How Killing Eve Subverts the Spy Thriller

The scene in Heat was filmed separately without De Niro and Pacino having to see each other. The actors hate each other and refused to be in the same room at the same time. The movie does not intend any sexual tension. Heat refers to police. While I enjoy the alternative read on the film it’s really quite beyond the story’s intent.

I don’t see Villanelle as bisexual! She’s lesbian and uses men when practical.

Why did I waste this time listening to this big nothing?

Where does oberyn martell fall on this spectrum? That dudes my hero

Curious if YT demonetized the video for the frequency of use of the word, "killing," or if they get that it's part of the title of a show?

This was great!

Nicholas Roeg's "Black Widow" is another example. Debra Winger's repressed FBI agent is on the trail of a woman whose husbands conveniently die of "natural causes." Theresa Russell as the "black widow" brings out Winger's character sexually among other ways. We are always guessing who is manipulating who so that protagonist and antagonist end of being the bisexual femme fatale.

I haven’t been able to watch the final season. Mostly because I don’t want such an amazing show to end. But also because I’m nervous about the way Killing Eve will end— especially after season 3.

villanelle is canonically a lesbian

Bound is such a good damn movie.

It took me too long to notice that the actress who plays Villanelle is also in My Mad Fat Diary.

I like how villa is always killing eve, all the time, and every episode she says "ITS KILLING TIME EVE!" Goosebumps

i never watched the show but now i'm even more pissed that she died.

Shame how it ended the show in s4 😒

Great and interesting video! It was both intriguing and fun and educational to follow your walk through the history of bisexuality in films and tv on this type/genre etc. And how Killing Eve subverts the spy thriller.
Thank you for taking the time to set this up and do research^^
I too am very impressed of Killing Eve and how it al it put together and showed :)

I wonder what your thoughts are for s4.

🤢

love your work!

s1 was so good

fantastic!

Haven't seen Heat or Bound, called out of work with a cold...there might just be a double feature in my future!

the reason shows have bi psychopaths bc psychopaths (pwAPSD) irl are commonly bi lol. as a pwNPD w ASPD/BPD traits i am bi 😭

This is close to a broader topic I've been dying to see someone talk about: queerness in the post - Bourne spy genre.

Welp😖😖......

Rewatching after the series finale 💀. Best show hai

Eve is bisexual but Villanelle (at least in the show) is definitely a lesbian. She hits on every single aspect of the lesbian experience including using a man to try and feel “normal” in season 1. Once she gives that up, she never gets with men again and if wholeheartedly enthralled with women (Eve in particular). She is one of the most visible and intriguing lesbian characters we’ve had on TV, so it’s not offensive for lesbians like me to claim her as our own.

For me VIllanelle is more a lesbian than a bisexual woman.
Her few encounters with men has been quite meaningless and most of the times because she was arouse by watching a female (middle age woman) walks by.

The only time we see V with a guy was in that first episode scene where Konstantin find her with a girl and a man in bed, that's it, we even don't have a context.

That's my opinion, of course.

its really sad looking back on this now that the show has ended, im really disappointed beyond measure

great video! just quick point, villanelle is a lesbian not bisexual but everything else super interesting :)

Seeing this video after the series finale and the shower runners insistence of that ending.

That “academic” take on Violet seems more like someone looking for something to be mad about.

Oh hell yesss I love Bound, and I never hear people talk about it. 🖤

Bound was a lot of fun to watch. Corkie was the coolest damn character. I still pronounce "Caesar" as "Cesré".

Jodie Comer is an amazing actor, though.

"Except for season 3" 😂😂😂

......holy shit, I never noticed how all/ most of the bis I've seen are psychos 😵😵 wtf

"except for season 3" xD PRECISELY

Why does everybody hate girls, man..... its always our fault, for just existing.....

I have only one problem with Killing Eve, that made me drop the show: The characters are dumb. They make the characters dumb to the plot continue. I just can't ignore the mi6 characters dumbness.

fire intro

is this your thesis?

subscribed bcs of the intro, stayed for the content

It's interesting you talk about the female gaze...because I am a man, albeit a gay one, and I absolutely loved Killing Eve, especially season 1 and 2. I guess it appealed to me because not only did I find it fascinating and funny but I guess I root for other LGBT+ people? I also loved Gentleman Jack and I was thrilled by the romance between the two women and it genuinely excited me. Even though I'm definitely all about men sexually oh believe me lol. But Villanelle is alluring...there is no doubt about that. My heterosexual sister agrees with me, also. I find it fascinating how female sexuality can be incredibly captivating and powerful. I also love LOVE Mae West for the exact same reason. I think us gays just love strong women who own their sexuality...look at Madonna, Samantha from SATC...Kylie (Minogue)...huge gay icons. Says it all I guess.

i love this video essay omg great job!

EXCEPT FOR SEASON 3!!!!

A few things before I get into Killing Eve.

1) Basic Instinct was more intelligent than given credit for since it's known mostly for it's brazen sexuality, ultraviolence and the backlash it received at a time when the Queer community had enough of Hollywood portraying them as villainous. Especially since the film not only highlights the act of killing on impulse and without reason but also toys with its audience and kept us guessing until the last shot. Dr. Beth Garner is hardly a Madonna since she's having an on/off affair with her patient she's supposed to be accessing. Catherine Tramell is overrated as a Femme Fatale yet underrated as a highly educated, primary psychopath who rarely showed any genuine emotion, viewed both men and women as fodder for her creativity. The books she wrote could either easily be perceived as a disassociation tactic while claiming ownership over her victims souls or as her quite simply showing off.

2) Bounds Corky & Violet's relationship was the most sincere thing about the film since Violet wanted Corky from the moment she saw her and the embezzled money Caesar stole from his bosses was her way out of life as a Gangsters Moll. Who didn't cheer when she uttered the immortal line's "Caesar. Ya don't know shit" Before gunning him down in white paint? I sure as hell did.

3)As bigger Cat & Mouse classic as Heat is, I would've never guessed for one moment the film was homoerotic since both men(cop & criminal) value their work lives more than their home and love lives.

Now let's talk about Killing Eve and what makes it stand out head and shoulders above the rest of its genre.

1) KE is of the less is more school of thought when it comes to sexuality. Sex is heavily implied rather than depicted. And with the latter between Villanelle & Sebastian, it was cold & comical rather than passionate & erotic reflecting the indifference towards those she uses. With S2 there was so much sexual tension without so much as a passionate kiss. In S3 sexuality is irrelevant.

2) The whole Bisexual Femme Fatale label could easily apply to book Villanelle, but her TV counterpart clearly prefers the ladies like a hardened lesbian. Especially older women with amazing hair. The best part is her sexuality is never treated as her only defining quality or such a big deal.

3)Eve & Villanelle's Cat & Cat dynamic(since the mouse has long been eaten) blurred the line between courtship & warfare with no real commitment to either which has been subject to one hot take after another while at the same time robbing us the audience & critics of any claim over their narrative. Which can only be done for so long without becoming pretentious.

4)Until the 3rd season, we like Eve looked forward to the hits as much as Villanelle used to when carrying them out. Back when she was the much welcomed antithesis of the cliché regarding Female Assassin's in fictions. The one's who hate their job and want out or got into the profession seeking revenge.

5) What made Villanelle's depiction of psychopathy richer than most is that it played out in juxtaposition to the child who was stunted in her emotional growth until now. Also she's played in such a way gives us the audience a huge opening to challenge the assertion of her being a psychopath rather than a sociopath of vulnerable narcissism and debate the strength of her psychopathy since she's desperate to be seen as humane.

6) Eve although ordinary on paper is quite extraordinary. Not only for profiling abilities, but her empathy and compassion for women who kill to the point of fangirling over female Assassin's. Her flaws are laid bare for all to see as she goes from one mistake to another, Eve still maintains a conscience and an ethical centre. To someone like Villanelle, she was the illogical response.

7) What Killing Eve did brilliantly was depict two women who should be content with their lives on a surface level but in them lied a sense of quiet desperation. Which was easier to detect in Eve than Villanelle.

PS. Will there be a follow up video expanding on your low opinion Killing Eve's 3rd season?(which may as well be called Killing Villanelle or Raising Oksana). Believe me, I have my own criticisms but you have me curious as to what yours are after that parting shot.