1.

Vill's marriage to Maria

The audience is brought into a wedding, where the bride is making a speech. However, her spouse is
kept out of the frame, until she finishes her speech and sits down. Then the camera slowly pans to the
side, as a small bit of Unloved's "(Sigh)" comes on, and we see the woman is marrying Vill(!).

Vill looks amazing, by the way, in a black tuxedo jacket and pants – and she is also wearing "great
shoes," black strap stilettos, although they can't be seen in this shot. It is an androgynous wedding outfit
that immaculately blends the masculine and feminine energies, of Vill. It is so Vill and it fits her perfectly.

Vill looks every bit the doting spouse, in that first shot. She looks her typical confident self but also looks
nervous about giving a speech. She gets up to give her toast. Her first joke goes over well. But Vill is also
subconsciously using the speech to be honest about her state of mind. This reminded me of Sherlock's
awkward wedding speech when Watson got married and which also accomplished two things at once.

Maria looks slightly surprised that Vill would admit that her first thought, about Maria, was "great
shoes" but rolls with it, as Vill launches into how "there is so much more to her than that." However, as
Vill continues to list Maria's material possessions – great house, access to a tailor, a hairdresser, a pool -
it becomes clear to the audience, watching at home, that Vill is rebounding here, and does not really
love Maria yet.

The wedding guests still laugh though, because it is true Maria is rich and Vill seems to be building up to
what she really wants to say. But then Vill gets distracted by a door opening, in the foyer. The guests
also heard it and dismissed it but are confused by how Vill gets so off-topic here. She is obviously looking
for someone to come in, and the TV viewers know Vill is still hoping Eve will somehow appear and save
her, despite the ending of Season 2.

Maria clears her throat and Vill smiles and stops searching for her white knight, for the moment. She
shifts into the main part of her speech, in which she describes what is bothering her, "a bad breakup."
The TV audience knows Vill is referring to Eve, and their strange relationship, of sorts. In the beginning
of Season 2, Vill also referred to Eve as her "girlfriend," to Gabriel, in the hospital, after Vill got stabbed.

Vill's whole countenance has changed; she looks really sad. What happened with Eve is really bothering
her. A shot to Maria shows that Maria is well aware of this story. It's interesting, because in Season 1,
Vill was the "ex" that was haunting Nadia and her rebound's relationship; now Eve is haunting Vill and
Maria's relationship. The shoe is on the other foot.

Vill moves on to the "catharsis" part of the speech. What does Vill think about her ex today, in the midst
of what is indeed a beautiful wedding? It turns out Vill is still very much upset, revealing to the guests
that Eve, at least to Vill's knowledge, is dead, much to the guests' visible consternation – but also to the
bitter laughter of Maria herself.

It would make sense that Maria would feel that way, since Eve obviously takes up so much of Vill's
headspace, and that would make Maria unhappy and jealous. And Vill isn't happy Eve is gone; she is
definitely still not over Eve, from the pained and halting way that she said it.
---

The wedding moves on: Vill and Maria are dancing – or supposed to be dancing. This is a theme that will
continue throughout Season 3: whether Vill feels comfortable dancing with a person or not. Vill is trying
hard here but is clearly not comfortable dancing with Maria. Maria, on the other hand, looks fine and at
ease, excited to be dancing with Vill.

Vill truly wishes to fit in here and will truly wish to fit in, at her hometown, in Russia, during Crocodile
Rock, but neither of these areas will be a good fit for Vill. The only times she will feel comfortable
dancing is while thinking of Eve – while making Eve a birthday cake – or while dancing with Eve, in the
finale.

In the moment, Vill looks confused and is again distracted by someone moving, out of the corner of her
eye, in the foyer. She still thinks it's Eve, and even leaves the dancefloor, mid-wedding dance, to go
investigate – causing Maria to look concerned.

As she stands in the empty foyer, there is a shot, from above, through an oval opening, in the mezzanine,
highlighting Vill's utter loneliness and isolation, even on what is supposed to be the best day of her life –
her wedding day.

---

Vill returns to the party and they move on to the wedding cake (another cake, also pink, like Eve's
original birthday cake). Once again Vill is surrounded by people, but struck by the ominous feeling of
being watched, by one person in particular. She looks around, and this time finds the person she was
searching for – not Eve, but an old friend: basically, her adopted mother, Dasha.

Vill takes a running leap and tackles Dasha, much like how Nadia lunged, across the minivan, to pummel
Vill, in Season 1. There seems to be no reunion for Vill on this show, without some sort of fight (see Vill
and Eve, on the bus, later on, in Season 3). Fighting with the females in her life, seems to be some sort of
intimacy, slightly above actually hugging, for Vill.

Dasha is also marked as a parental figure for Vill. This reunion mirrors Vill running and colliding with
Konstantin, when she saw him for the first time, again, in Season 2. However, where Konstantin was
embraced, Dasha and Vill struggle. It makes sense, since Vill has always had special trouble with the
maternal figures, in her life.

Vill gasps out that this is her "special day," as Dasha and her roll on the floor, and guests flood into the
foyer. Vill cannot believe Dasha would crash her wedding. Dasha congratulates Vill sarcastically and
decks her across the face, sending Vill spinning. Maria tries to restrain a hurt Vill, but in Vill's eagerness
to get back to fighting Dasha, she accidently pushes Maria away. Thus, the wedding is off.

The rest of the wedding party descends into chaos, as Dasha and Vill continue to battle. Glasses get
thrown, other people start pushing each other, people begin drinking harder (straight from the
champagne bottle), the paparazzi invades, old people clutch their chests and kids start throwing cake.
Above it all, Maria wails.

The free-for-all wedding resembles the story "Hasta que la muerte nos separe" ("Till Death Do Us Part"),
from the 2014 award-winning black comedy film "Relatos salvajes" (Wild Tales), with the cake, the
photographer, and the fights.

Vill and Dasha are sent away from Maria's mansion, in the honeymoon "Just Married" car, with the cans
tied to it, that was supposed to be for Vill and Maria. In the backseat, Vill still looks furious and Dasha
glances at Vill and then looks back ahead, looking incredibly pleased with herself, first for axing Vill's
wedding and then for keeping Vill within the orbit of the Twelve.

The final scene also brings to mind how Eve described herself, to Carolyn, in the Purple Penguin, in
Season 1. Eve basically came back to London, from Connecticut, and "married my dad" i.e. Niko. After
the wedding fiasco, Vill has "married" her mom, in the joking sense. In the symbolic sense, it is true that
Vill still has a lot of issues to work out with Dasha, and her actual mother, before being able to genuinely
love or marry another woman, as this season can attest.

Bonus: The man drinking straight from the champagne bottle is reminiscent of Eve drinking straight from
one of Vill's champagne bottles (from her fridge of champagne bottles), before smashing it, when she
was trashing Vill's apartment, at the end of Season 1. The wedding debacle, however, was a vastly
different kind of "party."

2. "You call me Villanelle"

Vill and Dasha have arrived at Dasha's house, in Barcelona. Dasha is musing about the Twelve, while Vill
takes in her mentor's various trophies and photos, from being a professional gymnast. Vill's attention
lingers briefly on Dasha's collection of monkey figurines. Dasha's phrase, "slowly, slowly catch a
monkey," – from which the episode's title derives – is the real deal for her.

Vill even picks up one of the monkey figures, just as Dasha is waxing on about how Vill is the best
operative she has ever trained. In Season 1, when the Twelve forced Vill to carry out a hit on Konstantin,
he said just as much, as a father figure, tearing up as he extolled how Vill should be "proud" and that Vill
was the best thing that ever happened to his life.

However, as Dasha is saying Vill is "destined for greatness," Vill mimics back the same phrase – much as
she does to Konstantin, for certain things he says – showing that she has heard Dasha say this many
times before. Vill is less in the headspace to take this as a genuine compliment, as she was for
Konstantin, in Season 1. Dasha recognizes Vill's exasperation and insists her sentiments are true.

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Vill demands. Vill wonders if Dasha seriously thinks she will go back to her old
life, after it blew up so ruinously in her face, two season finales, in a row. Dasha wisely decides not to
answer that question, simply holding out her hand, to shake – but when Vill reaches for it, she yanks her
hand away.
"Best out of three." Vill asserts competitively and misses the second time also. Only when she is able to
distract Dasha with her imported Kopveska (Kopbecka) cookies [not a real brand], does Vill finally catch
her hand.

This little exercise is Vill's life, on the show, in miniature. during the first two seasons. Vill accepts her life,
without question, and gets burned twice. In the third season, Vill finally starts wising up, when it comes
to the Twelve.

Dasha's offer doesn't hold much water – much like the fake brand of standard Russian oatmeal cookies.
Her catchphrase, on catching monkeys, brings to mind a more familiar phrase: 'monkey see, monkey do.'
See the hand; reach for the hand.

Especially in this season, Vill is seeking a normal life, with a marriage and children. A job, a promotion,
and 'keeping up with the Joneses' also fits in with this ordinary person persona Vill deeply wants to
cultivate and embody – perhaps because, at the end of Season 2, Eve rejected Vill, for a 'normal' life,
and went back home.

In Episode 5, Vill will, herself, go home, to try find normalcy in Russia. This too will fail. Her hometown's
name is, of course – like the brand of cookies – not a real name, or even a real word, and it doesn't
function like a real place. It is a time capsule, stuck thirty years ago, like if Dasha were a town. Dasha's
goal to go home is also a false hope, ratcheted up by Helene. This season seems to be a warning on
hiding too much in a desire for normalcy and nostalgia.

Dasha's first answer to Vill pressing her on "what's in it for you?" is to invoke destiny, playing into the
theme of false hopes and dreams. Vill isn't fooled, repeating the question in Jodie Comer's natural
British accent, like a gameshow host. Thus, we hear Dasha's dream to return home to people chanting
her name, in the streets (Helene supplies that last part, later).

Vill decides to bite, but only for a massive fish: to become Keeper. This rank is higher than Dasha and
Konstantin. Dasha is non-plussed by this, segueing briefly into Harriet Walter's natural British accent also.
Dasha begins to mock lofty goals, using Vill's real name, Oksana. Vill looks slightly in pain, at both the
ribbing, and the use of her birth name. Anna only used that name – but apparently, Dasha has known
Vill for just as long, if not longer.

Vill stands up, still in her black tuxedo, from the wedding (naturally, she took off the stilettos; she's
barefoot) and follows Dasha toward the kitchen. As Dasha is returning back with a bottle of vodka, Vill
grabs her throat. Dasha, with just as fast lightning-reflexes, also grabs Vill's throat, and they proceed to
have a staring match, while they slowly choke each other out, Homer Simpson-style.

"Villanelle...You call me Villanelle," Vill scrapes out, having had enough of this 'Oksana' business. They
both tighten their grip, before Dasha finally assents. Then they both gasp and laugh uproariously, like
they're having the time of their lives (unintended 'Dirty Dancing' pun). Best reunion ever.
3. Nice Neighborhood

Vill is out walking, in sunny Barcelona. She gets to her new home and explores its amenities, turning on
the tap and flushing the toilet, taking in the view, and singing, like an opera soprano. Dasha arrives and
also revels in her handiwork, saying the pristine water pressure was the hardest item to get.

They go to a cafe, for brunch, and Vill opines that Dasha would look younger, if she stopped smoking.
True to the throwback flare of her character, Dasha responds that she doesn't want to look younger. But
Vill is distracted, by an attractive woman her age. She demurs, marveling that "this neighborhood is
nice."

Dasha recognizes Vill's interest and encourages it, saying "many lovers" keeps one "limber," while
flexing her shoulders. Vill looks aghast, like an embarrassed teenager – and like she would rather Dasha
would stop doing that.

Still, Dasha reminds Vill that although "lovers," are fine (like James Bond), falling in love and getting
married is not, since assassins are different from normal people, who are accustomed to an ease and
comforts that assassins simply cannot afford to have. "Winners win alone." She warns Vill not to go
down "that path" again.

Vill's expression hardens and she says she dealt with it – but Vill is obviously more invested in Eve, than
the fling, in Paris, who was also "dealt with." Dasha needles her again, and Vill repeats this, with even
more steeliness and resolve, as if to convince herself.

Anyhow, Dasha appreciated the homage, in Vill's latest mission. Vill's smiles happily and they
good-naturedly quibble over using paprika or turmeric, as if they are cooking. Tips of the trade.

However, Vill's eye is on the prize and she is immediately looking toward what's next: a promotion.
Dasha says first there will be a management project (group work), and begins going into the details of
this, another crawl-before-you-walk kind of speech. Vill is disappointed but still assents, saying she
knows, in an exasperated, exaggerated way. She stares, with a long, hard look, off into the distance,
wondering how she ever got mixed up in all of this.

---

The scene (and the themes of this season) reminded me of a Counting Crows' song, called "Mr. Jones,"
from 1993, which is fitting in Vill's short-lived Quixotic quest, to keep up with the Joneses and get a
white picket fence. Like the song's protagonist and 'Mr. Jones,' Vill and Dasha "stare at the beautiful
women." They "tell each other fairy tales" and try to "look into the future."

Vill, in this season especially, embodies the sentiments of the lyric, "when everybody loves me, I will
never be lonely." She is trying to find unconditional love, of a family and a wife, and shake the loneliness
she has carried with her, throughout the entire show (and her entire life).

Vill, as she tries to climb the ladder of the Twelve, seems to consider how "we all want to be big, big
stars, but we don't know why, and we don't know how." All she can feel is a driving ambition to be
somebody - “when I look at the television, I want to see me, staring right back at me."

[Other coincidences: In the song, "Mr. Jones," there is a 'Maria,' that the song's protagonist likes; Vill
tries unsuccessfully to marry a Maria. Another song, on the album, "August and Everything After," is
entitled "Anna Begins;" Vill used to be in a relationship with an Anna. Of course, though, these are
pretty common names.

The song protagonist and Mr. Jones order "bottles" (is it champagne or is it vodka?) "down at the New
Amsterdam." Vill had a particularly tough time, in the actual Amsterdam, in Season 2, while waiting for
Eve to pay attention to her again – but Eve was too busy chasing the Ghost.

Finally, in "Mr. Jones," the protagonist wants to paint a Picasso-like painting, with his favorite colors,
"blue and red and black and grey;" in Berlin, Vill wears a Danish blue, red and black jacket, and Comer
has said that is one of her favorite Vill outfits, on the show. Gray is his "favorite color;" gray may end up
Vill's new favorite color: it is the color of her suit, during her first kiss with Eve.]

4. The Blue Coast

Vill and the new recruit, Felix, sit, looking at the sea. Like in Anchorman, Vill talks about how she is kind
of a big deal, around here and that Felix shouldn't make her look bad. When Felix accepts all of her
terms, without question, Vill softens and says the bully must have beat him up pretty bad.

They have a heart-to-heart, because Felix opens up that it was his boyfriend that the bully beat up
pretty badly, that caused Felix to take up the Twelve's way. He goes on to say that even after that act of
heroism, the boyfriend was afraid of him and no longer wanted to know him. He cannot begin to
describe what it is like to lose someone you love, but Vill is able to fill it in for him, since she has lost Eve,
under similar circumstances.

A few beats of "Cry Baby Cry," by Unloved come on, before the scene cuts. This is Eve and Vill's song,
playing when they met in the woods, when Eve came to Vill's house, in Paris, and when Vill came to
Eve's house, the second time, in Season 2. Vill realizes, with a pensive face, that she is not alone, and
that she is not the only one to lose love. She is also not the only one to lose love, because the other
person was afraid to leave a normal life.

5. Eve is back

Vill returns to her amazing Barcelona apartment, and smiles at a note from Dasha about pizza in the
fridge, and which days to take the trash out. She has acclimated to her new domesticated life so well.
She walks by the bedroom door, to the kitchen table, to set down her groceries, and doesn't notice
when Konstantin sits up, in the other room.
When Konstantin comes to the doorway, Vill is taken aback, and Konstantin reaffirms that it is indeed
him. Vill's shock wears off and she begins to throw things at him, understandably upset that he
abandoned her, at the end of the last season.

She yells that Konstantin doesn't get to come to her house, without an invitation anymore – like when
he came by, and drank "out of a tiny cup," in Season 1. Konstantin instantly becomes apologetic, to
placate her. Vill kicks him (with her cowgirl boots) and says she will “think about it.”

Vill is still angry as Konstantin recovers and says she looks great, while he continues to butter her up. Vill
retorts that she is becoming a Keeper, which is even more powerful than Konstantin, as has been noted,
since Season 1. Konstantin scoffs, "Dasha told you that?"

However, Vill is still livid, and says that she trusts Dasha more than him, at this point, adding that she is
at a loss as to why she should trust him anymore. Many people have betrayed Vill in her life, and she
looks genuinely hurt that Konstantin would end up among them.

Whether Vill can trust Konstantin, or not, is put on hold for a moment, as Konstantin drops a bomb on
Vill: Eve is still alive. He saw her very much alive and totally wasted, at Kenny's funeral. Vill is in disbelief,
looking almost insulted. Konstantin dutifully explains that when you get angry (like Vill is now) and leave
without checking if someone is dead, "miracles happen."

As he is saying "miracles," Vill begins to turn away from him, and he begins to blur out, in the
background. The room goes into a Dutch tilt, and the sound of Konstantin going on about London, fades
away. Vill looks petrified, almost terrified, like when she recognized Eve, in the bridge club photo, long
ago.

The shot of Vill turning away, is briefly replayed, from Konstantin's point of view, and he realizes the
news has deeply affected her, reaching out for her shoulder. She somewhat snaps out of her panic,
closing her eyes, like she's coming up for air, from deep underwater, and shrugs his hand away, claiming
"I'm fine."

She is very much not "fine," but still has the wherewithal to ask how Konstantin knew she was back with
the Twelve. Konstantin never stopped working with the Twelve (does he ever stop working with the
Twelve?) and remains very slippery, indeed. Vill doesn't have the headspace to deal with him anymore
and he leaves.

Her exasperation at Konstantin evaporates, and she's feels like she is back in a soup again, back
underwater. Vill is both tearing up – a tear manages to roll down her face – and beginning to smile, at
the same time. It is like she is both feeling anger that Eve is alive, and relief that Eve is alive – and then
finally glee and jubilation that meaning has come back into her life again.

Slowly, she begins to laugh. One thing is for certain: Vill still loves Eve, but beyond that, she doesn't
know what to feel.
6. The piano

In Andalusia, Vill is playing a single note on an antique piano repeatedly, and comparing this sound with
a tuning fork, in order to fix the piano. The owner of the house comes by and Vill says the piano is flat.
Being the genius that she is, she identifies that the piano is off by four centitones, which is pretty hard to
do, with the naked ear.

However, the owner of the house is very rude and condescending to Vill, who is ostensibly here to tune
her heirloom piano. The owner leaves and Vill doesn't seem to show any reaction to this, only to turn
back to the piano, and continue trying to fix it, while looking very grave. Of course, though, Vill's job is
only a cover for a hit. She picks up one of the small, sharp tools, used to tune a piano, and goes to find
the owner's study.

Briefly, there is another top-down shot, from an oval opening, in a mezzanine, of Vill, just like at her and
Maria's wedding, emphasizing Vill's continued loneliness and isolation, even as she goes about her usual
job. This internal state of affairs, for Vill, will only be underscored with Vill's interest in the baby, and
finding her old family, and a family, in general.

When Vill executes her target, with the piano tuner tool, the owner's head lands on her keyboard, with
the same note Vill was playing earlier, to emphasize the piano downstairs was flat ("bajo"). Things have
come full circle.

---

It's also interesting to note that Vill is dressed kind of like a kid here, with her hair tied up in a
handkerchief and wearing overalls. It could be a work uniform, and/or Vill getting in character, but the
outfit also points to another theme of Season 3.

In Episode 4, Vill will also be dressed in kid-like safari clothes, when she goes to execute the hit on
Kruger's wife, in the garden. Both the piano hit and the garden hit subconsciously rehearse what
ultimately happens when Vill returns home, to Russia.

Even when Vill terminates Kruger, in the car, it seems like she is about to take out Carolyn also, another
older, female authority figure for her. Carolyn offered Vill a job, in the jail, in Season 1, and the end of
Season 3, Carolyn will turn down Vill's change of heart, and desire to work at MI6. All these scenes offer
a great deal of foreshadowing for what is truly bothering Vill deep down, in Season 3, Episode 5.

Helene even puts a finer point on this, when Vill returns from Russia. After acting as a
romantic-maternal figure to Vill, she says Vill will never be able to kill her, because she is a "child" –
despite knowing what Vill did in Russia – meaning that Helene is speaking more psychologically or
symbolically.

Even if Vill were ever to get rid of Helene physically, Helene would still be around, in Vill's heart, like
Anna is. So long as Vill needs this figure or archetype, she can never get rid of it.
It's as if in order to "grow up," Vill needs to remove these old maternal super-egos holding her back, and
haunting her, like her own mother, Dasha, Carolyn, Helene, Anna, etc. This archetype is perhaps the
"Eve" that Vill needs to excavate from her psyche – like in the title, "Killing Eve" – instead of the actual
character Eve.

It's an interesting turn for the season, and I appreciated the focus on female energy, female power, and
female empowerment, in this Season – and the writers' eagerness to delve into the (queer) female
psyche.

Finally, beyond the mother-daughter archetypal basis, the piano hit shows there is a sort of logic running
through some of Vill's hits, that they're not all random. It would be hard to sell Vill as a Robin Hood sort
of figure, but she does function similar to Dexter.

In this hit, like the Tuscany hit, Vill's resolve seems to be strengthened by looking into the target's
character, similar to how Vill smiled at the Tuscany target playing with his grandson, but her expression
hardened when he heartlessly dumped the bucket of ice water on the kid – while he was still smiling.

7. Getting sent back to London

Dasha is upset, because Vill has been acting out of character, since the piano hit (because of her
redoubled desire to have a family). Vill retorts that she is doing all the work. Dasha exclaims that
managing Vill is work, and no one else is prepared to do it. Vill chalks this up to a "bad pension scheme."

Vill still isn't serious, mocking Dasha's heavier Russian accent, while Dasha continues to fume. Dasha's
only response to hand over the postcard, with the next job, face-down. Vill picks it up and turns it
around. The mirth is gone, and Vill's expression goes blank, drained of all emotion. Vill has momentarily
shut down – as all of the memories come flooding back. It is a smaller version of her reaction when she
found out Eve was alive.

Vill has one word, as she flips the card back over, and the audience finds out the mission is in London:
"No." Vill smiles slightly as she says this, as if trying to pretend the possibility of seeing Eve doesn't affect
her. Much like Eve, who also turns down working for Carolyn again, at the restaurant, Vill has seen “how
this ends,” and emotionally, she “doesn't want to go back there” (to paraphrase an unreleased Unloved
song).

Dasha is incredulous, and in a rare, sparkling, bit of honesty for Dasha, Vill admits she's "not ready," and
she can't do it. She grins a fake smile, when she says it, as if congratulating Dasha on forcing Vill to admit
a weakness ('are you happy now?’). Vill normally has a lot of bravado, and pride, when dealing with
Dasha and most other people, so for her to reveal that she is afraid or nervous (especially when faced
with Eve), is a big deal.

It is Dasha's turn to be amused, reveling in Vill's apparent discomfort. But in what she actually says,
Dasha pretends like she doesn't see Vill's anxieties. There's nothing in London that Vill should fear, if Vill
is really over Eve, that is: "All you need is an anorak, and a face like cheese!"

Vill sulks, realizing that she has been cornered, and she stops showing any vulnerability. Vill now acts
like of course she can do this, no problem. But like when Jerome showed Vill a picture of Anna, in
Season 1, this second wind of bravado or confidence, seems less convincing than the first. Eve is one of
the few people who can leave Vill shaken like this.

8. Build-a-bear

In the build-a-bear workshop, it is like Vill is inside her heart. She is like a scared child in there. The
experience speaks to Vill's original wound, because she has never experienced this kind of enforced
innocence, as a kid, that most kids get to go through, so a place like this is completely alien to her, like a
bizarre, Alice in Wonderland-like place. "Psychopathic," as she puts it.

Eve labelled Vill as a "psychopath," in Season 1, but Vill was able to laugh that off as a "stupid word."
Here we encounter a world that Vill is actually afraid of, again like the Magicant, or dream world ("Your
World"), in Earthbound, Ness's nightmare. It's a world of pure unconscious.

It is a place where Vill feels totally vulnerable, but not in a good way. Vill's confusion is somewhat
humorous though, since it helps one understand how much like a child Vill still is, at her core, at the
basement of her psyche (to use an "Inception" term).

A worker hands Vill a bear that can make a recording and Vill weakly smiles her thanks. She is definitely
not in her element here. Only when Vill sees the booth, for recording a message, does she brighten, and
drop all the other stuffed animals that she is carrying. When it comes to Eve, Vill drops everything else.
Eve gives Vill a clarity nothing else does.

The booth is also another opportunity for Vill to be truly honest, which she can't be with most people
(like Dasha and Konstantin), because she is afraid of showing vulnerability. It's like the other stuffed
animals Vill drops are all the emotional baggage she has been carrying around, since she last saw Eve
(The Avalanches did a whole amazing album, on baggage, called "Since I Left You").

The booth is lit in calming orange and pink '80s synthwave colors, and is a much more private space,
where Vill seems cocooned off from the chaos of the shop. The speaker is an ear that offers
unconditional positive regard, something that Vill hasn't had much in her life, and this is one reason why
she is always so guarded.

Vill begins where she left off at, during the wedding speech: still being angry at Eve. She revels in the
catharsis that getting this off her chest brings, and doubles down on the sentiment.

It is only then that she realizes her harsh bravado is a mask for something more – what she truly feels. It
is only here that Vill is able to truly break down and admit to herself what she actually feels: "I can't stop
thinking about you."
The "speak now" instruction, on the screen, is also reminiscent of when Carolyn told Eve to "speak now,
or forever hold your peace," when they were greenlighting bringing Vill in on the Ghost mission. The
finality of the term and how it obviously brings to mind marriages, is meant to suggest that Vill's
romantic feelings toward Eve are genuine this time. She does feel love and she does know what love is
now. Vill has crossed a new Rubicon.

9. The bus kiss

The bus stops and various people get on. One of them is Vill, in an amazing, gray, three-piece suit. As Vill
comes further into view, Eve only continues to look stunned. Finally, Vill is right in front of her, and with
a genuine, 1000-watt grin, says "Hi Eve" – like Vill has appeared out of some dreamy, lesbian version of
an Old Spice ad.

However, this is not a commercial. Eve and Vill have a long, complicated, and storied past. Eve's only
way to evoke this is to jump up and start yelling, pushing Vill toward the front of the bus, with a flurry of
swats. They engage in a kind of slap-fight that's slightly comical, as Vill easily deflects all of Eve's harried
hits.

It's only when they almost reach the bus door, does Vill grab Eve's wrist, in a hold, and says, "I'm not
here for you!" i.e. Vill's target in London isn't Eve. Much like when Vill dropped in for shepherd's pie, in
Season 1, Vill isn't here to hurt Eve. But Eve still has a lot of pent up emotions to expiate, none of them
in word form, and finally lands a real hit on Vill.

Vill head snaps back, like when she got smacked by Dasha, at the wedding. No longer underestimating
Eve, Vill holds her hurt nose, and glares. Even so, Vill does not really try to fight Eve here, merely moving
her to the back of the bus, where there are less people that can get hit, in their lover's squabble. The
way this is shot is similar to when Vill disarms and quells Eve panic, in the bathroom, in Season 1.

Vill is so tough, and tall and strong, in this scene, truly the jilted younger lover. She tosses Eve into one
of the seats and vaults over the top of another, to pin Eve down finally. It's Killing Eve, so Eve and Vill
can almost never meet without some physical confrontation, and just have a conversation (thankfully
this changes by the end of Season 3). All of this grandstanding was just so Vill could ask Eve to smell her
new perfume: "Smell me Eve."

To this seeming strange, nerdy, request, Eve gives an equally strange, but long-awaited answer: a kiss!
The music during this scene is Unloved's cover of the song "Strange Effect," and the sun comes out, as
they hold the kiss. Both Eve and Vill have a “strange effect” on each other, but it makes them "feel
good," and they "like it."

This is big, because Eve has finally admitted, in a huge, physical way, her romantic attraction for Vill,
which she had been suppressing for some time. However, it is still the beginning of Season 3, and Eve is
still on a journey of realizing this love more consciously.
In the next episode, Eve will still violently react to the birthday cake (tossing it off the roof), and the
talking bear (ripping it apart), only to regret her anger and relent. Some things can only be reacted to
physically, viscerally; this is a part of both Eve and Vill's DNA since Season 1.

The same pattern follows, on the bus, but in reverse. Eve kisses Vill and then they both look at each
other thunderstruck. Vill begins to breath heavily, as if about to say something – but Eve has no words
and is not ready to deepen their intimacy just yet. Eve ends this interaction, like how Vill ran away, when
they connected, in the woods, in Season 1. She headbutts Vill into the next century.

That ends the moment. The bus sounds that had dissipated, during their reverie, come back in full force.
Vill clutches her head, jumps up and runs out the bus door. Eve has truly given her a headache, in more
ways than one. Eve has rolled off of the seat, on to the ground, and is also in a daze. Sometimes love hits
you, like a bolt of lightning.

Eve manages to get up, as the bus, is pulling away, and sees Vill looking mournful, on the curb, like a lost
puppy. Meanwhile, the shocked people, on bus, try to take in what they just saw, and stare at Eve, in
terror. Eve sits back down in a seat, floored. Part of her forehead is on its way to turning purple, and her
nose is bleeding.

Meanwhile, Vill is still on the street, by the bus stop, with a giant bruise blossoming on her eyebrow. She
looks really happy, like she has experienced a revelation – like when she was crying over Eve, in
Amsterdam.

Vill is feeling feelings because of Eve. And Eve returned some of her feelings. Their relationship has
changed profoundly, from their struggle in Eve's bathroom, long ago, to their most intimate meeting
ever. She had just been on that bus to show Eve how she had gotten stronger, how she was looking
good, and was supposedly over Eve: "Smell me Eve; what do I smell of to you?" Hence, her perfume was
going to be about victory and Roman centurions.

Instead Vill got a whirlwind of emotions, from Eve, and finally a bit more validation, that their feelings
were real (like the song "Our Real is Real," by Typical Girls). That was one way to cut through all the
analysis, to the sincere heart of the matter.

The climatic kiss scene began with Vill in control and ended with Eve in control. It is the beginning of a
sense of balance, between them, which will continue, in the finale. Their relationship works best, when
neither one of them is trying to dominate the other. Love isn't about Roman emperors, but about a give
and take.