‘Killing Eve’ Recap: ‘Wide Awake’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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

I will be the first to admit, that I’ve offered up a lot of praise when it comes to Killing Eve and there really is good reason to shower this television series with all kinds of kudos. Because it truly is breathtaking how dynamic and unpredictable this series can be on a moment’s notice and as we close in on the season two finale, I’m truly beginning to notice how the plot lines are becoming more complex and nuanced as the episodes roll on and ‘Wide Awake’ is no exception to that rule. For not only did this particular tale answer some pressing questions in regard to what exactly Mister Peel is selling on the black market, the story also took the time to offer up some supremely relatable moments, courtesy of Eve and Villanelle’s journeys.
​
After all, we’ve seen both of these characters try and figure out what exactly they want out of life all season long, and one thing that is becoming a constant with both of them is that they go back and forth often when it comes to that and one another and that is…painfully relatable. Because we too suffer from this problem, and we constantly change our minds based upon what we feel in the moment or when something new presents itself to us and as Eve and Villanelle prepped for a big mission involving Peel, Eve definitely continued to experience this conundrum. Because despite the fact that Eve has tried to distance herself from her obsession, she keeps circling back and the potential of seeing harm come to Villanelle during this mission brought out the deep rooted feelings she has for the wily assassin, to the point where she sought a professional’s opinion on whether or not Villanelle would be able to handle a mission of this caliber and it was just fascinating to see Eve drift back to her once again, and see how emboldened she’s become in regard to enjoying a thrill in life since she also hooked up with Hugo.

As for Villanelle, well her journey was all about finding balance in this tale, and that’s surprisingly not a good thing. Because we saw her struggle last week with the whole notion of working on the right side of the law, since she’s not real big on taking orders, nor is she keen on being verbally abused by snotty billionaires. But rather than just go on a random revenge spree, she found a way to focus her anger by directing it toward those who have done her darling Eve wrong, which means she finally took the time to confront Gemma and Niko about their affair, and terrify the latter of those two to finally get it out in the open that this affair is nothing more than a genuine fling with no future, and the glimmer in her eye, before she offed Gemma, made it inherently clear how satisfying this act was for her, and it really did allow for her focus on the task at hand. And well, the relatability factor here, stems from the fact that sometimes we do unhealthy things to cope with equally tough situations, and while it may not be murder, we’ve all got our vices.

However, while the character study portion of this episode was fascinating in its in own right, there was still some spying to be done in this tale, and this segment of the story was downright fascinating and downright tense. For Villanelle’s time with Aaron revealed how much he loves to use his money to exert power and control over others, and that the man is obsessed with knowing everything he can about other people’s lives since he watched Villanelle intently upon their arrival in Rome. But the other wrinkle to that particular quirk is that he’s happy to profit off of his obsession since we learned, he’s working to sell information to the highest bidder. Which at first glance, seems a tad underwhelming reveal wise, but the fact that his software allows for anyone, anywhere to access the deepest darkest secrets of whomever they search for is terrifying since it would seem his software has catalogued every text message and email out there and that kind of knowledge could be damaging indeed since the right kind of reveal from the wrong hands could in fact topple a government and it really was terrifying to learn this and it was equally as harrowing to watch Villanelle operate under his watch, since Aaron seemed supremely close to exposing her as a MI6 agent on several occasions.

Either way, this episode was just an utter treat when all is said and done. Because we got more of the character development that makes this show so dynamic and powerful and I love that it keeps finding ways to bring us closer to the characters as well, and all of that mixed in nicely with a dangerous storyline that might result in bad news for both Villanelle and Eve once the mission is over. Because I find myself haunted by Kenny’s attempt to warn Eve in this tale, since it seems he knows something is going to happen once they wrap this up, the question is what, exactly, since Carolyn plays everything so close to the chest and really, that warning and the tension present here serves as a wonderful setup to next week’s season two finale, and I’m betting that said finale is going to be nothing short of spectacular since I get the feeling that everything that’s been lurking in the shadows story wise this year, is about to step into the light. Until next time. 

---