Category: Killing Eve

Looper: Why Did Killing Eve End After Season 4?

The series finale of “Killing Eve” aired in April 2021, just a little over four years after the espionage thriller originally premiered in 2018. When it initially debuted, the BBC America original series was met with rave reviews across the board from both TV critics and casual viewers alike (via Rotten Tomatoes). Its success helped cement creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s status as one of the most esteemed screenwriters working in TV. However, while the success of “Killing Eve” Season 1 only further raised Waller-Bridge’s profile, the writer and creator did not reprise her role as showrunner on any of the series’ subsequent seasons.

Instead, “Killing Eve” began a tradition of passing its showrunner baton to a new writer each season. Consequently, while it was Waller-Bridge who oversaw the production of “Killing Eve” Season 1, it was ultimately “Promising Young Woman” director Emerald Fennell who ran the series’ second season. Suzanne Heathcote took over for Fennell when it came time to make “Killing Eve” Season 3, and it was later Laura Neal who ran the thriller’s 4th season.

After maintaining its unique behind-the-scenes tradition for four years, though, “Killing Eve” ultimately came to an end with its 4th season. Now, nearly two whole years later, it’s worth asking: Why was “Killing Eve” Season 4 the series’ last?

Killing Eve ended for purely creative reasons

In January 2020, BBC America handed out a Season 4 renewal for “Killing Eve.” The news came just a few months prior to the show’s Season 3 premiere, but it wasn’t until well over a year later that BBC America also announced that Season 4 would be the espionage thriller’s last. The network’s announcement understandably came as a major shock to fans, especially coming off the events of the “Killing Eve” Season 3 finale, which set the stage for the series to move in a refreshingly new direction in its future episodes.

While the announcement initially came as a surprise, both BBC America and the series’ creative team made it immediately clear that “Killing Eve” had not, by any means, been canceled. Instead, the show’s writers and producers had simply determined that the series’ story demanded that it come to an end sooner rather than later. The Hollywood Reporter noted that was the case in its coverage of the surprise announcement, and some of the show’s key creative members also confirmed as much in their comments about its conclusion.

At the time, Dan McDermott, the President of Entertainment and AMC Studios, even teased, “We look forward to what is sure to be an unforgettable final season and to exploring potential extensions of this compelling universe.”

“Killing Eve,” in other words, came to an end for a fairly simple, straightforward reason. Of course, what few could have predicted when the show’s conclusion was originally announced was just how divisive the “Killing Eve” series finale would go on to be.

Killing Eve’s ending was notoriously divisive

In the “Killing Eve” Season 4 finale, the series’ two leads, Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), finally get together. Unfortunately, their long-awaited romance turns out to be short-lived when Villanelle is tragically shot to death in the episode’s closing moments by an assassin hired by none other than Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw).

To call the series’ final moments dark or morbid would be a massive understatement, and fans of “Killing Eve” didn’t hesitate to share their disappointment over the show’s conclusion. Essays were written explaining why viewers believed the show’s series finale ultimately betrayed its previously subversive spirit by playing into several widely disliked TV tropes. Even author Luke Jennings, whose novels inspired “Killing Eve,” wrote an article for The Guardian criticizing the BBC America drama’s conclusion. In the end, many even named Villanelle’s death in the “Killing Eve” finale one of the worst TV moments of 2022.

In case that wasn’t bad enough, the divisive nature of the “Killing Eve” finale hasn’t just tarnished the show’s legacy for many of its fans, but it’s also called the viability of any potential spin-offs into question. It was notably reported in April 2022 that a “Killing Eve” spin-off centered on Carolyn Martens’ early years as an MI6 spy was being developed, but no updates or announcements related to the project have been released since then.

Taking all of this into account, it seems safe to say that “Killing Eve” fans will likely be debating for a long time whether or not the show really should have come to an end when it did.

Source: Looper

Deadline: ‘Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer & Fiona Shaw Tease Final Season And Say Goodbye

EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of BBC America‘s premiere of Killing Eve’s fourth and final season, Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, and Fiona Shaw are among others the cast and crew saying goodbye to the series in the exclusive featurette above.

The eight-parter will debut on Sunday, February 27 at 8:00 pm ET/PT on BBC America and AMC+. After a simultaneous premiere, AMC+ subscribers will be able to view episodes one week in advance of linear viewers, with the exception of the series finale, which will air concurrently.

“It feels bittersweet to be shooting the final season but I’m also a big believer in leaving something while it’s good,” Comer says in the retrospective.

Adds Oh, “It’s been a tremendous gift to be able to, as I’m changing as a person, to put it in the work.”

Fiona Shaw, who portrays MI6 boss Carolyn Martens, says she feels “incredibly sad” that the show is coming to an end. She continued, “I’ve been in some wonderful shows in my life, but in the end, it’s only a handful that you really miss. And this is going to be one of them.”

Comer teased that one of her favorite moments from Season 4 was getting to work more closely with Shaw. As Carolyn and Oh’s Eve Polastri played a cat and mouse game with Comer’s VIllanelle, Comer and Shaw rarely interacted.

“There was one shot which we couldn’t do because we were all laughing so hard, and the tears were literally dripping off my chin,” Comer said.

Shaw shared that Comer’s hysteria “encouraged me to go further.”

Source: Deadline

W Magazine: Jodie Comer Is Also Mystified by Killing Eve’s Cliffhanger

For W’s 2020 TV Portfolio, we asked 21 of the most sought-after names in television to embody their favorite characters from their favorite shows of the past few months—and to explain why we should all be (re-)watching The Sopranos, Ozark, Schitt’s Creek, and, yes, Floor Is Lava.

ust as Jodie Comer was getting a break from being Villanelle, production on The Last Duel, a period drama-thriller starring Adam Driver and Matt Damon, was cut short. Within a few weeks, the 27-year-old actress was once again immersed in the universe of Killing Eve, with quarantine turning each week’s episode of season 3 into an event. As the show delved further and further into Villanelle’s backstory, the fandom surrounding Killing Eve was unavoidable—especially for Comer. The previously straightforward role of a stylish serial killer now had complexity, making her even more irresistible. And fans, including Elton John, were riveted.

Perhaps it’s partly thanks to her growing fame that Comer, in turn, has become a passionate fan of another series: I Hate Suzie, which stars Billie Piper as an actress whose phone gets hacked. Whether or not the leaked images making headlines are real, they turn Suzie’s life upside down and shatter any semblance of privacy. But you don’t have to be a celebrity to get the draw of the series. In this day and age, Comer noted, everyone has privacy concerns. Here, she shares how she navigates her own, along with a few hints at Villanelle’s future.

Where are you right now?
I’m in Ireland, in a place called Dalkey that’s about 20 minutes south of Dublin. It’s really beautiful, actually—like a tiny little town right on the sea. I’m enjoying the village life at the moment.

How long have you been there?
I’ve been here for two weeks. I’m about to resume filming on The Last Duel, which we were in the middle of all the way back in March. The time has kind of come to carry it on. It’s crazy, but it feels like the safest place to be, in a sense, with all the measurements and precautions they’re obviously having to take. They take things extremely seriously. I’m going back to set on Monday, and I’m sure it will be different. But I think it’ll be a good atmosphere to be around, with everybody so ready to get back to work. My costars have been back for a week, so they’ve already started, but so far I’ve only seen them on Zoom calls.

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InsiderTV: ‘Killing Eve’s Emmy-Nominated Jodie Comer on Villanelle & Eve Heading Into Season 4

Killing Eve took a deep dive — well, as deep as it could go while maintaining some mystery — into assassin Villanelle’s past in Season 3, and Jodie Comer’s work was recognized with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. (She won that category in 2019.)

That’s just one of eight nods — including for Outstanding Drama Series — the spy thriller received this year; Sandra Oh (as ex-agent Eve Polastri) is up against Comer, and Fiona Shaw (as MI6’s Carolyn Martens) is vying for Outstanding Supporting Actress.

“I think the characters are very authentic. I have incredible fun acting in the show and playing this character and I hope that that’s what resonates and that people are enjoying it ultimately,” Comer tells TV Insider. “People are so invested in [all the characters], and I think that’s a huge testament to the production and the whole team, the effort that goes into making it. … I want people to enjoy it. I want people to get lost in it, the absurdity and the truth.”

Here, Comer looks back on the turning point of Season 3 for her character and Villanelle and Eve’s relationship and shares what she knows about what’s ahead.

Did this year’s nomination feel any different from last year, especially after winning?
Jodie Comer: Honestly, I was just really shocked. It’s such an honor to be nominated again, especially after winning last year. That people think I deserve to be up there again was really, really lovely, to be there with Sandra and the rest of the nominees in such an incredible category.

Killing Eve keeps peeling back the layers of Villanelle and what she wants. How did you get into her mindset for Season 3?
I always knew it was going to come up. They’d hinted about Villanelle’s past and her family coming up, but to be honest, we didn’t really know in what capacity that would be until when we were filming Episode 3 because the script was changing so much up until we actually shot it. What I was really excited about was this opportunity to explore something new. That’s been the biggest challenge coming back for each season, staying true to what people love but also acknowledging and moving and growing with these characters and trying to do it in an authentic, realistic way because people want to see more into Villanelle, but then we never want to get too close that she loses her mystery and her sense of danger.

How I got into her psyche, first off, I felt like I had the groundwork from the past two seasons. And then we had a wonderful director, Shannon Murphy, who directed 5 and 6, and she was just so involved in the material and the characters and brought such a great energy and lots of ideas, so to be honest, I kind of clung on to her for dear life and trusted her judgments and her direction.

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