‘Killing Eve’ Recap: ‘Nice and Neat’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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

I have to admit, that when I settled in to watch last night’s episode of Killing Eve, a grave concern washed over me. For something in the back of my mind had me thinking that the events that transpired in the season two premiere of this series, was a harbinger of things to come and for the first time ever, this story was about to do the impossible; and go to some supremely predictable and normal places storytelling wise. After all, Eve was back on the job, Villanelle was on her way to England and that seemed like quite the setup for a boring and routine cat and mouse story between the spy and the assassin.
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But as it turns out, my fears were unfounded, and it’s obvious now that this was all part of the plan. For ‘Nice and Neat’ ended up being a story that was filled to the brim without incredible surprises and twists that I flat out didn’t see coming, like the fact that Villanelle finally enjoyed a little taste of karma when it comes to her scheming. Because while she did indeed make it to England with little fuss, she was in a new and unfamiliar place without a dime to her name or a place to say and she worked her mojo to pull the wool over a seemingly innocent chap’s eyes, named Julian, who was happy to take her in, only for Villanelle to discover that this man was quite the twisted psychopath. For he did little to help her ailing and infected wounds, and he kept her under lock and key alongside his invalid mother and was happy to yell and intimidate her when necessary and for the first time ever, it seemed that our intrepid assassin was stuck in a no-win scenario.

Yet seeing Villanelle meet a pseudo equal was merely the gateway to the treats and surprises present in this tale. For while our favorite assassin dealt with the twisted Samaritan, Eve was back at work at MI6 and working hard to educate the new task force on female assassins and while she dug into the latest murder, and whether or not her target/obsession survived that impromptu stabbing, she came to uncover something quite stunning in that, Villanelle was not responsible for the most recent murder befuddling her department. No, instead this assassination was the work of someone new, a quiet and cunning killer who wants to blend in and hide at every single turn so her work remains unnoticed. But now it would seem, she’s about to be thrust into the spotlight with Eve on the case and while that twist was also quite satisfying, the ending of this tale is what truly blew my mind. 

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Because Villanelle finally had enough of her new host, and after trying to contact her old employers (to seemingly no avail), she called Eve and then took matters into her own hands by putting down Julian before escaping, or rather…kind of escaping. For Villanelle found herself back in the hands of her former employers after all, much to her chagrin, and with the Twelve back in the possession of their favorite assassin, she was whisked away, mere inches from Eve in fact, to a fate unknown. And mere moments after Eve missed spotting her, she finally demanded more answers from Carolyn, because silence was going to get more people killed and rather than outright answer everything then and there, they made a trip back to Carolyn’s house, wherein we came to discover that Eve’s boss has been keeping quite the important secret in that, Konstantin is alive and well after and he’s staying with Carolyn for the time being.
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So, with all of that in mind, let’s take a moment and unpack some of the more incredible moments from this episode because this one really did leave us with quite a bit to chew on. First and foremost, I have to admit that I was quite taken aback by Villanelle’s storyline in this one simply because, we’ve never seen her this vulnerable or weak and it was really was a sight to behold since there was little she could do with her injury and it was just a fascinating story decision to make someone so strong, so normal and fragile and we also need to take a moment praise Jodie Comer’s performance as well since her ‘damsel in distress’ routine this time around allowed for her to slide between British and Russian accents and personalities seamlessly and that just added to the awkwardness and hilarity and horror of her brief stay at Julian’s home.

But, outside of that, this world is now expanded in new and fascinating ways because a new assassin is a game changer to say the least. Which also means that Eve and MI6 are working against the Twelve once again, and it’s quite stunning to see this secret organization move this quickly after having one of their assassin’s and one of their handlers compromised and really, these brilliant surprises leave me with more questions than answers, which is a good thing. Because now I absolutely need to tune in, in order to learn more about the Twelve’s plans and who this new assassin is, and how Konstantin survived and most important of all, what will become of the injured Villanelle. Which means I’m back to watching the clock and counting down the days so I can continue to enjoy one of the finest television shows out there right now. Until next time. 

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