SummaryWritten by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the adaptions of the novellas by Luke Jennings follows the cat-and-mouse chase by MI5 security officer Eve (Sandra Oh) for the international assassin, who goes by the name Villanelle (Jodie Comer).
SummaryWritten by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the adaptions of the novellas by Luke Jennings follows the cat-and-mouse chase by MI5 security officer Eve (Sandra Oh) for the international assassin, who goes by the name Villanelle (Jodie Comer).
Killing Eve is a spy story, a murder mystery, a spellbinding character drama, and a gloriously wicked comedy. It all comes together to make one of the year’s most delightful and captivating series that will hopefully play on for many seasons to come (Serendipitously, the series was renewed for Season 2 just before this review published).
Alternating effortlessly between weirdly funny and chillingly tense, Killing Eve is the utterly endearing love child of oddball British novelist Luke Jennings and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who writes and stars in the eccentric Brit television comedy Fleabag.
Grounded by outstanding performances from Sandra Oh (in her first regular-series role since leaving Grey's Anatomy) and Jodie Comer (The White Princess), Eve is an enthralling trip that follows a familiar path and then suddenly veers off course, never ceasing to shock and satisfy. The series manages to be as gripping as it is kooky and darkly funny, reveling in the tennis match between the two actresses.
The shortcomings beyond tone are frustratingly more simple--a couple of big twists are telegraphed well in advance, mostly by bad decisions the characters otherwise probably wouldn't make; there's too much convenience in parts, etc. But once you get into the rhythm of Killing Eve, it's got Waller-Bridge's signature raw snark, some goofiness tucked into the mayhem and, just when that seems a tenuous thing to pull off, two excellent performances from Oh and Comer to make it work.
The series combines a dry comedy's affection for the mundane with the slick look and tone of a psychosexual thriller, and the result is something wholly original, suspenseful, and caustically funny.
The first four episodes are fabulous. Gritty, intriguing and different. However, from episode five it's all down hill as black comedy and ludicrous writing lead to audience indifference. Performances are good especially Sandra Oh, but the threat of a second series is, on the evidence here, not to be contemplated with any relish. Ultimately less than the sum of its parts.
the problem of this show is that it doesn't know whether it takes it seriously or not, whether it makes fun of spy tropes or has to resort to the most tired of them.
Otherwise it is fun, but not at all in the same league as Hannibal or any far more intelligent -and dare I say beautiful- shows that some pundit critics compare it to.
It's British in its self-deprecatory tone, but as always with English snobs, it's just fake-modesty and wants us to believe it is smarter than the plebs....which it is not.
Promising premise, great cinematography, great acting on Jodie Comer's part, good soundtrack. But man is writing in this show abysmally terrible. Goes from cringy slapstick to serious drama to action and back all within 60 seconds with no segue to speak of. I managed to sit through 3 episodes and have seen every single Hollywood cliche in this mish mash of a plot and can't take in any more. Also, Sandra Oh'a acting is mediocre to say the least.