Killing Eve’s author has slammed the show’s controversial series finale in a new op-ed.
Over the last five years, TV enthusiasts have sunk their teeth into the juicy spy drama Killing Eve.
After delivering 32 episodes of scandalous and jaw-dropping storylines, the series finally concluded on 12 April.
Although it received critical acclaim throughout its run, the finale earned mixed responses from longtime fans.
In the last two episodes, Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodie Comer) finally admitted their feelings for one another in a heartfelt scene. However, their happiness was short-lived after Villanelle was shot in the chest during a final interaction with The Twelve.
Shortly after the finale aired, viewers slammed the episode for the character’s short-lived love story, and for conforming to the “Bury Your Gays” trope.
But fans weren’t the only ones to express their disdain for the series finale.
In a recent op-ed for The Guardian, Luke Jennings, who originally wrote the Killing Eve books, expressed his disappointment with the final two episodes.
“You’re never going to love everything the screenwriting team does, that’s a given. You’re too close to the characters,” he said. “You’ve lived with them in your head for far too long.”
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Jennings went on to say that it was “thrilling” for him to see his stories being taken to “unexpected places.”.
“But the season four ending was a bowing to convention. A punishing of Villanelle and Eve for the bloody, erotically impelled chaos they have caused,” he continued.
“A truly subversive storyline would have defied the trope which sees same-sex lovers in TV dramas permitted only the most fleeting of relationships before one of them is killed off.”
He then highlighted The CW series The 100 and the tragic end to fan favourite character Lexi – who died after having sex with her female love interest.
“How much more darkly satisfying and true to Killing Eve’s original spirit for the couple to walk off into the sunset together? Spoiler alert, but that’s how it seemed to me when writing the books,” he explained.
“TV folk sometimes see ultra-fans of TV drama as weird and cranky, but for many young people living difficult and isolated lives, a show such as Killing Eve can be a lifeline.”
Jennings’s comments come a week after the show’s producer Sally Woodward Gentle opened up about her hopes for Killing Eve’s legacy.
“[We] have created iconic characters who people love to see. That’s not because they stripped down to their undies, and it’s not because they killed people with the strength of their thighs,” she says.
“I’d really like to think that [….] we’ve made any difference, it’s the fact that you can still be wildly entertaining. You can fall in love with your characters.”
You can watch the final season of Killing Eve on BBC iPlayer.
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