6 Years Later, Most Divisive Spy Show of the Last Decade Lands on Netflix (Finally)

Summary

• A British spy series that ended 2 years ago has been added to Netflix.
• It is a crazy story about a lavish relationship between an MI6 agent and a hired assassin.
• The series captivated many, but disappointed with its finale.

Few people dislike spy thrillers. After all, they are always engaging stories full of nail-biting suspense and completely unpredictable plot twists. But what if you put this kind of spy thriller through a queer lens and add a psychopathic character to the mix? Well, you get Killing Eve.

The British series ended its run on BBC America on April 10, 2022, and now, two years later, it's available for streaming. On April 15, 2024, Killing Eve officially joined the Netflix library. It's a great show with insanely bonkers love-hate relationship at the center that has wowed critics and audiences alike.

However, many viewers were disappointed by the finale, making this spy show extremely divisive. But without further ado, let's find out what this new series on Netflix is all about.

What Is This Show About?

Killing Eve is based on the novel Codename Villanelle by British author Luke Jennings, as well as the two subsequent book sequels, which are also titled Killing Eve because they were published after the first season of the series had already begun its run.

The plot is an espionage cat-and-mouse game between unassuming but brilliant MI6 agent Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) and a psychopathic assassin for hire codenamed Villanelle, who is actually a Russian orphan named Oksana Astankova taken in by a crime syndicate called The Twelve.

The story of Killing Eve is essentially a tale of two people's murderous obsession, as Eve and Oksana are in an insane love-hate relationship, and the situation only escalates each time MI6 and The Twelve either confront each other or suddenly come together in the face of a common enemy. As events unfold, however, both women reevaluate their attitudes toward life, their own employers, and ultimately each other, realizing that their murderous instincts mask much stronger but repressed feelings.

Killing Eve makes no secret of the fact that it is an overtly feminist thriller that subverts spy genre tropes in the context of issues of race, gender, and sexuality. Moreover, unlike the original novel, the show has made many of the male characters female.

Perhaps most tellingly, the showrunner-screenwriter for the first season was none other than Phoebe Waller-Bridge, probably best known outside the UK for the series Fleabag. The second season was written by Emerald Fennell, best known for the recently released Saltburn.

Why Is It So Divisive?

Beware, this part of the article contains some pretty heavy spoilers, so if you're intrigued by the recently added series on Netflix, we suggest you watch all four seasons first!

Unfortunately, the main problem turned out to be how the writers decided to end Killing Eve after four years on the air. A huge feature was that without showing explicit physical intercourse, the series offered deep character study and themes of repressed sexuality, eventually unfolding into a full-blown queer relationship between the protagonists. The series was very frank and presented an honest portrayal of women, their desires and intentions, which are not always morally pure.

However, at the end of the fourth season, something happened that divided the fanbase into two opposing factions. Well, in a nutshell, Villanelle ended up getting killed while shielding Eva from bullets. She ended up drowning in the depths of the Thames to the wailing of her lover.

While Villanelle may have deserved such a fate in some ways, her relationship with Eva certainly did not. After all, we don't often get treated to great and complex queer romances (especially where one party is a psychopath), and so perhaps Oksana still deserved a somewhat different ending.

Well, whether that was the good ending or not is up to you. All four seasons of Killing Eve are now available on Netflix.