Killing Eve Review: Don’t Get Attached (Season 4 Episode 5)

After four episodes, Killing Eve Season 4 Episode 5, “Don’t Get Attached” starts to feel a little bit like the series that we’ve come to know and love. 

A large part of this is due to the fact that we get to see relationships that we’ve been invested in play out on screen. It’s rewarding to see Konstantin appear again with, not only Pam, but Villanelle and Carolyn. 

The focus of “Don’t Get Attached” is Carolyn’s history in 1979. The formation of The Twelve and that glimpse into her early days as an agent named Janice are a big payoff. Since we met Carolyn she’s been portrayed as this beacon of mystery where no one really knew her past.

Fiona Shaw plays this up very well and the writers only let the audience have a little bit of information at a time to keep that tension going. Seeing a younger Carolyn doesn’t diminish that, but it does add context to how she became who she is today. 

The heartbreak she displays when finding her father, despite being undercover is heavy to watch. The sequence is beautifully shot and Imogen Daines displays the same stoicism that Shaw does.

Carolyn’s subsequent call to Konstantin, where she asks if things would have been different if they hadn’t taken those actions all those years ago, really drives the point home. 

Konstantin and Carolyn have a long and complicated history, and the show has been teasing that for a long time. Hearing a little bit of regret and remorse as she stands there talking to Konstantin is a monumental moment for her character.

At the end of the day, Carolyn is the type of character that comes off as very cold, but she has a lot of emotions under the surface. Killing Eve Season 3 started that dialogue, but as we move through Season 4 we get to see those layers peel back a little bit. 

Carolyn was a strong centerpiece for “Don’t Get Attached,” but it’s not the only story that has some emotional drive. 

Eve and Helene continue their games and the stakes are raised. Seeing Eve escalate to kidnapping feels like it’s leaps and bounds from Eve Polastri from Season 1. Watching the final confrontation between them in the car also supports that.  Eve is at a point where she’s willing to kill, and could if given the right motivation.

The scene in the car demonstrates that, but it also proves to Helene that Villanelle is Eve’s Achilles heel. 

We’ve been slowly watching Eve unravel, and it feels like the story is very slowly edging towards her becoming completely unhinged and accepting it. 

The final moments of this episode where Eve witnesses Villanelle get shot with an arrow shows exactly how entwined Villanelle is with, not only Eve, but other characters.

The fact that Villanelle comes out of meeting with Konstantin, who in turn is trying to shape Pam’s wardrobe to be more Villanelle-esque drives the point home that so much of this story revolves around Villanelle.

It’s not just about the fact that Villanelle is an assassin but the way she draws people in. Watching Konstantin attempt to dress Pam in clothes that are clearly Villanelel’s style and how he talks about how Villanelle’s clothes are a form of seduction helps draw that conclusion. 

Season 4 hasn’t put Villanelle front and center for its first half. While Villanelle had some great moments, the way she was kept apart from the rest of the characters made her feel very flat, like she’d been cast off and was trying to find her way back. Her most dynamic moments consist of when she’s interacting with Eve or Carolyn until now. 

Seeing Eve embrace Villanelle again after she gets an arrow to her shoulder is the moment that we have all been waiting for. However, it also feels like the beginning of the end in many ways. It feels like both of these characters have reached a point in their story where they can only go forward, and that means the destruction of The Twelve and maybe each other.

With only a few episodes left in the series, the final season doesn’t have time to waste. If the rest of the episodes follow suit, let’s hope they continue to examine the relationships we’ve come to know and love. 

Stray Thoughts:

• If I was Eve, I would 100% color my dreams. That feels like something she needs at this time in her life.
• I question the decision to put the 1979 sequence in black and white, maybe it’s meant to make us question how long ago those events were. Or perhaps the choice was a way to call in Eve’s viewing of the Super 8 reel. 
• The scene where Villanelle kills Camilo feels the most like previous seasons. It’s vindictive, but somewhat playful, and I could probably spend an entire review talking about the water symbolism in that scene.
• I’m somewhat reeling over the realization that Janice (aka Carolyn) is the reason The Twelve are called The Twelve. 

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.

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