And for me, there’s a sense that she doesn’t really die. That’s exactly how I hope the audience looks at it as well. TVLINE | Yeah, I could see that as a happy ending for Villanelle because she was able to take down The Twelve and find happiness with Eve, however briefly.Įxactly. Actually, that’s a huge thing for Villanelle, and I think she ends triumphantly, and that’s the thing that we were always really keen to make sure that happened. But also, in my head, it is a happy ending for Villanelle in some respects, because she gets what she wants, which is that she demonstrates that she’s changed, and she does this thing for Eve that allows Eve to go on and live her life. So it felt appropriate that she comes to an end in that way as well. That’s her place, that’s where she belongs. We see that when she’s killing The Twelve. She’s somebody who is sort of forged in death and destruction, and part of her loves that as well. And it also felt right for Villanelle’s story to end as it does. It felt right that Eve has this rebirth and is allowed to go on and forge a new life for herself with everything that Villanelle has given her. Yep, we did have a version for a while where - not written, not at the script stage - but we discussed Eve dying and Villanelle surviving. TVLINE | Did you ever consider killing Eve off, too?
And I think they come to the conclusion, and then I hope we as an audience come to the conclusion, that they are fated for something a little bit more explosive - which is what happens. So it’s almost like lots of the story is them trialing their relationship in different formats and testing it and seeing how it works. I think the way we tried to explore that is that we put them in quite a lot of domestic situations in Episode 8 itself. We couldn’t imagine a world where Eve and Villanelle could exist in domestic bliss for very long. But our problem was that we couldn’t really imagine them doing so. We discussed lots of different versions of the ending, so we certainly discussed an ending where they both live happily ever after. Was there ever a possibility that Eve and Villanelle could live happily ever after? Or was this always meant to end in tragic fashion? TVLINE | So we almost got a happy ending, but then Villanelle is gunned down and killed in the final minutes. Read on for Neal’s explanation of why Villanelle had to die, why it doesn’t matter who actually pulled the trigger and what was behind Eve’s final scream. She fell into the water, and though Eve jumped in to save her, Villanelle’s lifeless body was pulled away by the current, and Eve was left screaming to the heavens as we learned Carolyn had ordered the hit (!), with the text on the screen announcing: “The End.” Well, then!Īfter we recovered from all that and picked our jaws up off the floor, TVLine reached out to lead writer Laura Neal to break down that roller coaster of a finale. As Eve and Villanelle celebrated their victory on the boat’s deck, a sniper bullet pierced Villanelle’s flesh, followed by several more. So they lived happily ever after, right? Well, not quite. Killing Eve: Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer Talk Working Together as 'Great Dance Partners,' Pick Their Favorite Scenes Killing Eve: The 10 Best Villanelle and Eve Moments, Ranked - Watch Video