For two seasons, Killing Eve has been one of the most gripping, thrilling shows on television. The series follows an MI6 agent named Eve (Sandra Oh) who is hunting an assassin named Villanelle (Jodie Comer). As their cat-and-mouse game progresses, the two women find themselves becoming obsessed with each other.
Killing Eve is an intense, darkly funny masterpiece about the world of international intrigue. With Villanelle being a skilled and bold assassin, the show also features quite a few kills. While sometimes that means innocent people are sadly bumped off, there are also a few satisfying deaths. Here are some of the deaths in Killing Eve that broke out hearts and some of the deaths we enjoyed.
Updated July 22nd, 2020 by Darby Harn: In season three of Killing Eve, the body count went up. Way up. Along the way, there were many more deaths that fans either enjoyed or felt heartbroken over, including perhaps some of the most gut-wrenching deaths of the entire series. With a fourth season and more bloodshed on the horizon, now is a good time to take quick stock of the trail of destruction that our favorite assassin Villanelle (and Eve!) left behind.
Heartbroken: Villanelle’s Mother
Not that Villanelle’s mother was the nicest person, but this one was heartbreaking for a lot of reasons. The cruelty and indifference of Villanelle’s mom (played by Russian actress Evgenia Dodina) is mostly suggested, making it hard for the audience to understand or condone what happens. Her outright rejection of Villanelle, and denial that her actions played any role in Villanelle’s behavior is upsetting, and her death sends Villanelle into a spiral that leaves her unable to kill.
Enjoyed: Rhian
Rhian’s death was pretty much guaranteed from the moment she first crossed swords with Villanelle, but the upstart Twelve assassin had one advantage: Villanelle was struggling with wanting to be a killer. But the fashion-challenged Rhian made the mistake of thinking Villanelle was another toady just like her, and Villanelle got around her sudden allergy to murder with a helpful assist from an oncoming train. Mostly, it was the train’s fault. Rhian totally could have got up.
Heartbroken: Nico
This one comes with the caveat that Nico didn’t die. But he should have. Dasha stabbed him through the back of the throat with a pitchfork and he went to the ground bleeding for several minutes but then he survived, somehow, albeit he can’t talk. But his continued survival represents one of the show’s few missteps. His death was an opportunity to clear the path for the growing relationship between Eve and Villanelle, and there is really no place for him in the story now anyway.
Enjoyed: Dasha
The gloriously mean Dasha proved a lot of fun as Villanelle’s new handler, and she provided some new perspective on both Villanelle’s background and the mysterious Twelve. But fans knew she was going to get hers. The only question was how. In a changeup for the series, it was a tag-team assist between the murder-challenged Villanelle and Eve, embracing her dark side. Dasha dies later in a Scottish hospital from complications from a golf club to the head and crushed ribs courtesy of Eve.
Heartbroken: Sebastian
Despite the fact that Villanelle doesn’t seem to like most people, she has a tendency to draw them in. One unlucky person who is brought into her deadly life is Sebastian. The kind young man lives in the same building as Villanelle and goes out of his way to be sweet and kind to her.
Though Villanelle is clearly not falling for him like he is for her, she does seem to like having him around. However, when Villanelle returns from a job in which she used poisoned perfume to kill a woman, Sebastian finds the perfume and takes a whiff. Villanelle’s unemotional reaction to finding him dead proves she wasn’t interested after all.
Enjoyed: Anton
Aside from Eve, Kostantin seems to be the only other person in the world who Villanelle has some genuine feelings for. Kostantin is her handler, and despite rarely seeing eye to eye, they have a dysfunctional father-daughter relationship. So when Villanelle is released from prison and discovers she has been assigned a new handler, she is not pleased.
The new man, Anton, seems to think he has control over Villanelle, constantly ordering her around and telling her how things are going to be in their first meeting. Villanelle calmly ignores his instructions and lets him finish talking, then she takes her gun and shoots him dead. We’re glad he didn’t last long.
Heartbroken: Gemma
It seems that anyone who gets between Villanelle and Eve does not have long to live. In Gemma’s case, it is especially sad because she didn’t even know the situation she was getting into. Gemma is a co-worker of Niko, Eve’s husband. When he and Eve separate, he begins staying with Gemma and they form a relationship.
Wanting to get Niko out of the way, Villanelle kidnaps him and Gemma and holds them in a storage locker. When Niko admits he still loves Eve, Villanelle decides that he must be punished but explains that Eve would never forgive her for hurting him. Niko later wakes up in the locker to find Gemma suffocated to death.
Enjoyed: Diego
Villanelle has proven she is one of the best in the assassin business and that she prefers to work her own way. So when she is forced to team up with a couple of fellow killers, you just know it’s not going to end well.
The trouble starts immediately when Villanelle discovers one of the assassins, Nadia, is a former lover whom she betrayed. Nadia is now with the arrogant assassin Diego who tries to act like the boss of the situation despite the two women clearly being more competent. Villanelle finally grows tired of Diego and convinces Nadia that she is here to take her away. Nadia quickly shoots Diego dead. Though it was a mean trick, that guy was really annoying.
Heartbroken: Nadia
Nadia is one character who has probably been mistreated by Villanelle the most. Not only did Villanelle betray her in the past, but after Nadia kills Diego, Villanelle runs her over with her car and leaves her for dead. Nadia survives and is thrown in prison, leading to Villanelle sneaking in to finish the job.
Tragically, it seems like Nadia really did love Villanelle, but all she got in return was hurt. When Villanelle confronts her in her cell, Nadia cannot hide her fear and it is made even sadder by the fact that Villanelle doesn’t seem bothered by the murder at all.
Enjoyed: Julian
Villanelle has a great skill in gaining people’s trust and getting them to do whatever she wants. However, her targeting of easy marks backfires with Julian. Injured and on the run, Villanelle meets Julian in a grocery store and pretends to be a scared and vulnerable girl who needs help.
Julian is shy, but takes Villanelle in and lets her stay in his home. However, Villanelle soon finds that he is not willing to let her leave and feels he has some perverse control over her. Villanelle finally fights the creep off and stabs him in the neck. As he dies, she explains the consequences of being a predator, saying “This is what you get, Julian.”
Heartbroken: Gabriel
For a world-class assassin, Villanelle is surprisingly childish. It makes sense then that she seems to connect more easily to children than with fellow adults. While Villanelle is in the hospital recovering, she shares a room with a young teen named Gabriel.
Gabriel was in a car accident that took the lives of his parents and left him seriously injured. Despite his own problems, he becomes a temporary confidante for Villanelle. When it comes time to make her escape, she does what she thinks is a kindness and kills the young boy in a shocking moment.
Enjoyed: Raymond
Raymond is one of the only characters in the show that seems like a genuine threat to Villanelle. He is a member of the secret organization she works for and is sent in to keep her in line. He proves to be effectively intimidating and even overpowers her several times, making her feel weak.
The two finally face off when she once again goes rogue and he once again proves himself to be a formidable opponent. However, he is quickly stopped when Eve puts an ax in his back and then finishes him off as Villanelle proudly watches.
Heartbroken: Bill Pargrave
Bill Pargrave is still one of the most shocking deaths in the series. From the beginning, he was established as Eve’s boss and best friend who wants nothing more than to keep her safe. While on an investigation, Bill notices Villanelle following Eve and steps in to stop her.
Wanting to learn more, Bill begins stalking Villanelle throughout the town. However, while he seems to have gone unnoticed, he soon discovers he was led into a trap. Villanelle confronts him and stabs him to death, leaving him for Eve to find.
Enjoyed: Aaron Peel
As soon as Aaron Peel is introduced on the show, we wanted him to meet a violent end. He is the arrogant and pompous creator of one of the biggest tech companies in the world. That position has seemingly given him a god complex and he begins murdering people for fun.
MI6 uses Villanelle to infiltrate Peel’s inner circle and she eventually becomes close with the man himself. It initially looks as if Peel managed to gain some control over Villanelle and even orders her to kill Eve. That proves to be his mistake as Villanelle instead slits his throat and makes him watch in a mirror as he slowly dies.
Heartbroken: Kenny
This one hurt. Kenny was one of Eve’s few friends in MI6 – and the world. His death plunged her into an obsession to find out the truth, and his mother Carolyn (played by the magnificent Fiona Shaw) into a tailspin of grief and confusion.
While the resolution of his murder remains a bit dissatisfying – Konstantin evidently killed him and was maybe also probably his dad – his loss remains a deep wound in the shrinking universe of the show’s cast.
