Viewers have taken to social media to air their grievances with how the show ended
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY BBCA
When the first episode of this final chapter of the popular spy thriller, Killing Eve, aired, viewers were on the edge of their seats. The show had previously been critiqued for queer baiting, but this time around, fans were pleased by how the show was unapologetically queer af.
killing eve is no longer even trying to pretend it’s for straight people anymore god bless
— flylow (@flylowke) February 27, 2022
But the finale has left fans devastated with its unexpected ending. Spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned.
The four season long homoerotic game of cat and mouse finally showed Eve (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodie Comer) accepting their feelings for one another and joining forces to take down The Twelve, an organisation that utilised assassins to commit murders.
As the loved up couple celebrated their victory on a boat’s deck, a sniper shot Villanelle multiple times and she fell into the water. It was then revealed that Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) had ordered the hit and we see Eve unleashing a guttural scream of heartbreak (match by the ones released by the viewers watching at home). Fans around the world stared in disbelief as the words “The End” appeared on screen in big red letters.
I haven’t seen this much outrage following a finale since the last episode of Game Of Thrones aired back in 2019. And fans online have made the comparison.
we need to start taking these looks from actors more seriously i’m not even joking. they warned us for AGES #KillingEve pic.twitter.com/ylUBCZIu47
— ivy | mourning v (@sithgaryen) April 10, 2022
So why were fans so disappointed by the ending? It’s important to note that the series is based on a book series penned by Luke Jennings. Whilst adaptations sometimes benefit from diverting from the plot of the original material, many had high hopes of seeing how the show would conclude the relationship between Eve and Villanelle in a way true to the original material.
a genuinely friendly reminder that this is how the books end: them together, living their lives happily. 💞 villanelle doesn’t die and gets a linguistics degree. #killingeve #villaneve pic.twitter.com/eDAAs31jUS
— em / villaneve faked their deaths 💞 (@nbvillanelle) April 10, 2022
The BBC series originally had Phoebe Waller-Bridge at the helm as lead writer for the first season before she stepped back to work on other projects. Many have begged Phoebe to come back and somehow create a special episode with an alternative ending.
I’m at that point when I demand a https://t.co/LNgHp2dmxQ where we, true adoring fans of #KillingEve, collect signatures to release a Phoebe Waller-Bridge rewrite four season.
— Velarg (@velaargaez) April 11, 2022
Sandra’s Eve and Jodie’s Villanelle deserved better. pic.twitter.com/SmBfg3tzzl
I miss you Phoebe, look what they’ve done to your masterpiece #killingeve pic.twitter.com/wZ7Y9hwI3F
— Eve, you’re mine (@MinhNhiChi) April 11, 2022
Some fans have pointed out their frustration with how the show followed the common WLW plot ending in tragedy.
in the same show the useless ex-husband survived a literal pitchforking but they killed the lesbian. killing eve has truly embarrassed me. pic.twitter.com/Ekm6n7Pyqp
— :/ (@fleabaged) April 10, 2022
killing eve was one of the only show that broke most wlw stereotypes in media until the stupid tragic ending
— nur (@villanellefilms) April 10, 2022
In an interview with Elle, Jodie Comer, Sandra Oh and head writer Laura Neal addressed the ending.
“It was really difficult to find the best ending,” admitted Laura. “The truth is we talked about loads. We were always discussing ‘What’s the truth of the endpoint of these characters journeys?’ If we look at where Eve and Villanelle began and we look at what’s happened to them across the four seasons, what’s the truth of the end point? It would have been easy for it to feel very maudlin, I think, or to go completely the other direction and make it feel too funny. So striking the right balance between the two of them felt really important.”
Sandra stated that she thought it was true to the show and added: “As an audience you want to be satisfied. You want to know. Like, ‘I want to be satisfied. I want it tied up in a bow. I want to understand it.’ But that’s not it.”
Jodie felt like Villanelle’s fate was inevitable. “She’s like a cat with nine lives. What I loved about the moment was that was a really selfless act that she did that caused it. It felt right that in that moment she protected Eve. There was something about that shielding, I think, that signified how much she had changed. She was trying so desperately to change at the beginning and I don’t think she ever realized how much she had, which is so sad. That moment really shows how Eve changed her life.”
I must admit that I find many endings to my favourite shows and book series anti-climatic or disappointing. After all you’ve spent years and years imagining how things will conclude in your mind. At least there will always be fan fiction for those who want to escape into alternative endings.
killing eve fanfic writers going to fix the ending as soon as the episode ended #KillingEve pic.twitter.com/zjjhW3KiiX
— Jordy 🌱 (@RED3CORAT3) April 10, 2022
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