I’ve never shipped Villaneve. I know, you’ve got your pitchforks ready after a statement like that. But hear me out. I’ve never shipped Villaneve because I’m the kind of person that sees things in black and white, or good and bad. And for the longest time I’ve seen Eve as the good and Villanelle as the bad. The middle ground has been hard to process, or accept. But this season, especially this episode of Killing Eve, titled “Beautiful Monster” redefined in my mind who these women are, what they stand for, and made me feel differently when it comes to them shipping wise.
I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no good or bad on Killing Eve. There are shades of grey, left and right, and you have to choose your own line in the sand when it comes to these characters and the world they live in. And I think I’m starting to understand that the line in the sand that I’ve had since season 1 and 2 has shifted. That’s big for me; you can even say game changing.
So, shipping wise I’ve always thought that Villanelle and Eve were toxic representation. They brought out the worst in each other, and I hated when people told me that this show wasn’t about the love shared between these two women when it clearly is, especially after Carolyn’s comment to Eve about Villanelle, and the song playing over the scene where Eve missing Villanelle at the train station in “Beautiful Monster.”
I judged people for what they shipped. I called them out for seeing something healthy between Eve and Villanelle. And I’ve come to the point in season 3 where I understand that Killing Eve is the story of two psychopaths in love with each other. It might’ve not started that way for me or Eve, but it’s been that way for Villanelle since day one of this show and it’s been that way for many fans of Killing Eve since the very start.
Because of that, I apologize to anyone that I ever judged or called out for shipping these two. So what if they’re not the healthy, perfect kind of queer representation. The fact remains that they are queer representation and everything isn’t black and white like my methodical brain wants to paint it out to be. Villanelle and Eve are the ying to the others yang and that’s not going to change anytime soon. If anything, their relationship will get stronger.
And this is coming from someone queer herself and something I can’t believe I’m saying after all this time; but if straight people can have toxic, twisted, out of this world, or morally questionable ships without people batting an eyelash, why can’t Killing Eve fans have Villaneve? Maybe that’s equality; the ability to choose amongst a multitude of choices because our queer lives have become normal parts of the conversation?
That brings me to Carolyn’s words to Eve, “Heroes only get the girl in Hollywood” in “Beautiful Monster.” Eve isn’t the hero, no matter how much she painted herself to be one, or how much I painted her in mind as one. She’s a budding psychopath who finds solace and comfort in someone like Villanelle. And her almost killing Dasha, well, Eve took great pleasure in that. That’s not what a “hero” does. So, if she’s not a hero, does that mean she gets the girl?
The girl being Villanelle, aka the “Beautiful Monster”?
What do you guys and gals think?
Personally, yes. I think Carolyn’s words and the entirety of this season means that Eve gets the girl, aka Villanelle. It doesn’t matter if I’m not sure if I ship these two or not; leaning towards the former. The fact of the matter remains that they are meant for each other, and will find their way back to each other. Why? Because they’re the only two that understand each other. And isn’t that what we want in this life? I know I want that in my life.
That call at the end, can we talk about that before we wrap things up? It was absolutely romantic, and it it were a scene between a man and a woman, people would be on it like white on rice! That call was an “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you” from Villanelle; a companion to Eve waving at Villanelle and basically saying, “I’m looking for you because I believe in you.” They’ve been so angry and so lost without each other, that I think this is them waving a white flag and starting to finally find their way back home, aka to each other, for the first time in ages.
I’m here for it.
And who knows, maybe by the end of season 3, they’ll make a full fledged off the wall shipper out of me. For I have fallen out of love when it comes to many ships in my life and I’m bound to fall in deep love with new or old ones along the way, including Villaneve. So, bring it on, Killing Eve. Test me and help me see what your vision is all about, and what many others have seen from the very start! I’m almost there and need but a push!
Killing Eve airs Sundays at 9/8c on BBC America.
Well… I have to say that I’m puzzled at 1) why people *have to* romanticize Villaneve, 2) why the show chose to romanticize Villaneve. I came across your early reviews and agreed with you 100% their relationship is toxic, and I felt like I was sane. What drew me so much to the show was the fact that they were self-aware of it. like “yeah we are writing a destructive obsession and we are not pretending to be writing anything else”. and I truly enjoyed it as for one I am really into the explorations of our often times disastrous desires. If one show managed to be honest when portraying it, it was killing eve. I dig it. So it never sit well with me that people had to ship them, as in romantically although I want the sexual tension pay-off. but to each their own.
But then… season 3 happened they went full on romanticizing it. So there are three options 1) Eve goes insane because of trauma and “accepts” Villanelle and we are supposed to find it cute; 2) Villanelle is redeemed and this becomes a rescue romance, where again a woman is torn apart so that the anti-hero can heal. yikes. 3) they get together, it is messy as hell and the show keeps it’s honesty (which I am not optimistic about because fan service)
The thing is it is no excuse to say Eve is not a good a person, or became twisted. No person caught up in a toxic relationship is an angel, and they tend to get “worse” as it goes, but that doesn’t make it ok. The real question is that why can we only oppose toxic relationships when victims behave like we expect them to. So when a victim is conflicted, torn, adopting destructive behaviors, and alienating those around them but still attracted to the relationship, well then now it’s ok, because they kinda want it and they are not healthy themselves right? Idk… At this point there is no realistic way that this is not plainly romanticizing a toxic relationship and I hope for the love of me they don’t “fix” it, which would be not only disingenuous but just… boring. We can just ready lesbian 50 shades of gray fanfic if we want that. In summary I don’t want Eve to become Harley Quinn nor I want Villanelle to find jesus and fix her issues through Eve’s “love”. They can do better than that.