‘Killing Eve’ Season 4 Attempts to Bring Balance Back to Its Deadly Romance 

Alci Rengifo

“Killing Eve” has always worked best as a thriller of pure style. The photography, soundtrack and pristine casting make it an immersive experience. These production values helped keep the show afloat even as it strayed last season from what made it special. Now for its fourth and final season, “Killing Eve” returns to the roots with total focus on Sandra Oh’s Eve and her twisted, conflicted bond with maniac Villanelle (Jodie Comer). Oh and Comer are still the best thing about this series, which like so much Peak TV content, has suffered from a great premise that only had enough fuel for a good two seasons. There’s still promise here, if the series can stop trying so hard. 

The early episodes of the season suggest Villanelle is seeking literal redemption after all that happened last season. She is spending most of her time at a church, seeking baptism and new beginnings, while having hallucinatory visions of Christ (also played by a bearded Comer) sitting on her couch to dispense spiritual advice. She spends her time with Vicar Phil (Steve Oram), who is suspicious of Villanelle’s intentions, and his daughter May (Zindzi Hudson), who has a naïve attraction for the reforming assassin. Meanwhile Eve has left MI6 and works as a private security contractor with Yusuf (Robert Gilbert). As they chase down cases, Eve and Yusuf also have a casual sexual arrangement that meets their needs and helps Eve distract from the lingering memories of Villanelle. Her own former boss, Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) has been downgraded to a cultural attaché at MI6 but the case of an unknown killer tempts her to seek out old contacts and get back in the game. Everyone will be drawn back in as Eve still wants to hunt down the nefarious organization The Twelve and Villanelle’s murderous impulses can’t be kept at bay.

Longtime viewers of “Killing Eve” will recall those early days when the show was the work of creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who based the premise on novels by Luke Jennings. By season three, Waller-Bridge had left and a turning wheel of showrunners followed. Emerald Fennell helmed season two and Suzanne Heathcote took care of season three. Now writer Laura Neal tries to find some balance for the final round. It’s hard to fault Neal for attempting to maintain structure with a premise that can be its own enemy. The first season was great because of the twisted romance aspect to a brilliant, queer idea that also packed plenty of classic suspense. Like many Peak TV plots, this one could have been resolved fifteen episodes ago. One senses the fatigue in the narrative with the very tone of the first episodes. 

The opening is dynamic enough, with Eve riding a motorcycle through overcast Russian landscapes before barging in on Villanelle’s former handler, Konstantin (Kim Bodnia), who is woefully underused. It’s a thrilling opening that then settles for a rather mundane pace. Much time is dedicated to Villanelle singing and walking around her new church space, with May longingly gazing at her. The killers’ drive to reform herself and prove to Eve she’s changed is given little in terms of deep context. The same goes for Eve, who looks supremely bored doing surveillance with Yusuf while tossing around some straight-faced, flirty banter. Much of the material is all set up for what amounts to at least four hours out of the season’s running time. We briefly catch up with characters like Hélène (Camille Cottin), an agent of the Twelve training a new agent who will undoubtedly play a bigger role later on. Carolyn has a bit more energy. Sent to be in Mallorca, she is still obsessed with hunting down the Twelve, who she blames for killing her son last season. There’s more drive to her character as she meets contacts, sneaks behind her superiors to look at files and search for clues.

No “Killing Eve” fan should be surprised by two main developments: Villanelle appears at Eve’s apartment to let her know she’s still around, which of course rattles Eve’s sense of peace and later, the supposedly reformed killer does seem to give in to her urges, killing two doomed souls at a campsite before walking off into the night. It’s the way “Killing Eve” was always supposed to carry on. The great question remains how this affair will resolve itself. We are barely at the early stages of this season, so it is difficult to pass final judgment. For now, this is a stale opening that will hopefully lead to a better, fiery climax.

“Killing Eve” season four premieres Feb. 27 and airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on BBC America.