Killing Eve: Sorry Baby

April 30, 2018 5:33 AM - Season 1, Episode 4

Intel from Berlin points to the existence of a mole, prompting Eve to undertake her first surveillance operation. Meanwhile, Villanelle is sent to England to eliminate a member of British Intelligence.

AV Club - Killing Eve takes a relaxing visit to the countryside for its weekly murders

Vulture recap - The Mole Hunt

Den of Geek - Killing Eve brings the action to the English countryside in a devastating and hilarious episode.

posted by oh yeah! (10 comments total)

A thing I am curious about: Frank's mother (well, the woman pretending to be his mother) was working for the same people as Villanelle, right? But she seemed to recognize why V and Nadia were there and hid Frank from them. I hope we get a little more on that aspect.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 7:11 AM on April 30, 2018

But are they working for the same people? Frank's fake mom was Russian intelligence -- and she warned him away. Villanelle is a Russian assassin, but they've never said exactly who it is she works for.
posted by grandiloquiet at 1:37 PM on April 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I was thinking that the info from the Chinese government allowed Eve's team to find out who the mole was, and the mole would be the one passing information on to Villanelle's managers, which is how she found out she was being tracked and got Eve's name. But there are a lot of assumptions on my part in that statement! Like who knows how the information is passed, if it's intercepted, how many moles there are...
posted by everybody had matching towels at 2:08 PM on April 30, 2018

I must remember how important it is to screw a suppressor onto my firearm before firing it from the sunroof of a speeding vehicle.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 10:02 PM on April 30, 2018 [13 favorites]

Well I guess they all died then right? I mean, the show has done a lot to demonstrate how ruthless and efficient a killing machine Villanelle is, so surely at that range and with Eve's panic freeze, they're all dead now and we get to see a new, actual field unit take over? Right?
posted by some loser at 6:08 PM on May 1, 2018

I liked this show when I thought it was a new take on spies v assassins, now that it's more "dark comedy" I'm not so sure. there were moments in this episode when i was sure i was going to hear yakety sax as the sound track.
Villanelle is obviously more rogue psychopath than professional hitwoman, but she does have a way of chilling one to the bone. her riposte to the "don't you think i know everything" line was ICE.

Some of the writing is quite good. Eve's line to her BF about caring being the only thing he has was rather heartbreaking, and not totally deserved. (he does have his bridge games). but other bits are not so great.
Were we to believe that BF was to think she was secretly having an affair?....if so it was a clumsy misdirect that never really paid off when his line of questioning proved to (obviously) be about the danger of the mission.
posted by OHenryPacey at 6:23 PM on May 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

husband's kind of got to be a deep-cover spy unless they're really going for Eve being a genuinely terrible person. I am generally in favor of awful women geniuses, since we are all so sick of the male type being centered in every tv show for the last 50 years approximately. but Eve's not a genius and that is a bit of a problem. I don't mind so much if she's selfish and cruel to him out of selfishness and cruelty, that's fine, but I get the feeling it might be more out of guilt and self-blame, which is much less excusable. like, trying to provoke him into not being so saintly because it makes her feel bad for not deserving it, or for not loving him back as much, or something. the kind of self-centeredness that punishes other people as a means to the end of punishing oneself is just the worst.

I did think she screamed at him to get out when unpacking the suitcase out of fear for his safety if he saw anything and figured things out, which was nice of her, though what kind of idiot wouldn't call in a bomb squad before diving in and unzipping everything I do not know. anyway she undid all the good of that apparent concern when she realized V knows where her husband lives but completely failed to care. why she didn't get him into some kind of witness protection scheme or out of the country immediately is beyond me.
posted by queenofbithynia at 9:53 PM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I did think she screamed at him to get out when unpacking the suitcase out of fear for his safety if he saw anything and figured things out

More likely that she realised the danger of perfume from Villanelle no?
posted by HiroProtagonist at 8:00 PM on May 3, 2018

I liked this show when I thought it was a new take on spies v assassins, now that it's more "dark comedy" I'm not so sure. there were moments in this episode when i was sure i was going to hear yakety sax as the sound track.

It's started to remind me of the Jackson Brodie series in that regard, just more on the dark side.

Also, Sandra Oh has this funny "WTF take" that she does and I find I'm always waiting for it, to the point where I feel like she used it even if she didn't.
posted by BibiRose at 8:32 AM on May 15, 2018

Carolyn ordered Eve not to take anybody with her except for the team ("keep it in house for now"), suggesting either she didn't know Villanelle was going to be there, or she wanted the board cleared. In either case, this once I can forgive Eve not bringing whatever the British version of SWAT is. But she better get her act together in future.
posted by Mogur at 3:04 PM on August 27, 2018