The clock has ticked, and ticked (and ticked), but on February 27th it will tick no more, as Killing Eve’s concluding fourth season begins. It’s almost time.
Only a fortune teller, or maybe the three witches in Macbeth, could predict what will happen in Killing Eve’s much anticipated final season, but that’s all the more reason to be excited. This season is the most excited I have ever been for a television show – and for good reason. The elongated wait between the admittedly less than perfect Season 3, and the opening salvos of Season 4’s promotion, has only served to further the intense feelings fans have.
Killing Eve fans have an emotional connection to the characters. This has charged the very real anticipation for the show’s hopefully fitting finale, with each momentary glimpse of posters, trailers, behind-the-scenes shots and promo pictures adding to the excitement.
But what could Killing Eve: Season 4 entail?
Eve, Welcome to the Dark Side
One of the main changes that the new season’s trailer suggests is a major shift in Eve Polastri’s (Sandra Oh) character towards the dark side. This was very simply presented through Eve’s wearing of black in the show’s poster, as opposed to Villanelle’s (Jodie Comer) white. Symbolically, black portrays evil and darkness whereas white conveys unimpeached purity and light.
This theme has run throughout the build-up to the final season, whether it be in Eve’s admission that she shot someone, or the teasing that maybe she’s the proverbial scorpion in the famous scorpion and the frog fable.
This is interesting because it teases a reversal of roles between Killing Eve’s lovable assassin and flawed hero, something the trailer flirts with. Villanelle suggests Eve would appear as the scorpion in the famous scorpion and the frog fable, as she’s the one who can’t change her nature, dooming both to death.
It’s true that one of the main criticisms of Killing Eve’s third season was the noticeable lack of Eve herself, but all indicators in the final season’s trailer is that we will get the amount of Eve we desire this time out. The show is called Killing Eve, after all.
A darker, more twisted Eve, who can’t contain her deepest, most monstrous aspects will be a captivating Eve indeed. We’ve only seen glimpses of this so far, when Eve gruesomely killed Raymond with an axe, for example, but Eve has only exposed flashes of these desires so far. If this does manifest itself then Season 4 will be a quite spellbinding journey.
Heavenly Villanelle
On the flip side, Villanelle seems to be on a path of redemption, a route to good. We pick up Season 4 with Villanelle in a church, looking for redemption dressed in divine robes of crystal white, donning a golden cross. The purity of her piercing white dressing presents the perfect image of an angelic Villanelle, opposite a darkness engulfed Eve.
The trailer even shows Villanelle in therapy, searching for a resolution and reconciliation for her assassination filled past. An utter reversal of Eve and Villanelle’s goodness would be captivating, providing more substance to the evergreen obsession they obtain for one another, as they both evolve.
Though alongside the changes, we also see the same tantalising sexual tension between the two lead characters. The on-the-nose moments in the trailer sprinkle plentiful anticipation among the fans desperate for the show’s central, sexually underpinned mutual obsession to blossom into an even closer relationship. Villanelle asks if the scorpion and the frog “hook up,” in more than a slight joust in the direction that we might get our dreamed, happy ending.
Symbolism, Symbolism, Symbolism
https://twitter.com/KillingEve/status/1493268811738337284?s=20&t=Vx-6MI3W2v3JeF4e7hdxdQ
The build-up to Killing Eve’s finale has been full of symbolism, with one of the multiple mini-videos catching the eye the most. We see Eve holding a purple rose, and Villanelle a blue one. Released on Valentine’s Day (because, of course it was), the two roses hold carefully constructed symbolism within the grander spectacle of the show.
In a semantic sense, the purple rose suggests irresistibility, something that we can tie to Eve’s unstoppable obsession with Villanelle.
Meanwhile, Villanelle’s rose is a symbol of mystery. This one needs very little explanation, as the whole show is built on the beautiful mystery of the relationship between a deadly assassin and a MI6 agent, who become intrinsically obsessed with one another.
Love Is in the Air
The trailer also revealed not one, but two, new love interests for Season 4: one for Eve, And one for Villanelle. I suspect these will act as ‘roadblocks’ before the pair come together, but maybe this is a heart-trumping-head situation.
The final season has been written by Laura Neal (also meaning all four seasons have been written by women), who has experience with ‘roadblock’ love interests from the episode of Sex Education she wrote during the show’s debut season. Neal penned the episode of the show where the lead love-interest between Otis and Maeve is derailed, when a different character gets into a relationship with Maeve. This served as one of many ‘roadblocks’ in the overarching story of Otis and Maeve’s relationship – we could see something similar in Killing Eve.
I hope these love interests are the final hurdle before the finishing line of Eve and Villanelle coming together, but as I mentioned earlier, predictions are awfully hard to make for Killing Eve’s concluding act.
The most exciting question is: how will their relationship look come the show’s close? However, the rollercoaster venture to that point will be more intriguing with these new characters to delve into (if they’re given time to develop and feature in their own right, that is).
Saying Their Goodbyes
The usual suspects are back too, in the form of MI6’s Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw) and The Twelve’s Konstantin (Kim Bodnia). Somewhat surprisingly, a major figure of The Twelve, Hèléne (Camille Cottin), returns to the show as well.
The trailer sets the seeds of interesting stories for these three characters, who will seemingly be main figures in Killing Eve’s conclusion. In Season 3, the filler surrounding the main Villaneve love-in overshadowed and marred it, but hopefully these supplementary storylines don’t overwhelm the primary narrative in Season 4.
In their own way, Carolyn and Konstantin are just as loveable as the show’s co-leads. We desperately want grand, glorious endings to their arcing stories, but I doubt these endings will be happy.
One of them’s going to be killed, aren’t they?
Perhaps, as the trailer presents us with moments of danger for both Carolyn and Konstantin. Jeopardy is very clearly there for Killing Eve’s much loved co-starring roles, so I’m not expecting smooth sailing. It’s not just the Villanelle and Eve story that intrigues as Killing Eve comes to its eagerly anticipated, emotionally driven climax.
The End of Killing Eve
Predictions for the ending aren’t simple – there are just so many routes this final season can take. Though, Killing Eve fans clearly crave a happy ending for the beloved rogue and devoted assassin we have followed for the past four years.
Some might die or everyone might die (let’s hope it’s not the latter, shall we). All we know is that Killing Eve’s final season promises to ooze tantalising sexual tension, elegance and drama, the same way the first three seasons treated us.
Season 1 ended with Eve nearly killing Villanelle. Season 2 ended with Villanelle returning the favour. Season 3 ended with that scene on Tower Bridge. So, surely Season 4 will end with Eve and Villanelle together at last. All the fans are begging for a happy ending, but whether they’ll be treated with one or not is a starkly different matter.
As the ticking of the clock comes to an end, only time will tell.
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