We all knew someone would die at the end of Killing Eve.
Not just because the show's title is Killing Eve.
The warning signs were there.
The 'Til Death Do Us Part speech, the Death tarot card, and Eve's psychiatrist advising
her to appreciate the little things in life.
Because those little things are about to come to an end.
The season 4 finale of Killing Eve, which also served as the show's finale, resulted
in one of the most agonizing rug pulls imaginable.
The plot of the show seemed to be set up for Eve to meet her untimely demise.
No, it does not.
Game of Thrones had to do a Killing Eve.
It had to go against Reddit theories or underappreciated happy endings and surprise us with an unbelievably
cruel ending for Eve and Villanelle.
Let's keep this brief.
Villanelle is shot dead by Carolyn Martens' sniper shortly after murdering the entirety
of The Twelve, standing in the glow of her accomplishment and embracing Eve as a happily
committed couple.
Carolyn, did playing air guitar mean nothing to you?
Was it necessary for her to pretend to want another round of Truth or Dare with Villanelle
before making it impossible to play again?
It's just another strange, out-of-character moment in Killing Eve's final season.
You'd think they were two different shows if you watched the first episode and then
this finale.
From the start, the writers played with our expectations.
We all expected Villanelle to save Eve after the episode 7 cliffhanger, but she didn't.
Eve smacks Gunn in the head with a rock, climbs a tree, leaps from said tree, and gouges Gunn's
eyes out with her bare fingers.
This season seemed to be all about proving Eve's character growth, and Eve does so in
a way that no one else has probably done before.
She is ready to maim, shoot, and kill.
She now has equal power in any future relationship with Villanelle.
Eve and her fingernails are capable of defending themselves.
Another example of the writers getting ahead of their audience is the sleeping bag scene.
A mirror image of the bed scene from season one, it seemed like the perfect opportunity
for Eve and Villanelle to finally share their first tender kiss.
"Should we steal their stupid camper van?"
The kiss came at the most inopportune time: after Eve and Villanelle had peed in the bushes.
It felt very Killing Eve-like, insofar as that is possible in these later seasons, which
are frequently described as a diluted imitation of season 1.
Overall, the first half of episode 8 resurrected some of the old Killing Eve spark.
Eve and Villanelle were eating Revels chocolate in the camper van while head-bopping to The
Human League's Don't You Want Me.
Let us also take a moment to appreciate Villanelle's Chris Evans-inspired sweater from Knives Out.
Then there was the unavoidable plot push toward The Twelve.
Many people complained that Season 3 didn't pay enough attention to the show's main antagonist.
Season 4 piled on The Twelve plotlines, fabricating an evil villain summit on someone else's wedding
boat.
The world's most evil organization, the hidden architects of chaos, chose an unguarded reunion
at sea with no escape routes.
The camera was trained on Villanelle's face as blood spurted comically up around her and
the victims stabbed at her hand, but no faces were assigned to these crucial plot points.
Rather than rehashing what happened after that, let us try to remain optimistic.
According to the show's premise, the Codename Villanelle novellas by Luke Jennings have
a happy ending for Eve and Villanelle.
You could also envision an entire alternate universe series in which Eve and Villanelle
travel the world together, tracking down The Twelve with the help of Carolyn and Konstantin.
We don't need to get into Pam's pointlessness.
Or that part of the reason Charlie Brooker put future seasons of Black Mirror on hold
is that the world is already grim enough without stories with unhappy endings.
Never mind that this final season feels like a set-up for Carolyn Martens' spinoff series.
Season 4 taught us that you can have too much of a good thing.
Season 4 focused on shock value while skimping on interesting messages about female assassins.
The show, which began as a (highly entertaining) feminist piece about how effective a female
assassin could be — a show that pushed one woman to question her own human nature and
lean into her darkness — rushed to a clunky, rushed, noticeably unplanned conclusion.
Still, Killing Eve is one of the best shows on television.