Jumping All Over The World
Killing Eve returns this week for another episode that forwards the plot while injecting a bit of creativity by shifting the narrative perspective between the different characters. While a novel idea on paper, the execution does leave a lot to be desired, with some hard cuts and jarring location jumps. Still, the ending should be enough to whet the appetite, leaving the door wide open for the rest of the season. Episode 4 of Killing Eve begins with Niko settling in at Poland, seeing text messages from Eve who asks if he’s okay. Eve meanwhile, sleeps on the sofa at Kenny’s office and when she awakens, receives a message from Niko asking to talk. For now though, this remains up in the air as Eve settles in to work, receiving a package from Dunn Bakery for her birthday. Inside is a cake shaped as a bus, and she knows instantly that it’s from Villanelle. Up on the roof, Jamie speaks to her and invites Eve to stay at his house rather than the sofa at work. That evening they share take-out and discuss choices, which brings Eve to Poland. Konstantin meanwhile arrives in Moscow and picks up his daughter from school. We then hard cut to France where he speaks to Charles’ wife about the money and discusses the file she’s supposed to send on in the wake of him passing away. Konstantin interjects though and tells her to forward it on to him instead. In Barcelona, Villanelle starts baking a cake for Eve before Dasha arrives and tells her the partners want to meet with her – she’s getting a promotion. As she heads out to go shopping, Konstantin meets with her and hands over an envelope holding details about her family. However, she has to do something for him first. That something sees her head to Lyon and meet with Charles’ wife, where she ends up choking her out and killing the woman. While Carolyn continues to grieve over Kenny, Dasha is met by her superiors who question Villanelle’s behaviour and demands she start working again. The woman goes on to tell her she needs to drive a wedge between Eve and Villanelle. That wedge comes in the form of Dasha forwarding on a picture of Niko, planted in Poland to keep an eye on her. Coercing Eve to come and visit, the woman stabs Niko through the neck with a pitchfork, a ribbon tied on it with the words “still got it”, which is where the episode ends. With the final shocking scenes setting the stage for Eve to go on a blood-soaked vengeance mission to find Villanelle, the second half of the season looks set to explode into action. The time jump between the open and close of the episode is a nice touch, especially the way the different characters are nestled in the middle, but the editing is a little distracting. While Killing Eve has always had some artistic flair, some of the cuts here are incredibly jarring. Seeing Konstantin jump from Moscow to Lyon and then Barcelona in the span of three scenes is one such example, and along with the different character shifts feels very messy. The ending with Niko being killed is certainly shocking and will almost certainly see her go after Villanelle but it is a little questionable over just why she didn’t run up to Niko and try to help him straight away rather than dropping to her knees. Quite what will happen next though remains to be seen but the foundations have certainly been set for a dramatic second half of this season to follow.
