Seven years afterKilling Evedebuted, I am still impressed by how the show reversed the fridging trope.Killing Evefollowed British intelligence agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) as she pursued the ruthless and unpredictable assassin Villanelle (Jodie Comer). Eve and Villanelle’s cat-and-mouse dynamic went in unexpected directions as the two characters became obsessed with each other and developed a complex relationship. After four seasons,Killing Eve’s endingproved to be divisive, but the overall series, particularly season 1, still remains well-regarded.
One ofKilling Eve’s greatest strengths was its ability to reverse the fridging trope, which is primarily associated with female characters. The trope involves characters being killed or harmed as a catalyst for the plot and as motivation for the protagonists. SeveralChristopher Nolan movies, includingMementoandInception, use this trope, as do many superhero stories, ranging from the death of Peter Quill’s mother inGuardians of the Galaxyto Gwen Stacy’s death inThe Amazing Spider-Man 2. Despite the trope’s prominence,Killing Evemanaged to cleverly reverse it.
Killing Eve Season 1’s Reversal Of The Fridging Trope Is Still Impressive 7 Years Later
Bill’s Death Is The Inciting Incident
Killing Eveseason 1 reversed the fridging trope by having Eve’s MI6 partner, Bill Pargrave (David Haig) be the one killed, and to have his death be the inciting incident for the series. In auniversally acclaimedKilling Eveepisode, Bill was brutally killed by Villanelle when he tailed her into a nightclub. Instead of having a female character die to make Eve’s hunt for Villanelle more personal, the series had Eve’s close friend and work partner, Bill, be shockingly killed in only the third episode after building him up to be a major character.
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I find this reversal of the fridging trope to be refreshing, although it still played into another problematic trope. Bill revealed earlier in episode 3 that he was queer, telling Eve that “I just fall in love with whoever I fall in love with.“Bill’s death falls into the"bury your gays” trope, which sees queer characters being killed or harmed to service the development of the overall plot or other character arcs. I cannot overlook this problematic aspect of Bill’s death, but his demise did effectively reverse the fridging trope with female characters.
Killing Eve Reversing The Problematic Fridging Trope Set The Tone For The Entire Series
It Set A Precedent For The Stories Of Eve, Villanelle, Carolyn, Niko, And Kenny
By emphasizing early on that the female characters would not be fridged,Killing Eveset the tone for empowering its female characters. From beginning to end, Eve and Villanelle were the most nuanced characters and consistently received the most focus in the series. Their development was never shortchanged to service male characters. The nuanced development of prominent female characters extended to Fiona Shaw’s Carolyn Martens, who was the show’s most important character after Eve and Villanelle, and was among the series' most powerful and ambitious individuals.
In other series, Niko and Kenny’s stories might have overtaken Eve and Villanelle, but this is never the case inKilling Eve.
Meanwhile, I seeEve’s husband, Niko Polastri, essentially fulfilling the Skyler White role fromBreaking Bad, as Niko came off as the “nagging” partner warning Eve about the danger of her obsession with Villanelle, which ultimately destroyed Eve and Niko’s marriage. In season 3,Killing Eveonce again avoided falling into the trap of fridging a female character, with Carolyn’s son, Kenny Stowton (Sean Delaney) dying early on and his death being the inciting incident of the season. In other series, Niko and Kenny’s stories might have overtaken Eve and Villanelle, but this was never the case inKilling Eve.
Killing Eve’s Strengths Make Me Even More Disappointed In The Series' Ending
The Series Finale Is Now Even Worse
WhenKilling Evefirst aired, I was unable to fully recognize or appreciate its reversal of the fridging trope. It has become more apparent while rewatching the series, especially when rewatching seasons 1-3. However, this makesKilling Eve’s ending even more disappointing. The main source of disappointment inKilling Eve’s series finale was Villanelle’s death. Not only did her demise feel abrupt and unearned, but the show’s core relationship was destroyed, and the leading female characters were stripped of their power.
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Even worse, season 3 reversed the fridging trope with Kenny, but there was no clear or satisfying resolution for his death before the series ended, particularly with Carolyn being behind Villanelle’s murder in the finale. This left majorKilling Evemysteries unanswered,on top of undermining the development of Eve and Villanelle.I now findKilling Eve’s ending to be even more frustrating and perplexingwhen recognizing how well the show subverted the fridging trope throughout the majority of its run.
Killing Eve
Cast
Killing Eve is a black comedy thriller series starring Sandra Oh as British intelligence officer Eve Polastri who is assigned to track and capture a dangerous assassin named Villanelle, played by Jodie Comer. Bored with her life, Eve finds herself hired by an undercover MI6 division tasked with tracking down Villanelle - who, after just a brief time studying and following her, she becomes obsessed with her. However, the obsession becomes mutual as soon the two enter a game of cat and mouse that deviates them from their missions as they venture to learn more about one another.
