, well I cannot wait to see what the next chapter in this powerful tale is going to send our way. Until next time. 

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