The author of the original Killing Eve books has opened up about their thoughts on the drama series‘ controversial ending — and by the looks of it, they aren’t too happy either.
The series final of Killing Eve caused shockwaves when it aired earlier this month. In the final moments of the show, just when Eve (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodie Comer) looked set to begin their life together, Villanelle was shot dead. This shocking ending to the beloved TV series led to outcry on social media, with some fans saying Killing Eve just made itself “the next Game Of Thrones” while others accused the writers of the show for reverting to the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope — a trope in TV shows and movies wherein an LGBTQ+ character is killed shortly after coming to terms with their identity and/or being reunited with their lover.
Showrunner Laura Neal defended the ending — saying in an interview with E! Online that the death of Villanelle was a “triumphant” end to the character as it allowed Villanelle to demonstrate to Eve that she had well and truly changed. But someone who wasn’t happy with the ending was Luke Jennings, creator of the original Killing Eve book series.
In an article for The Guardian, Jennings wrote, “As an author, it’s a thrill having your work adapted for TV, as my Killing Eve novels were.”
“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. 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 continued, “I learned the outcome of the final episode in advance, and suspected, rightly, that fans would be upset. But to those fans, I would say this: Villanelle lives. And on the page, if not on the screen, she will be back.”
Killing Eve can be streamed now on BBC iPlayer in the UK, and is available to watch on BBC America in the US.