The pilot for Killing Eve — BBC America’s hit show about the intersecting lives of a ruthless assassin and the government agent tasked with bringing her to justice — opens on a brunette woman, who we’ll soon be introduced to as Villanelle (Jodie Comer), sitting alone at an ice cream shop in Vienna. As she fiddles through a bowl of mint chocolate chip, she makes eye contact with a young girl sitting across from her and initiates a staring contest. At first, it all seems innocent. Villanelle gives the girl a sly smile and the girl smiles back. But when Villanelle gets up to leave the shop, she stops by the girl’s table and, without saying a word, topples her cup of ice cream all over her shirt. As the girl and her mother scream in protest, Villanelle just walks out the door with a smirk, completely unaffected.
As the series’ very first cold open, this scene is a delightful introduction to one of its two lead characters. As we’ll gradually learn, Villanelle, the aforementioned ruthless assassin, takes immense pleasure in life’s little moments of cruelty. Not only is she a highly-skilled contract killer, but she actually enjoys the act of murder. Unlike similar characters on different shows (the titular character in TV’s other big contract killer series, HBO’s Barry, for one), who often take an emotionless approach to their dishonorable job, Villanelle clearly relishes every moment.
Plus, she does it all in style. A regular at the top maisons in Paris with a very well-defined shopping addiction, Villanelle bounces around her international destinations cloaked in the hottest designer fashions. And she isn’t doing it for the attention, either. In one of my favorite scenes of this second season, a street style blogger sees Villanelle dressed in a beautiful oversized pink top and flowy fuschia skirt and asks if she can take a picture for her Instagram. “No. No, of course not. Don’t be pathetic,” Villanelle responds coldly. As the girl disappointedly walks away, Villanelle screams after her, “Get a real life!” Moments like this reveal how few fucks she really gives. She’s pure evil, but watching her be evil is one of the best reasons to watch Killing Eve, which I named my second favorite show of 2018.
But the most fascinating part of Villanelle is not the delight she takes in killing or her impeccable closet of couture. Rather, it’s her one exhibited weakness — love for other women. While most of her actions suggest that she is a completely conscienceless sociopath, her love for the titular Eve (Sandra Oh) points to another story. Even when she knew that it was Eve’s job to bring her to justice in the first season, Villanelle couldn’t help but keep the M16 agent around. There have been plenty of opportunities for Villanelle to take Eve out, but she’s always seemed more interested in surprising Eve with expensive gifts — even if they are sometimes hazardous.
Still, the show doesn’t try to turn Villanelle into a particularly sympathetic character. She slaughters people for a living, after all. As her handler, Konstantin, tries to warn Eve when the two cross paths this season, nothing good has come to the people that Villanelle loves most. Being the object of Villanelle’s affections is the definition of playing with fire; when dealing with the potentially volatile emotions of a sociopathic killer, love can, quite literally, kill.
But the fact that love is the only thing that can tame Villanelle’s more base instincts is significant. That it’s a sapphic love is even more so, especially since Villanelle isn’t at all ashamed about her same-sex attraction. As many fans of the show have already pointed out, the sexually-charged cat-and-mouse game that exists between Villanelle and Eve is one of Killing Eve’s most beloved throughlines.
