Killing Eve Review: Are You From Pinner? (Season 3 Episode 5)
Villanelle heads home to reconnect with her roots on Killing Eve Season 3 Episode 5, “Are You From Pinner?”
Jodie Comer shines on this episode, bringing her signature blend of humor, cunning, and gravity to Villanelle’s most challenging mission yet: a reunion with her birth family.
While almost every nature vs. nurture story eventually garners a comparison to Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, this episode bears more than a passing resemblance to that classic tale.
The story of the monster returning to confront its creator, seeking sympathy while also laying the burden of its crimes upon his creator’s conscience, is one of the most morally complex and emotionally painful tales in the literary canon.
“Are You From Pinner?” doesn’t just parallel the emotional journey of Frankenstein, but also borrows several of its story beats. Like Shelly’s monster, Villanelle goes off in search of answers about her nature; she falls in love with a family in a farmhouse, is rejected by them, and then burns their house to the ground.
It’s an ending that most viewers probably see coming, but that predictability makes it no less potent — especially in the hands of an actress as talented as Comer.
Delving into Villanelle’s backstory helps contextualize much of her behavior throughout the series, especially her childishness. The way she pleads with her mother for an act of maternal tenderness, one that has long been denied her, truly tugs at the heartstrings.
Tatiana: Clean your face.
Villanelle: Can you do it?
Tatiana: You’re not a child.
Villanelle: I want to feel like one. Please.
The way Villanelle’s face lights up upon seeing herself in childhood photos is equally moving, given how much of her adult life has revolved around embodying false identities and personas.
The photographs show her playing dress-up and throwing punches at her little brother, which Villanelle recognizes as evidence of her penchant for mischief and drama. These are core elements of her personality, peering out through the layers of artifice she has constructed to amuse and protect herself. Her delight in discovering them appears wholly genuine.
The episode takes its time in building Villanelle’s relationship with her newfound relatives, a cast of characters worthy of their own sitcom.
But for all the endearing zaniness in the family, there are hints of darkness too — Pyotr is sweet and naive, but harbors a secret rage that he exorcises by taking a baseball bat to old furniture. Bor’ka has a charming obsession with Elton John, but also a heartbreaking habit of beating his head against the wall and chanting, “stupid, stupid,” when no one is around.
Villanelle believes her mother to be the source of darkness she sees in her siblings, and as the episode progresses, it becomes apparent that she returned home with murder on her mind.
The final confrontation between Villanelle and Tatiana features knockout performances from both Comer and guest actress Evgenia Dodina; there is an an entire spectrum of pain present between them, from regret to hatred, and everything in between.
Villanelle is searching for kinship; like Frankenstein’s creature, she can’t abide the loneliness of being the only one of her kind.
She has come to terms with being a monster, but she hates being regarded as an aberration by people who refuse to acknowledge their own monstrosity.
That’s why she tries so hard to extract a confession from her mother before killing her, and why Eve’s rejection last season so infuriated her — because Eve refused to acknowledge the similarities between them, or to admit to her own darkness.
I can’t stop thinking about the scream Villanelle lets out as she walks away from the house — how much rage and sorrow erupt with that cry, directed not just at her mother but at herself, for consistently confirming everyone’s bad opinion of her.
She is caught in a cycle of bad choices, trapped by her desperation for companionship in the same way that Eve is trapped by her relentless curiosity and selfishness.
The episode ends on a deliberately ambiguous note: Villanelle is shaken by her actions, but there’s no way of knowing how this will affect her moving forward. Does she wish she were different — tamer, neurotypical — or is she still fine with who she is, even as it drives her further into isolation?
What’s clear is that this kill is the first to have truly rattled her; she is unhinged, even by her own standards, and that makes her infinitely more dangerous.
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 9/8c on BBC America and AMC.
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Ariel Udel
Ariel fell in love with storytelling on the night Flight 815 crashed on a mysterious island, and has been blogging about television ever since. She has an affinity for messy female anti-heroes and an enduring love of Battlestar Galactica, Xena: Warrior Princess, Lost, and Halt and Catch Fire.