British author Luke Jennings originally created Polastri's character in an e-book novella series whose segments were published from 2014 through 2016, the series being compiled into the 2018 novel Codename Villanelle, which was followed by a 2019 sequel, Killing Eve: No Tomorrow.
In the novel's BBC America television series adaptation Killing Eve (2018—2022), the character is portrayed by actress Sandra Oh.
Background
Eve Polastri is a lead character in Luke Jennings' four-segment novella series (2014–2016), whose compilation forms his 2018 novel Codename Villanelle.[2] The 2018—2022 television series Killing Eve, created by British writer-actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is based on Jennings' novellas.[3] In the television series, Polastri was born in the U.K., allowing her to hold a British government job, but raised in the U.S., explaining her North American accent.[4] Actress Maya Rudolph said in 2022 that she had been offered the part, but turned it down because filming was to take place in Europe.[5]
Eve Polastri is an MI5 security operative whose job as "an intelligence agency grunt" once involved more paper pushing than intrigue,[3] her intellectual curiosity going unrewarded and underemployed by her superiors.[4] After being called into a meeting about a recent assassination, Polastri speculates that the killer is a woman and, after a series of plot twists, the deskbound MI5 agent suddenly becomes an MI6 foreign intelligence operative tasked with finding the killer.[4][1]
Polastri becomes involved in a cat-and-mouse game with the psychopathic hired assassin Villanelle (portrayed by Jodie Comer), the two women becoming mutually obsessed[6] and sharing what has been called a "crackling chemistry... between bitter enemies and would-be lovers".[3] Agent Polastri tracks assassin Villanelle across Europe, not as hero and villain but as "two broken women whose flaws bind them together in a twisted pas de deux."[7]
"Gazing at the tiny image on the screen, Eve feels her certainties shifting. ... She is not as immune to luxury and the purely sensual things of life as she once thought. Venice at nightfall, the weightless caress of the Laura Fracci dress, the touch of a six-thousand-euro bracelet on her wrist. All so seductive, and all in some essential sense so corrupt, so cruel."
Killing Eve: No Tomorrow (Luke Jennings novel, Part 5)
Polastri has been described as a competent professional going through "a bizarre, uncontrollable awakening" and as an "awkward, smart, not entirely self-aware woman with an impressive mass of curly hair".[8] Though Polastri initially presents as if she were a comedic supporting character, her "steeliness" and other strengths manifest, even in situations in which Villanelle has the upper hand.[9] Her "instincts and resolve have to make up for her inexperience and her tendency to scream like a terrified child in the face of danger".[1] Polastri "remains bound to the notion of being right and doing right",[6] and is much more down to earth and approachable than conventional crime-solver characters.[4] Series creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge said that Polastri is an "Everywoman" to whom people can relate, wanting an easy life but craving an extraordinary one.[10]
Actor Sandra Oh remarked that Polastri lacks super-spy skills and James Bond gadgets, but has good instincts and general sense, a head on her shoulders and determination.[11] Though Oh said that honesty is Polastri's superpower,[7] the character has been described as being "cursed with zero poker-face game, a hilarious liability for a spy".[3] While characterized as "a highly capable hot mess, the kind of unlikely hero who's always just on the edge of moral ruination", Polastri's determination is said to make up for her lack of guile.[3] Polastri is "Clarice Starling or Sherlock Holmes, but she's also Lucy Ricardo or Selina Meyer".[9]
I'm like you now
"You think we'd be what? Bonnie and Clyde? Just go on a killing spree, cut a few throats? You want me to be a mess. You want me to be scared. But I'm like you now. I'm not afraid of anything. This is what you wanted."
—Eve Polastri, after Villanelle proposed the two should live together in Alaska[12]
Writer-showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge explained that Polastri has a "sense of self-consciousness and guilt" that cripples her—a perfect counterpoint to Villanelle, who, as Ashley Boucher noted in TheWrap, only does things that might bring joy.[10]Jia Tolentino wrote in The New Yorker that the way Polastri "slips in and out of the register of self-humiliation is one of the show's great delights".[8]
Though having a nice job and a loving partner, Polastri has been described as bored and impatient.[13] Her obsession with Villanelle is "rooted in the potential of an alternate lifestyle" and "opens up an entry point into a new life" and Polastri is "flirting not only with another person but also with a version of herself that she sees reflected through Villanelle".[13]
Actor Sandra Oh remarked that Polastri's "darkness is not apparent at the very beginning (but) as her relationship (with Villanelle) continues to grow, ... she really discovers what's inside of herself. ... So (if) your question is, would it be more fun to play the psychopath?, well, who says I'm not?"[11]
After series 2, Oh described how there are things Polastri believes she cannot do, but she actually does, though she must deal with the resulting trauma.[14] Polastri "draws the line", not only with Carolyn (showing loyalty to Villanelle after they use Villanelle to carry out their plans) but also with Villanelle (walking away from Villanelle when she asserts "I love you... You're mine").[14] It was observed that Eve's axe killing of Raymond turns the show's title on its head: is Villanelle "killing Eve" or is it that "Eve became 'killing Eve'—an Eve who kills?"[14]
Social, thematic and creative context
Judy Berman noted in The New York Times that while men in Killing Eve play traditionally female roles, Polastri and Villanelle's characters differ from those in conventional spy thrillers, which almost never cast women as both cat and mouse, both hero and villain.[7] In this context, series showrunnerPhoebe Waller-Bridge added that these particular women "don't even have to see each other to feel each other's presence", their connection being more complex than romantic relationships: "It's sexual, it's intellectual, it's aspirational."[7]
Observing that both Villanelle and Eve's worlds "betrayed and deceived them at every turn", Melanie McFarland in Salon delved into the women's complex relationship and wrote that their story "explores the kind of trickiness involved in navigating the world as a woman"; despite the growing connection, the "sisterhood" is "devoid of guarantees".[6] Series creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge remarked that she "loved experimenting with how women can [expletive] each other up".[7]
Willa Paskin wrote in Slate that Killing Eve is a story about "the literal dangers of underestimating women", including both Villanelle and Polastri: "of not seeing the woman who can kill you, underestimating the woman who can stop her."[4]
Matt Zoller Seitz noted in Vulture that Oh's Korean heritage was "refreshingly incidental" to her part, and, like Eve's Canadian accent, is not central to the story but makes the show "feel as if it's been warped in from some future date where colorblind casting is expected".[9]
One commentator said that Eve changed, "moving closer and closer to Villanelle and her world" in Season 2.[15] Second season showrunner Emerald Fennell commented that Polastri's "incredibly violent" ax killing of Raymond is important since the audience needs to feel how "unbelievably distressing and violent and horrible" it would be to kill someone "if you don't know what you're doing".[15] Fennell claimed to show the killing as "far more honest and weird and distressing than what we expect", adding that "particularly for women, ... we spend so much of our time hiding how we feel, particularly when it comes to sex and anger and all those kinds of dark emotions".[15]
In June 2018, Sandra Oh was selected as the best actress on television by Vulture (a New York magazine-branded pop culture website).[9]Vulture commentator Matt Zoller Seitz wrote that Oh's "is the performance of the year so far, in any medium. ... this is quietly revolutionary acting on a quietly revolutionary series".[9] Seitz added that Polastri shows the most character growth of all the characters, and anchors the story to make the comedy-thriller "genre fusion" appear established and credible.[9]
The New York Times included Oh's and Comer's performances in its "Best Performances of 2018", noting "these two women are inventive about how to be funny in a thriller" and "make run-of-the mill embarrassment seem more lethal than any bullet".[22]TV Guide named Oh's and Comer's performances as the No. 2 Best TV Performances of 2018.[23]
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Killing Eve is a British spy thriller television series, produced in the United Kingdom by Sid Gentle Films for BBC America and BBC Three. The series follows Eve Polastri, a British intelligence investigator tasked with capturing psychopathic assassin Villanelle. As the chase progresses, the two develop a mutual obsession. Based on the Villanelle novel series by Luke Jennings, each of the show's series is led by a different female head writer. The first series had Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the head writer, the second series Emerald Fennell, the third series Suzanne Heathcote, and the fourth series Laura Neal.
"Nice Face" is the first episode of the BBC America television show Killing Eve. It aired on 8 April 2018 in the United States and 15 September 2018 in the United Kingdom.
"I'll Deal with Him Later" is the second episode of the BBC America television show Killing Eve. It aired on 15 April 2018 in the United States and 22 September 2018 in the United Kingdom.
"Don't I Know You?" is the third episode of the BBC America television show Killing Eve. It aired on 22 April 2018 in the United States and 29 September 2018 in the United Kingdom.
"I Have a Thing About Bathrooms" is the fifth episode of the BBC America television show Killing Eve. It aired on 6 May 2018 in the United States and 13 October 2018 in the United Kingdom.
Villanelle, birth name Oxana Vorontsova or Oksana Astankova is a fictional character in Luke Jennings' novel Codename Villanelle (2018), its sequels Killing Eve: No Tomorrow (2019) and Killing Eve: Die For Me (2020), and the BBC America television series adaptation Killing Eve (2018–2022) in which she is portrayed by English actress Jodie Comer. She is a psychopathic assassin who works for a crime syndicate called The Twelve, and the archenemy of British intelligence agent Eve Polastri. Their mutually obsessive relationship is the main focus of both the novels and the TV series. The character and Comer's performance have received universal critical acclaim, with Villanelle widely being considered the show's breakout character and one of the most popular and acclaimed characters on television.
Codename Villanelle is a 2017 thriller novel by British author Luke Jennings. A compilation of four serial e-book novellas published from 2014 to 2016, the novel was published in the United Kingdom by John Murray as an e-book on 29 June 2017, followed by hardcover and paperback versions on 24 August 2017. Codename Villanelle is the basis of the BBC America/BBC Three television series Killing Eve (2018–2022).
Luke Jennings is a British author, dance critic and journalist.
"Sorry Baby" is the fourth episode of the BBC America television show Killing Eve. It aired on 29 April 2018 in the United States and 6 October 2018 in the United Kingdom.
Killing Eve: No Tomorrow is a 2018 thriller novel by British author Luke Jennings and the second installment in the Killing Eve series, following Codename Villanelle (2017). It was published in the United Kingdom by John Murray on 25 October 2018. The novels are the basis of the BBC America television series Killing Eve (2018–2022).
Killing Eve: Die for Me is a 2020 thriller novel by British author Luke Jennings. It is the third and final installment in the Killing Eve series, following Codename Villanelle (2017) and Killing Eve: No Tomorrow (2018). The novel was published in the United Kingdom by John Murray as an e-book on 9 April 2020, followed by hardcover and paperback versions on 11 June and 12 November 2020, respectively. The novels are the basis of the BBC America television series Killing Eve (2018–2022).
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