Killing Eve Review: The Hungry Caterpillar (Season 2 Episode 3)
The obsession cuts like a knife on Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 3, “The Hungry Caterpillar,” and everyone is concerned about warning Eve Polastri about the dangers of getting entangled with Villanelle.
Week after week, Killing Eve astounds with tight storytelling and character development. This series is one of the few where even if the story only moves a few steps, the audience still feels satisfied, and it continues to deliver that week after week with a mix of stunning performances and expert directing.
Yet, instead of pushing forward into new territory, it does feel like Killing Eve is backpedaling a little bit. At the end of Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 2, “Nice and Neat,” we see Villanelle with a new handler and Eve hot on the trail of The Ghost.
By the end of “The Hungry Caterpillar,” we’ve gone back to what works, Konstantin with Villanelle (although freelance now) and Eve Polastri on the side of MI6 (but for how long?).
What makes “The Hungry Caterpillar” such an interesting story is how it gets inside both Eve and Villanelle’s heads. We really get to see the obsession that Eve is going through and how it wears on the relationships around her. So much so that she’d pull the fire alarm at a function in Niko’s school thinking an apple was left there by Villanelle.
And there is no denying that Villanelle has a magnetism about her. Jodie Comer’s micro-expressions are always fascinating to watch on screen and even the subtle way she moves around Sandra Oh on this episode is fascinating to watch.
If Killing Eve can keep the tension in this pursuit, with these two characters orbiting each other it’s going to be an interesting season. Konstantin’s analogy to The Hungry Caterpillar is also an interesting choice. Especially when you consider that a vampire would have been such an easy one.
Konstantin: Leave her alone. She’s a parasite, Eve. She gets into your brain. She eats you up to make space for yourself. Like that book with the hungry worm and all that food. Pickles. Tomatoes.
Eve: The Hungry Caterpillar?
Konstantin: Yes, that’s her.
It actually feels a little odd at first, using a children’s book to describe Villanelle, because anyone who knows this book knows that the caterpillar is eating to become a butterfly. (Is there a theme of metamorphosis trailing throughout this season?)
I get the feeling we’re going to be coming back to this scene with Konstantin by the season’s end. Especially this line when he advises Eve to leave Villanelle alone:
Konstantin: You still have something worth having. Don’t let her take it.
Some of the most beautiful scenes on “The Hungry Caterpillar” are the ones where we see Eve and Villanelle circle each other’s orbits and get in such close proximity without speaking. There’s a tension that is palpable and builds to the climactic scene at the hotel, which is perfectly measured out to keep the audience wondering about what will happen.
The mix of beautiful direction and acting on the part of Oh and Comer make the scene where MI6 storms the hotel a spine-tingling few minutes of television. The sound mixing with heavy breathing creates an aura of suspense and having it all end with Eve taking a bottle out of the mini-bar and guzzling it feels so fitting for someone who at the top of the episode, said she thought she was losing her mind.
The reunion of Konstantin and Villanelle is a dynamic that the show really missed as well, and having them join forces again feels like something that the show needs to work.
If Eve and Villanelle can’t find their way to each other we need someone with Villanelle who can drive her in a direction that is entertaining rather than fearful.
As much as Raymond was an intriguing character, I worry for Villanelle’s safety with him. While that could be an interesting restriction on her character, it also means that there would be more in the way of scenes where Eve and Villanelle can cross paths.
It certainly wouldn’t allow Villanelle to go out in search of her competition.
Now that everyone seems to be safe, the show can focus on The Ghost, who hasn’t made much more than a blip on the radar.
The Ghost is an intriguing counterpoint to Villanelle, but since we haven’t had a chance to dig into who she is yet it’s hard to get invested. There is potential for a climactic showdown later in this season’s run, and “The Hungry Caterpillar,” feels very much like it’s laying track and setting up for this eventuality.
Stray Thoughts:
- Watching Villanelle make a macaroni necklace complete with glitter for her Kim disguise is a level of commitment I did not expect–and she rocked that necklace.
- I swear everything Villanelle does can be classified as a mood. The sheet mask she wears when she talks to Raymond on the phone is just a prime example.
- Raymond’s method of payment is getting to put down the contracts that The Twelve doesn’t want? That’s one really twisted guy, and I am glad Konstantin got her out of there when he had the chance.
What did you think of this episode of Killing Eve? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Killing Eve airs Sundays at 8/7c on BBC America and AMC.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.