KILLING EVE (S3E3) “Meetings Have Biscuits”: A Kiss To Remember

The biggest appeal of Killing Eve has always been its unexpected dark humor. Take Carolyn’s (Fiona Shaw) comment about seeing a rat drink from a can in season one for instance. As Eve (Sandra Oh) and Carolyn are having a serious conversation about The Twelve, Carolyn out of the blue says to Eve, “I once saw a rat drink from a can of Coke there. Both hands. Extraordinary.” What’s funny about this moment isn’t just the writing or Shaw’s on-point delivery, but rather how it’s absurdly placed in the middle of an urgent conversation. And it’s not the only time that this kind of silly comment takes place in a serious or even dark moment during the show. In fact, throughout the first two seasons, it happens a lot.

Yes, Killing Eve used to be so much fun and unafraid to get messy or silly. But the first two episodes of season three have been struggling to capture that sass as it keeps trying to take itself too seriously. Thankfully, the third episode this week gives us a little hope that maybe there’s still some part of the show that can have a lot of fun despite its dark and bloody premise.

The Reunion We’ve Been Waiting For

‘Meetings Have Biscuits’ opens with Villanelle (Jodie Comer) in Andalusia, Spain, doing her daily routine of killing whoever it is that The Twelve assigns her to kill. In her beautiful dress, Villanelle is pretending to check an old piano using a tuning fork. But before long, this tuning fork is used by her to murder an unnamed woman who has no idea what’s about to happen. Villanelle throws the tuning fork right at the back of the woman’s head, and in a matter of seconds, blood is running down everywhere. As Villanelle’s making sure that her target has indeed dead, she’s startled by the sound of a crying baby, leading her to kill the nanny using the same tuning fork, and take the baby with her to meet Dasha (Harriet Walter).

Dasha who dislikes any of the mess Villanelle’s been making lately, tells her that she needs to get it together before she suddenly throws the baby away in a trash can. Don’t worry, the baby’s fine and still in one piece. What’s not fine is Villanelle. Her next assignment takes place in London, a place where Eve lives. Though she’s reluctant to take the job at first, telling Dasha that she’s not ready, she eventually says yes. “I can handle this,” Villanelle responds nervously. At this point, the show hasn’t revealed whether Dasha knows about Eve or not, or if sending Villanelle to London is just a loyalty test or indeed a real job. But that doesn’t matter, because the most important part of the episode, and even of the season so far, happens after Villanelle arrives in London.

It’s obvious that Villanelle’s main priority in London is not the job, but rather to be reunited with Eve. And she really prepares herself before meeting her for the first time again since Rome. She goes to a perfume shop, telling the perfumier that she wants to smell powerful. “I want to smell like a Roman centurion who is coming across an old foe, who in battle once hurt him greatly,” Villanelle declares. She also goes to a toyshop where she gets a custom talking teddy bear for Eve. Comer’s performance as Villanelle is having a little adventure in London is a pure delight. Her facial expression really shows the duality that Villanelle is feeling inside, with one part shows her missing the object of her desire greatly, and the other is wanting to look as tough as possible to send a message that she’s okay after the “break-up”.

Meanwhile, Eve who is still mourning Kenny’s (Sean Delaney) death, is feeling even more devastated after she learns that her husband Nico (Owen McDonnell) has moved to Poland without telling her. As Eve’s on a bus to go to Bitter Pill, Villanelle appears in front of her, sending her to a state of disbelief, fear, and anger. Without thinking long, Eve strikes Villanelle with a bare hand, punching and slapping her nonstop. Of course, Villanelle gets the upper hand. She’s after all the trained assassin in this scenario. But she doesn’t come here to kill Eve. She just wants to show her that she’s been doing great even after getting rejected by her in Rome.

Villanelle hovers over Eve, and tells her to smell the perfume she just bought so that Eve would know how powerful Villanelle is. But instead of smelling her, Eve leans his head forward to kiss Villanelle’s mouth, marking their first kiss ever in the show. The kiss, however, only happens for a brief moment before Eve gets violent and buttheads Villanelle. But it doesn’t matter because the kiss itself is enough to inform us that like Villanelle, Eve is still pretty much drawn to the woman who shot her to death in Rome. How the show handles Eve and Villanelle’s relationship is still up in the air, but for now, let’s just cherish this long-awaited reunion.

Carolyn And Her Amazing Personality

While what happens to Eve this episode will for sure be integral to both her arc and the story going forward, the biggest highlight of the episode, however, lies on Carolyn as she’s trying to be one step closer in investigating Kenny’s death. Ever since the first season, Carolyn has always been a passive player in the investigation of The Twelve. She stays at her office or home while the rest of her team doing the active work. But throughout this episode, we finally see her in action. She negotiates with an old acquaintance for a clue, goes on a stakeout with her protege Mo (Raj Bajaj), and even puts herself in danger in the most thrilling scene of the season so far.

It could be the grief that powers her to do more active work, or as far as I’m concerned, it’s simply because she doesn’t have enough resources for the investigation, that’s why she has to do it herself. But whatever it is, this new side of Carolyn is really refreshing. And Fiona Shaw, still with her quirk, deadpan performance, keeps proving herself as the secret weapon of the show. The only problem with this investigation is that there are a lot of lengthy expositions that make the mystery itself confusing instead of intriguing. Some old names that we’ve forgotten and some new names that we haven’t heard of are sprinkled throughout the episode. And there’s also a labyrinth of financial crimes involving Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) and possibly The Twelve too that complicates the story even more.

There’s simply a lot of grounds that the show tries to cover. If what season three wants to achieve in the first place is a more complex mystery, it’d be much better if more clues and clarities are put into context. Because honestly, if this season of Killing Eve keeps trying to be cryptic, it will just end up like a repetition of the first two previous seasons.

Final Thought

‘Meetings Have Biscuits’, in the end, is far from flawless. The mystery revolving around The Twelve and whether it has any connections to Kenny’s death or not, remains unclear. And besides Eve and Villanelle’s reunion, there’s still not much progress that happens this episode. But unlike the first two episodes of the season, at least episode three is able to recapture the fun and thrills that make the show so delightful in the first place. Let’s hope that the rest of the season can keep this momentum going.

What do you think Eve will do next? Let us know in the comments! 

All three episodes of Killing Eve season three are available to stream on AMC and BBC iPlayer.