The current season of Killing Eve marks the fourth and final in this award-winning series which follows a Russian assassin, Villanelle, played by Jodie Comer, and her unusual relationship with Sandra Oh’s Eve Polastri, a British intelligence officer whose globe-trotting cat-and-mouse game with Villanelle has taken some unexpected turns since the series began in 2018.

The principal actors assembled in the Variety Streaming Room series via Zoom to discuss the new season. 

British actress Fiona Shaw who plays Carolyn Martens, head of the Russia Section at MI6, recalls where audiences left off at the end of Season 3. “Eve and Villanelle left each other on that bridge at the end of Season 3 really questioning who they were, how they were perceived by others, and what life meant since they’d had each other in their world.”

Oh adds, “We walked away from each other, but there is no way that they weren’t going to be magnetically drawn to each other. Eve is like, ‘I’m never going to let that woman back in my life!’ and there’s some really brilliant turns that happen in this season as we go on. It’s been great to be able to explore completely different elements of Eve that you’ve known.  It’s always been in there, but it’s been so interesting to see how she’s grown.”

As for Villanelle, she’s also made some huge changes. The irresistible psychopath that audiences fell in love with, has found God, of all things. Comer says, “Yes, she’s committed to the church but I could never see her keeping that up for long. But in past seasons, we’ve flirted [with the idea] of whether she can change. Is there humanity or a moral compass within her?” she adds, rhetorically.

“But I think she’s so fiercely determined and has always been good at a lot of things and she’s been told by multiple people in her life, as well as her mom, that she’s always been bad and she can never get away from that, no matter how hard she tries,” she says. “And I think within that is a challenge that she is determined to prove. But you see, especially in the first two episodes, she’s really confronted with that dark side of her that is ever-present.”

The series, based on the novellas by Luke Jennings titled “Villanelle,” has earned several accolades including four Golden Globe nominations and one win in 2019, for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series Drama which was awarded to Oh.

Now that the season is coming to an end, Danish actor Kim Bodnia, who plays Konstantin Vasiliev, Villanelle’s handler, offers, “I have been so lucky from the beginning to follow the process of all these wonderful characters, like your audience. And this has been an unraveling of these beautiful characters, all of them kind of monsters, but we all actually love and care about them. And I will take that with me to the rest of my life.”

Comer adds, “Sandra and I were doing press a couple of days ago when we were shown an image from the promo shoot for Season 1. And these characters look like completely different people. They were almost unrecognizable,” she chuckles. “And I think especially when you watch this season and you look at the work as in its entirety, it’s so evident how much they’ve grown and how the world has morphed and shaped with them. And I just hope people are happy [with the ending]. I hope they enjoy it and I second what Kim has said,” she says. “It’s very strange to see it go, the crew and the cast and everyone who has been a part of making this show has felt so tight-knit and like a family. And I think that’s what I’ll miss the most about being in the experience as a whole.”