Yahoo News Killing Eve episode 2: Who is Anna?
After a deliciously dark and witty first episode, in which screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge deftly introduced us to ruthless female assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and wannabe assassin-catcher Eve (Sandra Oh), this second instalment starts the work of putting the pair of women onto their inevitable collision course.
So while Villanelle is chasing some poor victim around his Bulgarian office ("Why are you doing this to me?" he whimpers, as she shrugs and replies "I have absolutely no idea" in case we'd forgotten how psychopathic she is), Eve – fired last week from her MI5 desk job – is meeting up with MI6 boss Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) to talk about the possibility that there is a female killer offing influential people around Europe.
"I once saw a rat drink from a can of Coke there, with both hands. Extraordinary," Carolyn comments as they walk down a London side street, giving Shaw the best line (and delivery) of the episode and possibly the entire series.
Their chat leads to Carolyn asking Eve to set up her own unofficial team to investigate all the leads she has been secretly gathering, leads that are now emblazoned on the walls of a poky office ("It's like walking into the inside of my brain," Eve comments with barely concealed wonder). Eve inherits computer whiz Kenny, and also brings in MI5 colleagues Bill (David Haig) and Elena (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) to help her. Yes, the Scooby gang is assembled!
While Eve discovers her new office's rather basic toilet facilities – whoever said being a spy was glamorous? – even chic Villanelle is dealing with the more mundane aspects of her job, agreeing to be 'assessed' before taking her next, eagerly anticipated, assignment ("This one has asthma – you know I like the breathy ones.").
She even tries to do something normal by shagging cute neighbour Sebastian (poor, poor, Sebastian) but Villanelle's twisted side – which is somehow both impressive and stomach-churning at the same time – is definitely back with a vengeance as she commits her next murder.
Comer, quiet and showing little expression, is mesmerizingly creepy as she follows a businesswoman into a hotel toilet and offers her a sample of perfume that turns out to be a deadly concoction – the victim asphyxiating while our hit woman watches on. If you didn't go to public toilets in a group before, you will after watching this.
Related: Killing Eve season 2: Air date, cast and everything you need to know
It could be argued that this episode moves slower than the first, but it does establish a tiny bit of back story for Eve, revealed during her bumbling interview with Carolyn (Oh being awkwardly adorable, Shaw at her icy best), and gives us something that may be a clue as to why Villanelle does what she does without remorse.
Who is the mysterious Anna that she is asked about during her assessment? Someone she cared about in her past, her how-to-be-a-ruthless-killer mentor, or maybe even her first victim?
That's just one of the questions this episode raises, but Killing Eve smartly doesn't yet answer. It's clear Villanelle and her handler Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) work for someone higher up who is ordering the hits, but just who is it that is calling the shots? The same person who taught Villanelle how to make poisonous perfume?
One theory is that Villanelle and Konstantin are working for a very powerful group that has infiltrated international politics, given that some of Villanelle's targets have political links. They're certainly well funded, since not only does Villanelle boast a costume and wig-filled wardrobe that would make the spies of The Americans jealous, she also must have whopping dry-cleaning bills to remove all the blood splatter.
Whoever Villanelle's bosses are, it's clear by the end of the episode that they have someone on the inside, as Konstantin reveals to Villanelle that he knows about Eve and her supposedly clandestine investigation. Could there be a mole inside MI6? Is this why Carolyn set up an off-the-books operation as she suspects someone on her own staff? (We've got our eye on Darren Boyd's Frank, mainly because he's smarmy).
Certainly by the end of the episode, the game has moved up a gear – Villanelle has a name and a face for her pursuer, just as Eve finally realises she may have already met the woman she is searching for.
All we can be sure of in this tense show that sharply subverts thriller conventions is that no one is safe from Villanelle's hit list. So it's probably best not to get too attached to anyone, as you never know who may be next...
Killing Eve continues next Saturday at 9.15pm on BBC One. The entire first season is also available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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