Why is this the only way?
I realize everyone has their own idea of how this series should end. But whenever the grand finale is discussed, it’s inevitably brought up that Eve and Villanelle are going to die. Together. And it’s emphasized with such certainty that I’m always bewildered.
There’s ways they could die together in a blaze of glory that would probably be cool and memorable. My issue is that this is some (assured) ending at all.
I don’t want Eve and Villanelle to die. Especially not together. Not only because it would be yet another tragedy; not only because it’s a boring nihilistic, predictable, and gloomy ending; not only because I adore these characters.
I don’t want Eve and Villanelle to die because it wouldn’t make sense for the story.
Think about it. Killing Eve has established a universe where the characters’ individual choices actually have profound importance and impact on events. Characters make choices who to kill, who not to kill; whose side they’re on and whether to fight or flee. Even the most predominant organizations in Killing Eve, The Twelve and MI6, toe the line when it comes to Villaneve (remember, Hélène refused to outright kill Eve)
The only circumstance that would prompt Eve and Villanelle actually dying would be if they had absolutely no other choice. If somehow, all their decision making power is taken away so they die either by suicide or are overwhelmed by forces they cannot withstand. That requires some kind of final assault or wrath that I can see Hélène unleashing, but not successfully because she has to contend with Villaneve’s lethality (along with Carolyn’s resources)
Not only is agency one of Killing Eve’s crucial themes, but it’s also a series that isn’t afraid to explore options. It plays with the “what if?” questions with a refreshing boldness that constantly keeps it engaging and electrifying to watch. What if Eve stabbed Villanelle? What if Villanelle shot Eve? What if Eve kissed Villanelle on a bus? What if Irina ran over her mother’s boyfriend? What if Konstantin is a traitor? What if he’s Kenny’s father? What if Villanelle has a family? What if she decides to stop killing? What if Eve and Villanelle waltz together in perfect romantic harmony?
What if Eve and Villanelle live?
When the promo photos for Season 3 were released, a lot of this fandom thought that Eve and Villanelle were going to jump off the bridge to their watery deaths. It was such a jump in conclusion based on lots of gay panic and in the end turned out completely wrong. Thankfully instead of a tragedy, the Season 3 finale gave us a triumph.
Around the time Season 1 was released, Phoebe-Waller Bridge had an interview where she was asked how she envisions the entire series ending. At the time, she specifically ruled out Eve and Villanelle living cozily in a seaside cottage, waking up together in bed and living a wonderful dream life. No doubt this strikes a chord with a lot of people.
Phoebe hasn’t said anything else regarding the ultimate ending, but the fandom continues to be split between this idyllic cottagecore/Alaska ending versus the heartbreaking, tear-pouring ending where Eve and Villanelle die.
This perspective that Eve and Villanelle absolutely must die (together) is only a result of this fandom’s severely limited perspective. Can we really imagine nothing better? Are we really so stuck in self pity and trauma and mashochism that we actually want a tragic ending?
Why do we even want Eve and Villanelle to die? Because if the answer to that question isn’t sensible then it follows that killing them also wouldn’t be fitting at all. And if the fandom’s harsh reaction to the Season 2 finale was anything to go buy, we don’t actually want a tragedy. We want Villaneve to be happy.
Honestly I don’t want to hear anything about how their deaths, their finality, would be so much more profound than the ending where both these women live and love and grow together, acknowledging and healing from their violent pasts, secure in the knowledge that they understand and accept each other in a way that runs right down to their souls.
So no, Eve and Villanelle shouldn’t die. Not really. One way I see a “happy” and “tragic” ending being reconciled is if Eve and Villanelle simply fake their deaths. That opens up plenty of possibilities while also letting them stand their ground in a badass way. It’s been done excellently in fan fiction, and I’m sure it can be done in a professional writer’s room that plays off this variation in a satisfying way.
What really makes me sad though is when I see Eve’s and Villanelle’s deaths being pushed as inevitable because it’s the only “realistic” ending. I’ve already established that such a tragic ending wouldn’t make sense thematically. I’d like to point out that Killing Eve hasn’t ever been overly bothered with the realism of its spy/criminal organization thriller aspects. Because it’s a character and drama driven work of art. To suddenly bring up breezy in-universe rules and outside-world realism when trying to justify a tragic ending doesn’t serve the purpose of nurturing a narrative that centres on Eve and Villanelle.
After all, if Niko can survive a pitchfork to the neck then it’s clear Killing Eve plays fast and loose with realism.
Interestingly, Phoebe Waller Bridge originally planned for Killing Eve to be a one season production. And her initial vision was to have Villanelle stab Eve after they have sex. The end.
Except Sandra Oh suggested the brilliant idea of Eve stabbing Villanelle. Phoebe immediately supported it, loved it so much, that she changed the entire course of Killing Eve and compromised her creative vision to do what was best for the characters at the time.
The point is that Sandra’s and Jodie’s influence on the entire production, as well as on the fates of their characters should not be dismissed whatsoever.
Finally, it would be completely ass-backwards for Eve and Villanelle to die because it would betray the source material. Killing Eve has taken plenty of brilliant creative liberties with it so far, and already used (and improved) a lot of plot threads throughout the seasons. Literally the only thing that hasn’t been shown yet is the ending for Villaneve.
The ending Luke Jennings gives Eve and Villanelle in his books is the one they rightfully deserve. They survive everything The Twelve throw at them–but not only that; they live, together, specifically in a cute apartment where they are finally free to be a couple. It’s an ending of peace and joy.
Why would Killing Eve, such a boundary-breaking show filled with immensely talented and creative people, decide to choose a nonsensical, tragic ending that would be completely contrary to its own source material? Why would it risk the inevitable backlash of this fandom? Why wouldn’t it take the concept of happiness in Jenning’s books and then simply give it to us in the grand finale?
The answers to these questions might reveal just how stubborn and strange it is to insist that Eve and Villanelle must die. Together. In fact, they don’t have to die at all. And it’s more than likely at this point they they won’t. Full stop.
Eve and Villnelle dying isn’t really about whether we can collectively agree on what their ending should look like. We can debate endlessly whether that means they do eventually end up in a seaside cottage somewhere enjoying domestic bliss or if they indulge some recreational killing or they’re on the run or they settle down in a nice apartment. Or they’re dead, in the end.
The question of how the story of Eve and Villanelle should end is a matter of whether or not we think they deserve to have a happy ending.
Because Killing Eve is the story about how Eve and Villanelle end up together, not about how they end.
Every story has its beginning and end. But not every ending has to be a death. So please, tell me again that Eve and Villanelle dying is the only way and I will gladly respond that it doesn’t make sense.
annaxmalina
gummygunk
jacobvanloon
vaporwave
