KILLING EVE (S3E6) “End Of Game”: Everyone Is Off Their Games

One of the main themes that this season of Killing Eve has been exploring is the complicated relationships between family members. First, there’s the mysterious mother-and-son relationship between Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) and Kenny (Sean Delaney). Then there’s also the volatile relationship between Carolyn and her polar opposite daughter Geraldine (Gemma Whelan), that’s getting more fractured each day. Even for a cold assassin like Villanelle (Jodie Comer), family issues seem like a big problem that are not easy to comprehend. Of course, Killing Eve is still a procedural crime at its core, not a family drama. But if ‘End of Game’ is anything, it’s a testament to how familial problems are what essentially plague most of the characters.

Eve’s Back in Action

The episode opens with a big revelation and one that might disappoint a lot of fans. Niko (Owen McDonnell) is alive, and now being taken care of at the hospital with life support. Obviously, he can’t talk, and it also looks like he’s lost control over most parts of his body. While Eve visits him, Niko tells her to “piss off forever” using Speak N’ Spell, which informs both us and Eve that whatever’s left of their marriage has now gone for good. But of course, Eve tries to fix the situation at the end of the day by pouring her heart fully into the investigation, though so far has resulted in nothing.

Eve is smart enough to know that Villanelle can’t be the one who tried to kill Niko, that’s the line she wouldn’t have crossed. And if Villanelle wanted to kill him, then Niko would be dead by now, and not laying in the hospital. The only clues she’s got so far are just a photo of Charles Kruger’s wife who’s killed by Villanelle in episode four, and a piece of information from her Bitter Pill pal Bear (Turlough Convery) about the similarity between Dasha (Harriet Walter) and Villanelle’s killing style, which for Eve is enough to suspect that she’s the one who’s responsible for Niko.

In an attempt to gather more info about Dasha, Eve goes to visit Carolyn while she’s busy injecting water into her succulent collections. Of course, Carolyn knows who Dasha is (at this point it’s safe to assume that Carolyn knows everyone in Killing Eve universe); she’s a former KGB top assassin who was fired from the agency after she killed her fellow agent, and a woman who takes no nonsense from other people. Carolyn also warns Eve that it would be foolish, not to mention dangerous, to go after Dasha, a warning that Eve doesn’t listen.

Eve flies to Barcelona to confront Dasha while she’s having fun at bowling place and wearing her signature tracksuit with her own name on it. Knowing how one throw of bowling ball could crush someone’s skull, there’s always a possibility that things could end up bad for Eve. But the episode smartly avoids that predictable trope, and instead leans heavily on the dynamic between the two to mine most of the tensions. Eve wants to make Dasha understand that she’s not one to mess with, and her failed attempt at killing Niko would be a boomerang for her. Dasha, on the other hand, wants Eve to know that there’s a great chance Villanelle will never see her again.

The scene between Eve and Dasha only lasts for a brief moment, but Krissie Ducker’s sharp writing manages to make the most out of it. And both Walter and Oh’s performances are phenomenal, especially Walter who’s able to inform her character’s fear and insecurity using only small gestures that she peppers throughout the scene. With Eve and Dasha are at each other’s radar now, it would be interesting to see who’ll get the upper hand in the end — though it’s always safer to assume that there’s no way the show would kill Eve, at least not this season. That said, it’s so refreshing to see Eve finally gets back in action and shows how brilliant she is after spending most of the season to be such a mess.

An Inescapable Pain

Eve is not the only person who’s determined to get more info about The Twelve, so is Carolyn. But where Eve gets the job done by being reckless, Carolyn, as usual, is more calculated. Or at least that’s what it seems on the outside. First, Carolyn goes to confront her colleague Paul (Steve Pemberton), after realizing that the report regarding Kenny’s phone call that’s supposed to arrive at her desk last week turns out never came. Without thinking twice, Carolyn asks Paul if he’s the member of The Twelve, which he replies by asking the same thing to her.

Carolyn’s instinct has never been wrong. So, it’s easy to believe her suspicion, especially knowing how Paul’s been behaving pretty strangely too throughout the season. But Carolyn is less worried about Paul than she is about the phone number she’s found at the report, which apparently belongs to Konstantin (Kim Bodnia). The initial question would be; is Konstantin the one who killed Kenny in the first episode? If yes, what’s the logic behind his action? But of course, things are more complicated than that.

Instead of offering us the answer to who killed Kenny, this episode drops another bomb when Carolyn takes Konstantin for a heart-pumping drive in London. While inside the car, Konstantin tells Carolyn that the reason why Kenny called him is to ask him if he’s his father or not, which he answered by telling Kenny “I don’t know.” Carolyn’s not taking it well. She’s paralyzed for a moment, and orders Konstantin to get out of the car. We don’t know what exactly the answer is, but it wouldn’t be too farfetched to guess that Konstantin is indeed Kenny’s father. Shaw, once again, displays an excellent level of vulnerability as Carolyn’s wall keeps crumbling each episode. But it doesn’t take long until she shows how cunning Carolyn might get when she confronts Geraldine about her secret meeting with Konstantin.

Meanwhile in Russia, Villanelle finds out the truth that her promotion is nothing but a lie after Hélène (Camille Cottin) gives her the same task of killing people all over again. But that’s not her only problem. She’s clearly still reeling from the aftermath that happened last week. So in an attempt to forget about everything, including The Twelve and Eve, she goes to Konstantin and tells him that she’s in on his escape plan. Of course, Konstantin opposes her idea initially, assuming that bringing her, The Twelve’s most valuable killing machine, would only put both him and his daughter Irina (Yuli Lagodinsky) in danger.

It’s devastating to see Villanelle keeps getting rejected by nearly everyone in her life. First, her own mother. Then the organization. And now by the person closest she ever had to a father figure. But it’s through these rejections that we know more about who Villanelle really is; a woman who has a tragic life and is struggling to fit in a world that doesn’t always accept her for who she truly is. Everything that Villanelle’s been experiencing this season not only could break her, but also could lead her to do more unpredictable things. But most importantly, it could also lead her to have a tighter bond with Eve, who clearly is facing the same pain and trauma as Villanelle.

Final Thought

Killing Eve has always been its best when it goes deeper beyond the mystery, and this episode gives us exactly that. It examines how the challenges that each of the characters have been facing this season are slowly affecting the way they act and behave as much as it pushes the mystery forward. With only two episodes left, and with everyone off their games, everything could turn into fireworks by the end of this season.

What do you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments!

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