It’s been a few weeks since Killing Eve concluded with a series finale that left a dark cloud over the legacy of the hit BBC America drama.
The shocking Killing Eve Season 4 Episode 8 killed off Villanelle (Jodie Comer) in a move that has courted controversy.
If you watch Killing Eve online, you know the episode ended with Villanelle being shot by a sniper after taking down The Twelve.
Now, Luke Kennings, who penned the novels the series was based on, is opening up about the conclusion.
In a column for The Guardian, the writer said that the series-ender pretty much punished Eve and Villanelle.
Jennings was thrilled to see his work adapted to the screen but said “the final series ending took me aback.”
Jennings recalled speaking to Phoebe Waller-Bridge before the series was ordered. He said that Waller-Bridge “and I first discussed Villanelle’s character five years ago, we agreed that she was defined by what Phoebe called her ‘glory’: her subversiveness, her savage power, her insistence on lovely things.”
“That’s the Villanelle that I wrote, that Phoebe turned into a screen character, and that Jodie [Comer] ran with so gloriously.”
Jennings said that the conclusion was “bowing to convention.”
He adds that it was “a punishing of Villanelle and Eve for the bloody, erotically impelled chaos they have caused.”
He shares that “a truly subversive storyline would have defied the trope which sees same-sex lovers in TV dramas permitted only the most fleeting of relationships before one of them is killed off.”
Jennings specifically mentioned Lexa’s death on The 100.
“How much more darkly satisfying, and true to Killing Eve‘s original spirit, for the couple to walk off into the sunset together?”
With the novel series continuing, Jennings left off with the following message for fans:
“I would say this: Villanelle lives. And on the page, if not on the screen, she will be back.”
Various spinoffs of Killing Eve are said to be in development, but there’s no telling if the reaction to the series finale will put the kibosh on any future shows.
What are your thoughts on the last episode’s twist?
Do you think it went too far?
Hit the comments below.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.