Killing Eve 2×07 “Wide Awake” puts Eve and Villanelle together in a dangerous position as things start to spiral out of control.
In the sixth episode of season 2, Villanelle went undercover to get closer to Aaron Peel, all the while calling Eve out on her BS. Eve and Niko gave romance a go, but Niko left after he realized how involved Eve is with Villanelle.
In episode 2×07, “Wide Awake,” Eve finally seems on the brink of admitting she has a problem, but the institutions aren’t on her side. Meanwhile, Aaron proves to be creepier and creepier with every passing moment… and Villanelle has her work cut out for her.
One more episode after this one! Let’s dive in.
By the bed together again
Apparently, Aaron Peel knows where Villanelle lives, because he (or one of his minions, probably) drops off a gift and an apology — a Dictionary of Philosophy. Can this man get any more arrogant?
But this means the plan is working, although I wonder what the implications are. If Aaron knows where Villanelle lives, wouldn’t he notice Eve and Konstantin, or the fact that “Billie” has a markedly different style when she’s on her own? From what we later find about in this episode, it’s weird that he doesn’t have more insight into the discrepancies in Billie’s story.
Eve shows up at Villanelle’s apartment to drop off a file, and instinctively starts taking off her clothes (-(okay, so it was her sweater, but that’s not what it looked like) — before Villanelle tries to coax her into telling her what she’s worried about — but instead, Eve turns the questions on her. She wants to know if what Villanelle said at the AA meetings was real: does she really not feel anything?
It seems that she’s trying to figure out if they really are that similar. Villanelle’s response is simple: “I feel things when I’m with you.”
The moment is broken, though, by two girls leaving the bathroom and thanking her for last night. Eve is visibly uncomfortable, despite Villanelle’s assurances:
“Don’t be jealous. I’m not with them when I’m with them.”
Aaron is a dating nightmare — and so is Eve
The date with Aaron is a Fifty Shades of Grey-level nightmare. You know, like the dinner you might think you would like but is extremely creepy when it really happens? Aaron books the entire restaurant, and then just sits there watching Villanelle eat food he already ordered. He seems to enjoy seeing her eat, and makes little approving noises the whole time.
Intensely uncomfortable. Thankfully, Villanelle isn’t exactly self-conscious.
Aaron thinks “Billie” is a girl who’s after him for his money, and that’s why she infiltrated AA to befriend his sister. He’s not wrong about 90% of it, but he’s too arrogant to delve any deeper and find out the truth. He shoots himself in the foot and invites Villanelle to join him in Rome, where he’ll have a series of meetings. And Villanelle shouldn’t worry, he insists… “I won’t touch you.”
But Eve, meanwhile, is freaking out on Villanelle’s voicemail, because she thinks Aaron might get Villanelle “murdered or something.” As if anyone could dupe Villanelle into murder. It’s either that, or she’s jealous of the date.
One rule: Don’t kill anyone.
Now that they have an in, MI6 scrambles to arrange the operation. At Carolyn’s house, the plan is all laid out. Eve will go off to Rome to manage Villanelle, but they have to decide on someone else. Konstantin offers to join, but Eve doesn’t want him around (again, why isn’t anyone talking about Konstantin’s criminal involvement?!)
“Don’t forget what she did to Anna,” he warns knowingly, reminding Eve that he knows Villanelle more than she does. But instead, Hugo it is.
There’s only one crucial rule to this operation: don’t kill Aaron. Carolyn is very clear about that:
“I hate to be strict, but she really musn’t kill anyone.”
That’s the one rule, and Carolyn is clear that if they violate it, they’re on their own.
Kenny is still upset about Eve firing him, but nevertheless he approaches her as she’s leaving the house, under the excuse of returning a charger. He tells her not to go to Rome — something else is afoot, which he knows about from the new team he’s been assigned to. But Carolyn interrupts them, and he’s unable to tell Eve anything else.
I’m happy Kenny continues to be featured in this show, because it’s clear he’s going to be a returning character… he’s just taking a short break for the moment. But what does he know?! It must be something really bad, for him to go out of his way to warn Eve after the way she treated him.
Konstantin gives Villanelle a microphone in a birth control pill, and informs of her of the safeword: “gentleman.” For the record, both Carolyn and Villanelle think it’s stupid.
Double Love Triangle Face-off
But before she leaves the U.K., Villanelle has one more thing she has to do. She finds Niko moving his belongings into storage, assisted by an over-eager Gemma. She makes a show of proving how much she knows about both of them — revealing her conversation with Gemma, and the fact that she spied on Niko and Eve’s shortlived stint with BDSM. “Always close the curtains. You never know what kind of pervert could be outside.”
Gemma is extremely annoying throughout this entire conversation.
What is Villanelle there for, though? Apparently, to get Niko’s recipe to Shepherd’s Pie. Oh, and to host some hostage couple’s counseling, in which she forces Niko to admit that he doesn’t love Gemma, but that he does love Eve. “She’s my wife.”
It looks like she’s killing Niko, but she also says that Eve would never forgive her if she were to do that.
Eve finally sees a shrink
Eve sits at the waiting room and a very strange guy starts flirting with her unprompted. It turns out that she’s at some kind of psychiatric ward, and the man has murdered three women — so of course Eve finds him attractive.
She’s finally sitting down to speak to Martin, the man Carolyn sent to psycho-analyze the team. Eve is afraid to admit that she’s still unsure about whether or not she can handle Villanelle professionally, but Martin is concerned that Eve might not even be able to handle her personally. He asks her how much of the day Eve spends thinking about Villanelle, how it’s affected her life, and finally how she feels.
Sandra Oh does a stellar job as Eve admits:
“I feel… wide awake.”
Martin reveals that he recommended against including Eve in the investigation, because she’s too involved and too compromised, but his recommendation was ignored. He tries to persuade her to be careful and remove herself from the operation — but while Eve is visibly disturbed by the revelation, she doesn’t agree to do so.
I’m glad that people are finally making her see how serious her situation is, though.
Aaron is gross and also too smart
Eve and Hugo set up at a hotel near Aaron’s lavish palace, and panic a little when Villanelle’s microphone is never put to use. Aaron has essentially confiscated Villanelle’s possessions — including her “contraceptives,” which she “won’t be needing.” Okay Aaron, but if they were real pills she’d soon be withdrawal bleeding. Aaron clearly knowns nothing about how birth control works. In the end, Eve has to get Villanelle a microphone hidden in a piece of restaurant bread.
At first, it seems like Villanelle might actually be seduced by this lavish, comfortable lifestyle in which she receives expensive clothes and food for free, but Aaron’s personality ruins it all. He wants a doll he can watch both in person and on his cameras, and he wants her to do exactly what he wants, whether it’s staying still, feeling bored, or changing her outfit. In many ways, Aaron is pushing all the same wrong buttons Julius pressed.
Villanelle doesn’t like being controlled. And I’m sure Aaron is going to find that out the hard way, no matter how powerful he is.
At the meetings, she’s supposed to be bored, but it turns out that she’s the most ideal person to be a spy, given that she speaks so many languages. She’s probably better-equipped than anyone at MI6. Aaron’s weapon is painfully obvious: it’s Edward Snowden’s worst nightmare, and it’s what he’s been hinting at since we met him. It’s kind of disappointing.
Afterwards, Aaron and Villanelle sit together in the couch and talk about the voids they fill within them, loneliness, and their urges to be or not to be social. Aaron reveals that he’s looked her up — and that there’s nothing real out there.
Eve gets pissed at Hugo for not doing his job right, to which he replies “maybe you shouldn’t have fired Kenny.” I never thought I’d respect Hugo this much.
Part of me wonders if Aaron is just a plant by MI6 or the Twelve to get Eve or Villanelle to do something very specific. He’s almost too easy, and he’s succeeding at catalyzing whatever was brewing between these two women.
Hugo gets it, but very disrespectfully
After all this unsettling interaction between Villanelle and Aaron, Villanelle goes to bed — and so does Hugo. Wearing the earpiece, Eve settles down for what she probably thought would be a boring night… but Villanelle starts speaking to her, knowing that she’s listening. She persuades Eve that she has to let go once in a while.
And Eve decides to do an impulsive and also despicable thing. She wakes Hugo up, tells him to be quiet, and proceeds to have sex with him — all the while listening to Villanelle in her ear without telling him. It’s a very scummy thing to do without informing the other person, and particularly problematic given how upset she was with how Niko was being with Gemma.
The morning after, she hears Villanelle’s voice in her ear bidding her a good morning, and treats Hugo like crap. Soon after, he sees the earpiece. “Thanks for the threesome,” he says bitterly, and I hope Eve feels bad for it.
We end the episode with a peek into what’s inside the storage room. Niko wakes up what seems like hours later, having been knocked unconscious, and finds Gemma asphyxiated on the couch. Villanelle got revenge on Gemma for Eve, and officially wrecked Niko’s entire life.
Killing Eve 2×07 was merciless, and now we have many questions. Will Niko confront Eve? What is Carolyn’s plan? Is she trying to get both of them to break? What does Kenny know? And is Aaron actually just a pawn? One more episode to go!
See you next week for our (probably) terrifying Killing Eve finale episode, 2×08 “You’re Mine.” Which sounds like something Villanelle would say, but also a lot like what Carolyn and MI6 think of Eve.
Killing Eve airs on Sundays at 8 p.m. on BBC America. See trailers, clips, and the full episode guide here.
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