‘Killing Eve’ Season 2, Episode 7 ‘Wide Awake’ Recap: Eve’s New Rival

As Killing Eve nears its finale, things are getting more exciting. Eve (Sandra Oh) is still on that same spiral towards having her own issues. Meanwhile, Villanelle (Jodie Comer) has opened up a more vulnerable side to her. In the last episode, we saw a longer glimpse into what’s going on in her mind. But, at the same time, she’s reverting back to the same ruthless ways to get what she wants. Props to these two actresses for playing the internal conflicts of these two women so excellently. It’s as if they’re taking you into the messed up minds of their characters. And though the plot has been a little slow at times, everything is where it needs to be. Hopefully, though, Killing Eve will give a little more justice to other fascinating characters like the Ghost.

In this week’s episode of Killing Eve, Villanelle heads to Rome upon Aaron Peel’s (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) invitation. Eve and Hugo (Edward Bluemel) tag along in the shadows to get the operation going. While there, Villanelle discovers Aaron’s absolute controlling side and that they’re not very far alike. Eve, on the other hand, discovers that she might have competition for Villanelle’s attention.

The Invitation

The morning after her ruined dinner with the Peels, Villanelle finds a package from Aaron Peel on her doorstep. The note accompanying it contains an apology and an invitation to lunch from the man himself. A little while later, Eve arrives to hand off another file. But, this little handoff turns into a little sensitive conversation between Eve and Villanelle. However, it ends a little early thanks to Villanelle’s last night’s conquest emerging from the bedroom. So, Eve leaves in a little flurry of jealousy.

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The next day, pink-haired Villanelle meets up with Aaron. He comes on as a super pretentious twat who orders the lady’s meal for her. But, nevertheless, Villanelle enjoys the course. In between courses, Aaron probes into Villanelle’s love of money. Surprisingly, she answers quite honestly saying that she collects things that make her feel something. With this answer, Aaron invites her to go to Rome with him. She immediately refuses to sleep with him but, he assures her that he’s not even going to touch her.

Arriving home, Villanelle finds nine voice messages from Eve. Each message tells her how much Eve’s worried about her. Meanwhile, Eve meets up with Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) and Konstantine (Kim Bodnia) and assures them that her whole operation is going smoothly. However, Eve’s forced to choose who to go to Rome with: cranky, old Konstantine or annoying, perverted Hugo. She inevitably chooses to go with the latter.

Recipe for Shepherd’s Pie

On the other hand, Niko (Owen McDonnell) is going between Gemma’s (Emma Pierson) and his safehold to get and change his stuff. While Gemma’s trying to suggest taking their relationship further, they hear a fake gag from the doorway and turn to find Villanelle smiling at them. When Gemma finally recognizes her from the school party, terror washes over her. Soon enough, Villanelle’s brandishing a knife. And it turns out, the only thing she wanted was Niko’s recipe to Shepherd’s Pie because Eve likes it. But, of course, behind that agenda is something else. So Villanelle keeps them prisoner.

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As she corners them, Villanelle casually asks Niko if he loves Gemma. He says no. Then, Villanelle asks if he loves Eve. After a moment’s hesitation, he finally answers yes. Turns out, that was the wrong answer to having Villanelle set them both free.

Meanwhile, back at Carolyn’s, Carolyn asks how Eve and Villanelle’s mental states were. But, Eve is so ever firm on denying that nothing’s wrong or going wrong with her and Villanelle. Kenny (Sean Delaney) shortly but awkwardly breaks the tension on his arrival. And once he’s gone, Carolyn makes it clear that Villanelle shouldn’t kill Aaron or anyone for that matter on her trip to Rome. Similarly, Konstantin warns Villanelle not to get up to anything lest she and Eve would be on their own.

Before Eve leaves, Kenny calls out to her with the ruse of her forgetting her charger. In that short moment, Kenny warns Eve not to go to Rome. And it seems that the new operation he’s been assigned to has something to do with it. Before he could tell her why and how, Carolyn pops up and Kenny shuts up.

Getting Checked for Psychopath Symptoms

Eve’s next stop is the mental facility where Martin (Adeel Akhtar) works. While waiting, she meets a charming man. And only when Martin arrives and shoos him away with a medic does she find out that that charming man has murdered three women. So much for charming psychopaths. Setting down, Eve asks advice for how to handle a putting a psychopath in a high-stress environment. But, Martin immediately realizes that Eve was actually asking for herself. And through a series of questions, he finds his answers and so does Eve. Martin admits to going against her involvement in the case. And he’s telling her now for her own safety. Before Eve gets through the door, Martin tells her to be careful and not end up in that facility.

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Arriving in Rome, Eve and Hugo find themselves in a decent but also kind of shabby hotel room. Meanwhile, Villanelle is spoiled by Aaron’s palazzo. She arrives to find a lavish room, lavish clothes, and lavish things. But, Aaron didn’t have her own things brought over. The other creepy thing is that while Villanelle tries on her new clothes, Aaron watches her through hidden cameras from his room.

Later on, Aaron takes out Villanelle in her new clothes to a restaurant. He asks how the clothes feel and when Villanelle couldn’t answer, he tells her to touch it as he watches closely. A phone call disrupts the disturbing moment and an Eve in disguise calls Villanelle’s attention. She hands her a piece of bread presumably with a new mic in it since Villanelle’s things are gone. Afterward, Aaron picks up Villanelle so they could go home. But, not before he takes her to an ice cream shop and watches her eat ice cream. (This guy is absolutely beyond creepy, I swear!)

Aaron’s Doll

Back at home, Villanelle coincidentally turns away from Aaron’s camera as she clips on her new mic. And to signal Eve and Hugo, she starts singing “One Way or Another.” If she weren’t an assassin, she could actually pass off as a singer. By dinner, Villanelle emerges in a beautiful light skirt and black top. But, once Aaron sees the belt she paired with it, he orders her to take it off. Another thing he forces on her is the notion that she’ll be bored in his upcoming dinner meeting. Before he leaves, he orders her to stay still on the couch since she looked like a painting until he comes back. Hugo actually teases Eve that Villanelle’s found a match and that she might have competition.

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At dinner, Aaron crashes the arrogance of the men he’s aiming to make a deal with by revealing the very most private details of their life. It’s terrifying but, he does showcase how powerful digital elements are and how it would be in the avenue that it was used as a weapon. By dessert, Aaron turns to grilling Villanelle about who she is. With the billions of people in the world, Aaron claims that she’s the only one he knows nothing about. But, he doesn’t bust her cover. Instead, he actually reveals his true nature, that he’s exactly like her, a cold-blooded psychopath. Their only difference is that, unlike Villanelle, he doesn’t actually want to get in touch with anybody. He fills himself with simply knowing and watching others. And Villanelle seems to have taken a liking to him.

Good Night

With this new development, Hugo suggests informing Carolyn. But, Eve thinks otherwise. While Hugo heads to bed, Eve takes the graveyard shift. In the middle of the night, Villanelle quietly whispers into her mic, talking to Eve, teasing her. Soon enough, she gets to Eve. In a surprising turn, Eve climbs into bed, wakes up Hugo and spends the rest of the night fulfilling her desires.

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The next morning, Eve wakes up and is all business like nothing happened at all. Hugo tried to broach the subject but, Eve wouldn’t have it. Instead, she sends him out for coffee. Disgruntled, Hugo dresses up. And before he opens the door, he thanks Eve for the threesome, nodding towards the earpiece for Villanelle that Eve just took off.

Meanwhile, Niko wakes up back in his safe hold with a wound on his head. The first thing he looks for is Gemma. And he turns around only to find a horrifying sight. Gemma’s dead, with plastic wrapped around her head. And it only looks bad for Niko from here on out.

Killing Eve continues Sunday, May 26th with “You’re Mine” at 8/7c on BBC America and AMC.