THIS SERIES IS A KILLER
This spy thriller/crazy-woman drama is full of sly wit and generous amounts of spooky drama in which a spy-catcher (Sandra Oh) has to find a pretty, psychotic damsel (Jodie Comer) before she wipes out most of Europe with her gleeful killing spree.
In addition to some extraordinary writing, directing, and cinematography, we get to watch the incomparable Ms. Oh and the newish Ms. Comer spend much time tracking each other and finding similarities in their core-makeup. Written mostly by Luke Jennings and creator/producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge (based on the Codename Villanelle novellas-cum-novel of Jennings, produced by BBC and aired originally on BBC America), the eight episodes are jam-packed with stunningly-photographed vistas (by Julian Court and Tim Palmer), which support the taut writing and directing. The show was filmed in Tuscany, Italy, London, England, and Bucharest, Romania substituting for Moscow, Russia.
Villanelle, a cover-name for a gifted assassin, Oxana (Vorontsova in the novels and Oxana Astankova in the television series, played by Brit-born Comer), as charming as she is able, is searched for by British MI5 agent, Eve Polastri (Canadian-born, U.S.-citizen Oh). The two women play clever cat-and-mouse games with each other, finding some emotional and sexual interest in each other while searching.
Polastri’s boss is MI5’s senior spy, a cold, calculating elder, Carolyn Martens, played with her usual brio by Irish-born Fiona Shaw. Her son, not a chip-off-the-iceberg block, is played with feeling by Sean Delaney.
The title is something of a misnomer as the show follows Villanelle as much as Polastri, but since the two women revolve around each other, it makes sense. And watching the solid work of Oh, with her subtle and quiet emotional revelations, is glorious to observe. Comer, too, with her po-faced emotionless killing making her scary, indeed.
This is one of those series that you will want to watch a second or third time to catch all the nuances and amusing takes on the characters. Catch it now before Season Two is aired (and released) next year. Oh, yeah, watch it — and for heaven’s sake, have fun with it!
Killing Eve: Season 1
BBC
released October 9, 2018
on Blu-ray & DVD | 2 discs | 360 mins + bonus content
available at Amazon and BBC
