Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Smell Ya Later

This Killing Eve review contains spoilers. 

Killing Even Season 2 Episode 5

Small Ya Later gave us unprecedented time between Villanelle and Eve, but it also showed just how precarious Eve’s position really is.

Villanelle’s funeral attire is delightfully dramatic, and I’d like to think she’s secretly impressed by Eve’s move. And perhaps a little annoyed that she managed to trick her, which is why she wanted to trick her right back with the pretend arsenic. It was interesting to hear what sounded like genuine concern from Villanelle when they were walking through the Forrest of Dean and she asked if what they were doing was legal. I don’t think V appreciated being treated like what she did to The Ghost was evil, or being taken for granted. She was right about one thing: whatever she did to The Ghost, it’s what Eve asked her to do.

We still don’t know what Villanelle asked Eve for in exchange for her help, and that jump cut (and Villanelle muttering something with the word sexy or sexual to Niko) was designed to let our imaginations run wild.

Eve is in a very strange place, emotionally, and that’s hard to show, particularly when part of it is that she’s not letting anyone in. But the scene on the train platform where she almost pushes a man in front of the train because he bumped into her was incredibly effective and disturbing, much more so than the death that opened the episode. As time passes, Eve keeps getting more and more like Villanelle.

With a few short scenes, this episode made it clear how little we know about Carolyn Martens. As shocking as Villanelle and Eve’s time together at Eve’s house was, the bigger shock was when the camera panned quietly over to show Carolyn and Konstantin in the car together, watching from across the street. When Carolyn had told her boss that everything was going according to plan, I took it as bravado mixed with bullshit, someone smart who knew she was in trouble and was saying the right thing to get out of it, confident that she would be able to figure things out and eventually make it true. But based on seeing her with Konstantin, it might not have been BS after all.

The use of the psychopath expert was brilliant. The rumpled, bumbling man seemed fairly useless, but ultimately illuminated that Carolyn is an expert strategist keeping a keen eye on Eve. The fact that she didn’t back down from the mission in light of his recommendation, however, makes me think Carolyn is more like Eve than we thought: aware of her subject’s inherent explositvity, but drawn toward seeing this whole thing through to the end nevertheless.

Eve and Jess’s relationship has become quite close in a way that feels natural and important, yet it’s been largely overshadowed by how large the other relationships loom. For Eve to sit there rubbing Jess’s feet is no small thing. Nor is Jess speaking up to let Eve know that she’s essentially being kept off the books for a reason, so that when it all goes tits up, no one will ever know who Eve was, how she died (I’m guessing), or whose fault it was. It’s a risk for Jess to speak up like this, and information she has as an experienced person in their field. Eve, a newbie that Carolyn plucked from admin, doesn’t even know she’s being screwed over because she doesn’t know what to look for.

read more: Everything to Know About Killing Eve Season 3

Eve is running out of North Stars, people who can anchor her to reality and pull her back from the edge that Villanelle seems to send her running towards, but Jess is one of them. I can’t imagine Kenny will truly be off the team – and if he is, I doubt he’ll be out of the picture for long. He’s the only one who knows the truth, and Eve needs him. I wonder how long it will take before she treats Jess or even Hugo this same way. Villanelle has certainly been effective at driving a wedge between Niko and Eve, and she manages to do more damage at the end by telling him about Paris.

It’s fascinating that when the Oxford Spelling Bee came up, I assumed it was Villanelle. It turned out to be Carolyn, and as Villanelle reminded us, Eve lies to him plenty as well. There are no shortage of people hiding the truth and making shady things happen on this show, and this season is focused on the way Eve is becoming more like Villanelle. But this episode managed to sharply remind us that Carolyn Martens, in particular, may be just as dangerous and duplicitous as Villanelle.

Other notes:

Villanelle’s food adventures continue: first the strawberry milkshake to help with a kill, then an ice cream cone while waiting for Konstantin

I love Jess and this show for being honest about how the baby is stealing the calcium from her teeth: “the little bastard is eating me alive”

The Ghost seems to have Eve’s number when she asks her if she wants to become a killer. Villanelle later asks a similar question, if Eve wants to watch, also calling to mind Hugo. Eve isn’t fooling as many people as she thinks…

I love Konstantin: “This is a little hurtful. You were pretty happy to shoot me.”