Killing Eve Review: Smell Ya Later (Season 2 Episode 5)
On Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 5, “Smell Ya Later,” Eve has a brilliant idea: put a hit on herself to get Villanelle’s help. The crazy thing is that it works.
I had really expected “Smell Ya Later” to pick up right where we left off, with Eve going into her interrogation of The Ghost. It was odd to see this jump, but what we do get is so interesting that I don’t feel like the audience misses out on everything.
After all, “Smell Ya Later” does deliver on a big promise of the season: Eve and Villanelle’s reunion.
Since the dinner scene in Killing Eve Season 1 it’s always a good idea to put Villanelle and Eve in the same room. Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh play off each other so brilliantly and their chemistry is so magnetic that even the scenes where they sit in silence are captivating.
The energy leading up to Villanelle arriving at Eve’s door is palpable. On Eve’s side, the fact that she has to wear a bulletproof vest and the discomfort she feels wearing it is relatable. On Villanelle’s it’s like she’s preparing for a ritual.
She dresses to the nine’s for Eve, she puts on a veil and mourning clothes, and she doesn’t pick an ordinary knife.
Eve is special because they’re both each other’s worthy adversary. What makes this series work is that fact that both the characters are structured to be good at their jobs and push and pull against each other. Make no mistake, there is also a layer of attraction and obsession there, but on some level, they are each other’s match.
So it makes sense that Villanelle would prepare for this murder and that in some way she’d make it nice. And you can see that in the first method Villanelle uses to fake out Eve.
The scene where Villanelle presents Eve with the poison is enthralling, and both Oh’s and Comer’s performance is captivating to watch. Going back, we know that blood is Villanelle’s thing. Poison and clean corpses were The Ghost’s trademark, and Eve knows this.
We can’t know for sure the thoughts that went through Eve’s head as she determinately chugged down the pills with swigs of champagne, but I’d think that Eve believed, on some level, that pills weren’t real.
“Smell Ya Later” does more than just put Eve and Villanelle in the same room, it introduces a new dimension to Eve!
Eve has always been firmly with MI-6, but we start to see evidence of Eve’s sociopathy on this episode. It’s subtle, hinted at between Martin’s slideshow and the scene on the subway platform.
The decision to include these scenes is very interesting because it moves the needle just a little bit. Eve is one decision away becoming like Villanelle, and the subtle warnings from Jess about the lack of administrative work feels like the season might be building towards an unexpected ending.
Killing Eve Season 1 Episode 8, “God, I’m Tired,” ended with Eve stabbing Villanelle, an act that surprised Eve and has Kenny concerned. If that behavior escalates the natural path that it would take would be that Eve could harm someone, either intentionally or unintentionally.
Jess’s observation about the red tape being there to protect Eve also feels like a bit of foreshadowing. Who thinks that we’re going to see Eve in serious by the end of Season 2.
Stray Thoughts:
- I’d say I was surprised that Aaron Peel ordered his father dead, but I am not. In fact, I am pretty sure my expression matched Villanelle’s at the news.
- It’s almost ironic that Villanelle’s nickname is “The Demon with No Face,” because she’s not great at concealing her face.
- Watching Villanelle bludgeon her first mark in the car wash is more like the Villanelle we’re used to seeing. It feels a bit like we missed more than just however many hours of interrogation though seeing her mood shift comparatively from Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 4, “Desperate Times.”
- What was Villanelle doing talking to Niko? I shouldn’t be surprised because she seems to be destroying Eve’s marriage from all sides, but I think I am more bothered with the fact that Niko recognizes her. Did he ever see a photo?
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.
One thought on “Killing Eve Review: Smell Ya Later (Season 2 Episode 5)”
GREAT Review!!!
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