‘Killing Eve’ Season 3, Episode 6 ‘End Of Game’ Recap: Exodus

It’s kind of ironic that this week’s episode is titled “End of Game” when clearly, we’re still at the climax. Villanelle freaking wants out! And no, it doesn’t seem to be one of her tantrums. She sincerely wants out of The Twelve and out from under their thumbs. After last week’s beloved family reunion on Killing Eve plus the fact that The Twelve are clearly screwing her over, Villanelle (Jodie Comer) has had it. As it turns out, Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) has been way ahead of her.

But, really, can you ever screw over The Twelve? I’d love to see these two try it though. That’d be fantastic! And hold up, that’s not the only revelations we’re getting this week on Killing Eve. As much as the show loves holding back on us, we’re getting a lot of meat on our dishes tonight. Oh, and did I mention that the mustache is alive? Without further ado, let’s dive into this week’s shenanigans on Killing Eve.

Piss Off

“Piss off forever” beats divorce papers any day. Niko Polastri (Owen McDonnell) is alive everybody! The mustache lives on. However, he’s not to keen on living on with Eve (Sandra Oh) anymore. I mean, after being kidnapped by an assassin for a shepherd’s pie recipe and getting pitchfork by another assassin for no reason, you kinda get the guy. It’s strange though that Killing Eve just didn’t leave him dead considering that at this point, his character doesn’t really bring anything to the table anymore. Dead or alive, the pitchforking still had the intended effect on Eve.

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Anyhow, he has a way with parting statements. I can’t say I wasn’t terribly amused by this one. Since his injuries had rendered him speechless, his parting words for Eve are delivered in the robotic deadpan of a speak’n’spell: “Piss off forever.”

But, of course, Eve wouldn’t piss off. She’s not going to drop this just because he told her to. That’s the definition of their whole relationship. So, she gets back with the Bitter Pill gang and what do you know, they catch on pretty quick. Everyone’s just nipping each other on the heel. Eve knows Villanelle’s kill when she sees it. No target is left alive. There’s Niko and then there’s also Charles Kruger’s wife. It’s easy to figure out which is V’s victim and which isn’t. Plus, Villanelle knows Niko is off-limits. Add Dasha’s name to the mix, who the team figures out was behind the 70s chalk murder, and Eve has her assassin. Clearly, the old crone didn’t “still have it.”

Strike!

Eve marches straight to Carolyn since apparently, the woman has met Dasha. Seriously, you gotta admire Carolyn. She’s like a one-woman organization. If I were The Twelve, I’d be clamoring to get her in my pocket with all her connections. Now, Carolyn warns Eve to be careful with Dasha. Aside from the obvious fact that the woman’s a cold-blooded murderer, the woman served her time as a KGB agent. In fact, she had become their top killing machine up until she killed one of their own which got her exiled. But, Eve is way past the point of fear.

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Eve ambushing Dasha in that bowling sequence is a real Killing Eve treat. Eve might’ve still been a little rough around the edges but, damn, she was giving off some major Carolyn vibes right there. Look at her all grown up and learning from the master. Gone was the timid, jittery Eve to be replaced by someone cunning and pretty manipulative.

Eve plays Dasha pretty well with a little bit of flattery and surprises scattered here and there. At one point, she slyly slips it into the conversation that Niko’s alive like it’s something she forgot to mention over warmup. That obviously rattles Dasha. On the other hand, Dasha also read Eve perfectly. Countering Eve’s advances, Dasha uses arguments and statements that aim to deflate Eve’s fantasies of Villanelle’s and puts her farther from her reach. “You think you are winning,” she tells Eve as parting. “You will never win at this game. You can’t beat us.”

Escape For One Happy Family

Meanwhile, Villanelle is summoned by Elena, The Twelve’s messenger. It’s official. Villanelle’s a keeper now. But, it only gets as good as it can with the title. Her job is still to do the same crap over and over again just with better pay and a fancier title. This pushes Villanelle’s last buttons. She goes to Konstantin and says “I want out.”

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In the first two seasons of Killing Eve, it seemed that Villanelle was perfectly satisfied with her job. She had the money, the apartments, the clothes, and everything she could want. Given how upset she was at the news, it’s obvious our lovely psychopath is really changing. She wanted control over her own life and maybe she wanted to stop killing.

Villanelle has known that Konstantin was planning to run and she wants in on it. There is one tiny problem though with the name Irina. As much as Konstantin wants to take both his daughters, one real and one pseudo, he only has room for one. So, he tells Villanelle he’ll send for her. Seriously though, as much as Villanelle gets along with one or the other when it’s just the two of them, it’s hard to imagine these three living in the same building without someone ending up dead.

Daddy Drama

Back in London, Carolyn finds out two disturbing facts. One, information about Kenny’s phonecall records was sent to her desk over a week ago but, mysteriously disappeared. By mysteriously I mean by the hand of that prick Paul. Is he an insider for The Twelve? Yes. Does Carolyn know? Now, she does. Does Paul deny it? Not even one bit. He just shrugs it off with an “Of course, I’m untrustworthy. Isn’t that why we’re all here?”

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The next information Carolyn discovers is that Kenny made calls to a Russian number before his death. And, of course, who else could have a Russian number that Kenny would’ve been comfortable calling? Carolyn doesn’t waste any time and effectively terrorizes Konstantin by threatening to crash a car with them both in it to tell her the truth. I absolutely love how badass she is at this point. If she wasn’t a 007 in her youth, she might’ve trained them. I also absolutely love how she gets more information than she bargained for.

Apparently, Kenny called Konstantin to ask if he was his father. It’s made more freaking awkward because Konstantin answers “I don’t know.” If there’s one sure thing in this show though, it’s that Carolyn Martens knows one way or another. And it’s deeply troubling that we may never know the truth to that. That was the big shocker. The tinier one, but the one just as surprising, is that Geraldine kissed Konstantin. Now, I wonder how that dinner conversation affects the already complicated mother-daughter relationship.

Sloppy Joe

On the other hand, Villanelle dutifully marches off to her next target in Romania. She agreed to act as normally as she could until it’s time to leave to avoid rousing suspicion. The only problem is that her heart isn’t in the job. And she follows her mentor’s steps and becomes sloppy, like next-level sloppy. The murder is a huge mess. She fries her target’s brains out with a styling heater. But, he manages to stab her with a pair of scissors before he dies. Villanelle leaves the scissors, her blood, and her fingerprints all over the place. Oh, and did we mention this was a high profile murder?

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By the time Dasha finds her, Villanelle’s pathetically trying to sew her own wound. She’s like a kid in tears unable to articulate what she really wants. Then, finally, Villanelle says it, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” Dasha patches her up and even comforts her like she’s her daughter or grandchild but the way her smile dropped before she left the room has me thinking that she’s doubting Villanelle right now. But, then again, knowing that she shouldn’t have told Dasha anything that would tip The Twelve of their plans makes me think that Villanelle is cooking up something else in her mind.

Role Model

Back in London, Paul pays Konstantin a visit. (Seeing people surprise Konstantin in the dark will never not be funny.) At this point, it’s unclear where Paul’s real loyalty lies but, it’s clear he is connected with The Twelve. He’s also looking for the money in the Swiss account. And he has zeroed in on the death of Charles Kruger’s wife. He thinks she might’ve been murdered because she knew something.

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Konstantin obviously wouldn’t tell him that he ordered Villanelle to kill her. But, with all the revelations in the episode, I think he’s the one who’s been dipping into the honey pot. And maybe Kenny found out. The news that they’re now looking into the hit Konstantin ordered though has him rushing to flee. While Villanelle is sobbing in a bathroom in Romania, Konstantin is packing and getting ready to pick up his daughter. This seems like the right choice after all. She’s his blood daughter and she’s a kid. Unlike her, Villanelle can take care of herself, NOT.

Earlier in the episode, when Villanelle and Irina had a little fun time, Irina tells Villanelle that she’s a horrible role model. Well, now, look at who’s eating her words. As Konstantin watches from the shadows, Irina lies in wait in the car while her mom’s new boyfriend takes out the trash. Suddenly, she starts the car and hits her mom’s boyfriend. Not only does she hit him once, she completely runs him over on her way out. Konstantin stares in absolute horror as his little girl goofily grins at him. And just like that, Konstantin now has two murderous daughters.

Killing Eve continues next Sunday, May 24th with “Beautiful Monster” at 9/8c on BBCA.