Killing Eve Review: Making Dead Things Look Nice / Hello, Losers (Season 4 Episodes 7 and 8)

We have reached the final episode of Killing Eve, and it leaves us wondering, “What was it all for?”

Killing Eve Season 4 Episode 7 and 8, “Making Dead Things Look Nice / Hello, Losers,” have the kind of writing that drew fans into the series, but the fact that it took seven episodes to end up here makes the final season feel like a string of missed opportunities. 

After sitting with the final for a moment, I am reminded of Pretty Little Liars‘ final season and the frustration I felt as those characters were dragged through a never-ending plot.

That’s never a good place to be in especially for a show that started out so strong. 

As the final season of Killing Eve progressed, it was pretty clear that there was no plan or roadmap, and each episode inched the plot forward minutely, if at all. 

That structure makes no sense. Especially when the final season sets up for the two main characters to take down the organization that Villanelle works for. If it’s really this insidious of an organization then Villanelle and Eve should have been working together from the start and working towards their common goal. 

Now that we’ve reached the end of their story, we are left wondering why we spent so much time with these two apart. In retrospect, it does feel like those episodes couldn’t have been condensed some to give us more time with these dynamic and chaotic characters on the same screen.

First, let’s talk about the ending. Going into the final season, I had the feeling that this wouldn’t end happily for at least one of our main characters. 

That may have been obvious, but it always felt like Villanelle and Eve were destined for damnation. Eve was either going to end up getting herself killed or Villanelle would die. So, the ending didn’t come as a complete shock to me. 

What did come as a shock, was how well the series lulled the audience into the idea that this could turn out okay. Villanelle and Eve have a domesticity about them that feels so natural and that’s thanks to Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer’s chemistry. 

Their reunion and their road trip to the final assassination is the perfect payoff to the tension that started with the pie scene on Killing Eve Season 1. Slow burns are okay, but Killing Eve has honestly proven to be the slowest of slow burns.

All of the final season basically builds up Villanelle and Eve’s reunion, on Killing Eve Season 4 Episode 8, “Hello, Losers.” So much so that, aside from Konstantin’s death, Killing Eve Season 4 Episode 7. “Making Dead Things Look Nice” feels insignificant. 

We spend an hour with Villanelle and her new assassin BFF, but it’s hard to get invested in their dynamic with only two episodes left in the series.

Marie-Sophie Ferdane’s performance is stunning. She rivals Comer in her steely delivery and the two have great chemistry. 

The way their relationship progressed almost felt like an echo of Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 2, “Nice and Neat,” especially as Villanelle’s boat gets consumed for firewood. It quickly becomes less of a possible happy ending for Villanelle and more the plot of a summer blockbuster where the protagonist finds herself trapped with someone after one date.

The difference is that instead of ending up in the hands of Raymond, this time Villanelle gets to sail away with Eve. It’s a good twist, but as the plot progresses we forget about it the island and Gun and instead are focused slowly on the end game we’ve been looking forward to for eight episodes. 

Villanelle and Eve working together. 

For a show that centers on two women who are obsessed with each other, Season 4 found every way possible to dance around the central relationship until the last possible moment.

Watching Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer finally get to share the screen for a substantial amount of an episode is fulfilling to watch, but it also feels like this is where the series should have been all along.

Looking back at Killing Eve Season 4 Episode 1, “Just Dunk Me,” we never really get an explanation for why Eve is pulling away from Villanelle. Yet the animosity colors three-quarter of this season and it’s never quite resolved. 

It doesn’t need to be, because obviously these characters are still attracted to and drawn toward each other. So, what were we watching for six episodes? Cos very little of what happened helped us get to the ending. 

All in all, Killing Eve is turning out to be one of those shows that starts off strong and then fizzles out. So much of this final season could have been great but it feels more like they were focusing on creating opens for spinoffs than giving the audience a satisfying conclusion. 

Stray Thoughts

• I just gotta say it, tarot cards do not accurately predict fate (as Villanelle notes). The cards actually originated as a storytelling card game before they became a divination tool. However, it is also worth noting that the Death card doesn’t always mean mortality, it often just means an ending, which Eve is experiencing since there really is no going back. 
• I’m citing the look that Villanelle gives Eve when she sees her fumbling through the wedding ceremony as #relationshipgoals. Everyone should have a partner who looks at them like that. 
• Pam walked away from MI6 and I am very happy about that. I think that Pam, especially after she killed Konstantin realized that maybe she preferred “making dead things look nice” and so that made it easier to turn down Carolyn’s offer.
• Do you think we can ever forgive Carolyn for killing Villanelle and almost killing Eve? 
• Eve’s drunken karaoke scene where she remembers Bill and those she’s lost along the way is a nice callback to Season 1. It’s also a good reminder of the support she had and that she’s lost. By the time the series ends, Eve is alone again and is going to have to find another way to start over. It’s heartbreaking to think about on many levels. 

What did you think of this episode of Killing Eve? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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