The BBC America spy series betrayed its central character in its second season, making Sandra Oh's Eve Polastri languish in Villanelle's shadow, says Sophie Gilbert. Season 2, she says, seemed to repeat the Season 1 story, but flip the characters of Eve and Villanelle. "It may be too much to expect fictional characters to stay totally consistent across multiple seasons of television," says Gilbert. "But it’s also hard to think of a series that’s elevated its antagonist to such an extent in its sophomore season while sidelining its central character. The show, after all, is called Killing Eve, and yet it’s easier to imagine it functioning now without Eve than without (Jodie) Comer’s mesmerizingly weird and compelling performance of Villanelle. Oh, who’s equally gifted and addictively watchable onscreen, just hasn’t been given the material this season to measure up. (It’s worth noting that the vast majority of GIFs ripped from the show this season feature Comer, an unscientific analysis that nevertheless suggests how little fun Eve has been allowed.) Being unsympathetic is one thing; being dully idiotic because you’re in the throes of sexual mania or possibly embracing psychopathy yourself is another entirely."
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TOPICS: Killing Eve, BBC America, Emerald Fennell, Jodie Comer, Sally Woodward Gentle, Sandra Oh