TV Review: ‘Killing Eve’ Season 3 – There will be blood

To quickly catch up on the first two seasons of Killing Eve— Eve (Sandra Oh) stabbed Villanelle (Jodie Comer) at the end of Season One. Oh, for her efforts earned an Emmy nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama Series making history as the first Asian Actress to do so. And she would go on to win a Golden Globe and SAG Award. At the end on Season Two– Villanelle shot Eve and Comer one-upped her costar by winning the Emmy. Comer replaced Oh by earning a Globe and SAG nomination for season two. The big question hanging over season three—who is going to attempt to kill the other? 

BBC America has made five (of eight) episodes of Killing Eve available for this review. Eve picks up a few months after the attempted murder of the titular character. One of the main criticisms I’ve had of the shows past two seasons has been its slow pacing but that’s not the case for season three as there is major carnage driving the story from the first episode. 

Comer is as good if not great as she was in season two—chewing the scenery and wearing fabulous outfits along the way. As Villanelle desires to move into management the audience meets the o.g. Villanelle played by Harriet Walter and to say they have a hate-love relationship is an understatement. If you win an Emmy for Eve it affords you a bottle episode (five) which after the events at the end of four kills the series momentum. Obviously, Villanelle had a horrible mother and this was not a storyline I believe needed a full episode to explore.

Oh, this season, gets to play the victim trying to put her life together after surviving being shot at the end of the second season. Eve’s working in the kitchen in an Asian restaurant and drinking heavily at night meanwhile her husband seeks treatment for PTSD. Of course, events lead her to get back to chasing clues after an early death. Oh masterfully plays Eve’s need to solve the mystery and fear of what could happen next while slowly coming to the realization she’s more like Villanelle than she wants to admit. Maybe one of these episodes she’ll be the one in a fabulous outfit and not unwashed and sleeping on a couch after Villanelle visits her apartment. 

Did you know Fiona Shaw’s on Killing Eve? It seems after her surprise Emmy nomination last year for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series the writers realized what she’s capable of as Shaw (so far), is the season MVP. And she delivers whether it’s holding court while taking a bath or reminiscing about how much fun (wink-wink) she had in the 80s. Shaw even gets the best line of the first episode, “Divorces are easy, its marriage that’s impossibly hard.”Anyone (myself included) that believed her nomination was a fluke is wrong—she could come back and this time possibly snatch the trophy. 

Eve made history for BBC America as its first scripted show to receive a Drama Series Emmy nomination and they could once again make the lineup with their chic cat and mouse thriller. My one complaint is after three seasons we still do not know enough about the mysterious Twelve—what they want, why are they killing people, who are they.  Here’s hoping that season three doesn’t end with Eve or Villanelle trying to kill each other but instead gives viewers what they really want Eve and Villanelle teaming up to bring down the Twelve. 

Season 3 of Killing Eve begins Sunday, April 12, 9/8c on BBC America and AMC.