Review of Killing Eve: Season Two

By Dave B.

​Killing Eve (BBC America, AMC) is back for its second season. Yay! Picking up immediately after the end of Season One, we find Villanelle (Jody Comer) hiding from assassins after being unexpectedly stabbed by Eve (Sandra Oh) in last season’s finale. Now working for MI6, Eve must deal with the professional and personal ramifications of her obsession with Villanelle, while Villanelle learns to accept her new existence, untethered from the bonds that used to constrain her, as she tries to develop a relationship with Eve. 

​The second season of Killing Eve contains most of the humor and subterfuge of Season One. It’s a thrilling, bloody ride that manages to be entertaining throughout the eight-episode season. The best selling point for the show is Comer’s performance. She was fantastic in the first season and is indescribably better in this one. Comer portrays the psychopathic, yet vulnerable Villanelle to absolute perfection. Even if the show weren’t well-written, funny, exciting, and engaging, Comer’s performance would still make it worth watching. 

​That said, Killing Eve: Season Two’s plot is noticeably inferior to that of Season One. Part of the problem is unavoidable, in that a second season is extremely unlikely to feel as fresh as an initial one. The bigger problem is that this season tends to be predictable. Villanelle behaves to form because she isn’t really capable of doing otherwise, but it’s less defensible that ALL of the characters always behave in predictable ways.  Interpersonal interactions are witty, but ultimately, the plot feels formulaic at times. 

That moderate criticism aside, Killing Eve is still a great show. I no longer consider it one of the best shows on television, but I still highly recommend it. It’s unique and, to be frank, the higher you are on the psychopathy scale, the more likely you are to appreciate the show’s hilariously disturbing subtleties. With two good-to-stellar seasons under its belt, I’m confident that Season Three will be worth the wait. 

Rating: 8/10