Showrunners 26: KE S3E7 Beautiful Monster

You can download the podcast at Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, or whichever platform you use, or click above and go to the Story Grid webpage to listen.

Reminder: Please watch the TV-Series Killing Eve Season 3 Episode 7 before you listen to the following episode. We not only give away spoilers, but we talk about the global story and it’s just more valuable for you if you know what we are talking about because we reference a lot.

Initial Observations

Mel – I’m lost. I’ve lost interest in the show because it couldn’t keep me engaged, but it’s because of all the previous episodes, not this one in particular.

Parul – We’ve veered off the global genre

Randy – World’s worst assassins

Recap: What happened in the previous episodes: 

• Niko is alive and hates Eve
• Villanelle meets Helene, makes her a keeper, gives her another mission
• Villanelle realizes her life isn’t changing and asks Konstantin to take her with him out of the business
• Villanelle hangs out with Irina in order to find out where Konstantin is going (Cuba)
• Eve suspects that Villanelle didn’t hurt Niko, tracks down Dasha, and bowls with her
• Carolyn suspects Paul works for the Twelve and this is verified when Paul talks with 
• Villanelle makes kill for the Twelve and gets wounded

5 commandments for Eve & Mo

1. Inciting Incident: Bear discovers activity on the card from Aberdeen
2. Turning Point: Dascha admits to Niko’s attempted murder
3. Crisis: Does she exact revenge on Dascha
4. Climax: She does, she stands on Dascha’s chest
5. Resolution: She narrowly misses Eve at the train station and finds an injured Konstantin. Carolyn discovers that Mo has been killed.

p.s. did you hear the evocative music in the resolution? ‘I once had a love’ as the train pulls away. It’s like an extended ‘all-is lost moment’ for the unrequited lovers.

We’re taking a look at another key protagonist’s story arc: Mo and his downfall, his search for recognition led to his downfall.

1. Inciting Incident: Carolyne tasked Mo with investigating Paul.
2. Turning Point: Carolyne is not happy with the results of Mo looking into Paul telling him the evidence is there, he just doesn’t see it for what it is. For example wellness shopping to make it only look like he has private plans.
3. Crisis: Should he continue to investigate the head of MI6 to prove his worth to Carolyne (Status) or shall he stop investigating and not continue to put his life in danger.
4. Climax: He continues investigating and tells Carolyne on the phone in spy talk and in translated spy talk that he has found the link between Paul and the Twelve.
5. Resolution: Mo is killed by another female assassin.

5 commandments for Villanelle: 

1. Inciting Incident: Helene might know Villanelle wants out
2. Turning Point: Villanelle is given another mission
3. Crisis: Does Villanelle kill the victim or not
4. Climax: Villanelle strikes Dasha instead of the victim
5. Resolution: Konstantin gets poisoned and Villanelle escapes on a train, seeing Eve

Thriller

Finally, a speech in praise of the Villain!!!

It’s right in the first scene when Villanelle meets with Helene in that old knight’s room in a castle.

Helene: “You can’t kill me before I killed you. You’re a child. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”

Villanelle: “You’re sexy”

It’s still not that much to go on since the Twelve are still very obscure.

And Carolyne is finally noticing she’s right in the middle of a thriller.

After Mo’s been killed, she says:

“It’s starting to feel personal.” 

which is mimicked by Eve’s scene with Dascha (“he has a big mustache, like Stalin”)

Thoughts about the Global Story

Randy: I’m beginning to think that this series is just an introduction to a grand finale season 4 where Villanelle and Eve team-up.  Why are the assassins so bad at assassinating?

Mel: Eve returned from Barcelona to tell Carolyne that Villanelle has been promoted. Eve actually thinks this is helpful information, but Carolyne is disappointed if this is all that Eve has to say. 

In that conversation, Carolyne actually confronts Eve by saying she wants to be a Messiah. Eve still wants to bring down the Twelve and considers Villanelle to be the key to doing so. That’s Eve’s foolish hope in the eyes of Carolyne. But we know this would happen. It’s not surprising that  Villanelle and Eve are teaming up.

Parul: I agree, this feels like the middle build of a series. They’re dragging out the lovers meet scene – what would they say to each other anyway in the middle build? I feel like we finally have a foothold into the global genre, with Helene’s Speech in Praise of the Villain BUT Konstantin’s weakness and Villanelle’s desire to leave makes me question the power of the Twelve. Their ‘treachery’ makes me think that the Twelve’s empire is crumbling. The problem is that it wasn’t that strong to start with. Having said that, did you hear the big hint about the Twelve – they want chaos to create a new order.

Morality Genre

We clearly saw in this episode where Eve draws the line between doing what’s professionally right and what is not. We know Eve was devastated as Villanelle made her kill the male assassin at the end of Season 2. Now Dasha reveals to Eve that she has attacked Niko and Eve is stepping on Dasha’s ribcage making the ribs crack one after the other.

Would she have killed Dasha if the police hadn’t come? 

I guess so. She has killed once and now another of her loved ones, Niko, was in danger. It’s the same reason as before.

So we see that Eve’s emotions are still in the way of doing her job properly. 

Now it’s the question if that makes Eve more human and this was the right decision to make Dasha suffer even more, or if this was a sign of weakness because you stepped onto someone who couldn’t protect themselves. 

So I won’t say if this was morally justified or not. I’ll wait for the last episode to get a better understanding of how Eve’s changed considering her morality.

Spotlight on the antihero/ anti-villain:

Parul: In Killing Eve, we have the anti-hero Eve who is the antithesis of a hero. She stands on Dascha’s chest for revenge. We also have an anti-villain Villanelle. Someone who we almost pity but can’t take our eyes off her. A fun, villainous character.

More on this in the show.

What can we expect in the next episodes?

Parul: I don’t think we’re going to get any solid answers in this season. We should hopefully see more Helene (who does she report to? Or is she the boss? I’ve always thought of the Twelve as a bunch of rich older men. But maybe not) 

Randy: As I mentioned, I think this season is just the lead up to the team-up.  Did Rhian kill Kenny?  Does Eve or Carolyn get revenge on her?

Mel: Eve & Villanelle teaming up and discovering something about the Twelve which will be the cliffhanger for the next season.

What were your favorite scenes?

Randy: The quotes:

Hero’s only get the girl in hollywood.

I killed so many Americans in the cold war, you could make a great big greasy tapestry of them.  They weren’t so fat, but just as loud.

Mel: Konstantin laying in the hospital bed and being asked if he has experienced too much stress lately.And how he can’t stop laughing anymore. +++ Germans don’t wear kilts and Americans don’t wear belts. 

Parul:

“Russia has vegans now. Did you know that?”

I love how Villanelle still tries to hurt with words. She’s like a bully in a playground.

Story Grid Showrunners Podcast

If you want to listen to more Story Grid Showrunner Episodes, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts, or on whichever platform you prefer to listen to your podcasts. If you liked the episode, please comment on Apple or Google Podcasts, it helps other listeners find us and spreads the word to other writers and editors.

Also, you could visit my Story Grid Showrunners webpage which has a list of all of our episodes and links to listen to the recordings.