Villanelle/Synopsis


 * NOTE: This article is about the storyline of Villanelle from the BBC America series. This can be changed and her storyline in the books can be added by Users who have read the novels.

The story of the psychopathic Russian assassin Villanelle from both the Luke Jennings novels and the Killing Eve TV series.

Origins
"We were told a new student was coming. History of violence, anti-social behavior. Her mother was dead, her father a drunk. She arrived at the school and… everyone stepped back. Everyone. So I stepped forward, extra time, extra lessons, extra love."

- Anna explaining to Eve about Villanelle’s backstory.

The woman who would one day become the assassin known as Villanelle was born as Oksana Anatoljevna Astankova. At a young age, her mother died while her father Anatolj Astankov was a drunk, in which it garnered her a violent reputation as an orphan that resulted in her being sent to juvenile detention centers multiple times. At the the age of 16, in order to get her onto the right path again, she was sent to a school where she became obsessed with an older language teacher named Anna Anmokoba, who nurtured her when others were too afraid. The two then started an affair and Oksana would send her stolen expensive designer clothes. Eventually, Oksana grew jealous of her husband Maxi Leonova and then murdered him by castration, which resulted in a horrified Anna having her incarcerated for 25 years imprisonment.

During her time in prison, she met an inmate named Nadia Kadomtseya and the two became lovers. Five years later after her imprisonment, Oksana helped Nadia escape from prison to be recruited by Konstantin Vasiliev, who was secretly on behalf of the assassin organization known as the Twelve. Going ahead to see if Konstantin was present, but Konstantin then decided to take Oksana instead, therefore leaving Nadia in prison. Upon this, the Twelve faked her death and gave her the alias "Villanelle", which is the name she now prefers to use.

Over the next four years, she performed countless contract killings, while feigning no interest in who she kills, who she kills for or why she kills them. Throughout the assassin community, her violent reputation and dangerous nature gained the nickname "Dalgyal Guishin", which was the name of the Korean ghost known as the Egg Ghost, the "demon with no face". Her actions had also caught the attention of Carolyn Martens, head of the Russian section in MI6, who would then decide to assemble a unit to track her down.

Nice Face
In early 2018, Villanelle was sent to Vienna to assassinate controversial Russian politician and sex trafficker Victor Kedrin. As she waited in a cafe, she was eating ice cream while a girl at another table watches. After seeing her and the waiter exchange smiles, Villanelle smiled at her as well, in which the girl reciprocated. After checking her watch, she left but not before knocking over the girl's ice cream bowl into her lap on her way out the door. She later completed her assassination and left for Paris.

In Paris, Villanelle rides the subway, her hair now blonde. She exits the subway and walks to her apartment. She encounters her neighbor, Madame Tattevin, leaving the building and they exchange heated words. In her apartment, she puts away a wig and toiletries and takes off the camisole that she had worn to make herself appear flat-chested. She admires herself in a mirror and powders her face white. She pours some pills onto her coffee table and lays supine on her couch with a bottle of alcohol, playing dead. A man (Konstantin) enters the apartment and tells Villanelle that he can see her breathing. She asks if he'd be sad if she were dead and he says, "of course." He is there to deliver her a bonus and give her information on her next job tomorrow in Tuscany. He leaves and Villanelle sits down at her laptop to decrypt the information off the Tuscan postcard she received.

Villanelle rides a motorcycle through Tuscany and arrives at an estate. She pins her hair back into a bun and sets off across the vineyards to the main house. She climbs up a drainpipe and sneaks inside. There is an anniversary celebration going on outside and she spots her next target, Cesare Greco. She hides in a suitcase to avoid being caught before going down to join the party, wearing a dress she stole from Greco's wife. She follows Davide, Greco's grandson, back into the house and convinces him to play a trick on his grandfather.

Davide calls his grandfather up to the house and hides as Villanelle waits for Greco in his bedroom. She asks him about the bedspread and he says that it is made by Liliana Rizzari. She tells him her name is Syliviana Morel and she has been sent to him. She removes the hairpin and stabs him in the eye before depressing the plunger to inject him with poison. She gets a pen from the desk and writes down Liliana Rizzari onto her palm before watching Greco die. She leaves just as Davide comes out of his hiding place to find his grandfather dead.

Konstantin wakes Villanelle up in her apartment where she is sleeping with a man and a woman. Kasia is in London and will be interviewed tomorrow as a witness to Kedrin's murder. Villanelle's train leaves in an hour and she is meant to make Kasia's death look like a suicide.

While Eve is at the hospital waiting to speak with Kasia, she goes to the restroom where the one stall is in use. While she is waiting, she fixes her hair. Villanelle exits a stall dressed as a nurse and watches Eve, prompting Eve to ask if she is all right. Villanelle stops on her way out of the bathroom and tells Eve to wear her hair down. Eve returns to the hospital room to find the nurse and the security detail are dead. She tries to stop the bleeding from Kasia's throat but Kasia dies.

I’ll Deal with Him Later
In an office building in Bulgaria, Villanelle stalks after her latest target, Filip Petrova, who begs for his life. She shoots him twice and watches as he takes his last breath.

In Paris, Villanelle returns to her apartment and passes by one of her neighbors, Sebastian, digging through the trash looking for his TV remote. He comments on her bruised eye and she waves it off. She enters her apartment to find Konstantin waiting. She wants to know what her next assignment in Paris is but Konstantin wants her assessed first because of the mess she left in London.

Villanelle shows up to her assessment with Jerome in a flouncy pink dress. Konstantin is also there as Jerome questions her about her job and her state of mind. He shows her a picture of a hanged man and she compliments his legs. He then shows her a picture of a hanged dog and Villanelle pretends to get worked up over it before laughing at him. Konstantin passes Jerome a piece of paper. Jerome asks Villanelle if she still dreams about Anna and reveals a faceless portrait surrounded by dark curls on the paper. Villanelle tells them it is not a portrait of Anna. Jerome refuses to sign her off.

As Villanelle and Konstantin walk through Paris, she argues with him about letting her complete her next assignment. He tells her it is good to have someone worry about her and she hugs him, picking the Paris postcard out of his pocket. Back at home, Villanelle runs on a treadmill when her doorbell rings. It's Sebastian with some Arnica for her bruised eye. She invites him out with her. They eat ice cream and walk before they go back to Sebastian's apartment where they have sex. Villanelle leaves his apartment carrying her dress and passes by Madame Tattevin who tells her, "good job." She returns to her apartment and begins working on her perfume.

Villanelle gets dressed in a wig and catering outfit, going by the name of "Claudie." She goes to a political fundraiser and pretends to cater, serving up champagne for the guests. She follows the primary donor and perfume manufacturer, Carla de Mann, to the restroom under the pretext of providing her with a tampon. Villanelle brings out a bottle of perfume for de Mann to smell and coerces her to try it. De Mann says she can't smell anything before she starts wheezing and coughing. Villanelle watches as de Mann suffers a fatal asthma attack.

Villanelle returns home to find Konstantin threatening to cut her allowance in half for assassinating de Mann. Sebastian interrupts them and Konstantin pretends to be Villanelle's brother. Sebastian wants to smell the perfume Villanelle was working on but she tells him she will bring it to him later. He gives her a thumb drive as a gift and, as he is leaving, spots the perfume bottle and takes it with him. Villanelle returns to Konstantin and threatens him with a knife to tell her what's really going on. Konstantin tells her about Eve's new department set up specifically to go after Villanelle so she needs to "be subtle". As Villanelle pops a champagne cork, they hear a thump outside and open the door to find Sebastian dead.

Using the new thumb drive, Villanelle searches through images on the internet for "Eve Polastri." Eve goes to her new office to search through the photos of nurses from the hospital where Kasia was murdered to see if she can find the nurse she met in the bathroom. Villanelle encounters an article on Nikolas Polastri's bridge club that has a group picture with Eve tucked away in the back of the photo and realizes that Eve was in the bathroom at the hospital. Bill joins Eve in the office and Eve reveals to him that she met Villanelle.

Don’t I Know You?
In Berlin, Zhang Wu, a Chinese colonel, goes to the "Hot Medica" office on his birthday. His regular nurse, Hortense, is unavailable. She was going to do something special for him. The receptionist tells him she will see what they can do before confirming his safe word, "frühstück". While Zhang waits, he chats with another patient who hopes they won't be nice.

Zhang enters a room where Villanelle is preparing surgical instruments. She commands him to take off his clothes. She straps him to the table, including his neck, and reviews his previous visit where he received a "vigorous scrotal massage." She places a face mask on him and tells him that he will get no special treatment for his birthday which makes him laugh. She takes a pair of medical tongs and places them under his hospital gown and clamps his testicles as she reiterates no special treatment. She twists, which he enjoys at first before calling out his safe word. Villanelle stops and walks over to the gas valve, turning it up as he struggles. She tells him to look at her as he dies.

Villanelle sits outside the "Hot Medica" office and watches with disappointment as two male agents arrive.

Villanelle has taken an older American tourist woman back to her room and tells her to take her hair down. She informs the woman that she will call her Eve and they begin kissing before Villanelle says that she is going to hide and "Eve" is going to find her.

When Bill and Eve arrive at the "Hot Medica" office, Villanelle steals Eve's bag. She Eve's bag back to her room and goes through it, placing a green scarf around her neck. Konstantin shows up to find out why she is still in Berlin and to warn her that Eve is in town. He wants Villanelle to watch Eve. The American woman arrives and Villanelle introduces her as "Pamela" to her "angry uncle". Konstantin warns her one last time to not do anything stupid and leaves. Villanelle begins to dress Pamela in Eve's clothes. Villanelle bumps into Bill on the street and keeps walking.

Villanelle plucks her eyebrows as she uses the USB drive that Sebastian had given her to watch a recording of the video call between Eve and Niko.

Bill walks Eve to the train station and spots Villanelle watching Eve as he is leaving. He follows her and stops her from getting on the same train as Eve on the pretext of asking her about the green scarf that she is wearing - the same one that Eve had had in her suitcase. Villanelle plays it off that she got it from her mother and leaves the station with Bill following her.

Bill continues following Villanelle through the streets of Berlin. She realizes he is following her and smiles. Bill leaves a message for Eve that he is following after someone in the Cassiopeia area and asks her to get in touch with Weber. Villanelle enters a club called Funkeln and Bill tries to follow but is stopped by the bouncer and sent to the back of the line.

Bill has finally made it into the club and searches for Villanelle on the dance floor. Eve arrives at the club and explains to the bouncers that she needs to get in because she is with the British authorities and it is an emergency. Bill spots Villanelle and tries to catch up with her while Eve makes her way along the dance floor looking for him. Villanelle turns around and smiles at Bill before heading toward him. He tries to run away but is trapped in the dancing bodies and Villanelle easily catches him, stabbing him repeatedly with a short blade, before taking off again. Eve struggles to reach Bill as he bleeds out on the dance floor.

Sorry Baby
Konstantin arrives at Villanelle's Paris apartment to find it decorated in blue, gold, pink, and white balloons and a matching cake. He swipes a bit of frosting from the cake as Villanelle makes her entrance, dressed like Konstantin down to his beard and mustache. She wishes him a happy birthday and forces him to dance with her. She tries to get him to lift her up but he complains of his shoulder and throws her on the bed instead. It is not his birthday and he won't tell her when it really is. They go to the bathroom where she gives him birthday gifts. When she tells him her name is Konstantin, he rips off her beard and mustache and says that he knows she used Eve's name and killed Bill. He hands her a postcard for her next job, this time with her "little brothers and sisters" because he can't trust her alone anymore. He opens another present and Villanelle reveals she knows he has a daughter and has gotten her a stuffed animal.

Villanelle steps off a train in England and approaches a man (Diego) on the platform holding a bird watching sign. He is her contact and takes her to a van to wait until tomorrow. Villanelle gets in the van and quickly recognizes the woman (Nadia) in the passenger seat who attacks her. They fight in the back of the van until Diego stops them and they return to their seats.

In the van, Diego asks Nadia and Villanelle about their history but neither are forthcoming. Villanelle asks who the target is and Diego confesses they don't know yet. He tries to show affection toward Nadia but is rebuffed. Nadia tells Villanelle that their target is a member of the British Intelligence Services.

Diego, Nadia, and Villanelle check their weapons. Diego leaves Villanelle and Nadia for a moment and Nadia corners Villanelle, prompting her to punch Nadia in the nose. Diego returns and threatens that he has permission to kill one of them if they don't stop fighting.

Diego, Nadia, and Villanelle arrive in Bletcham just as Diego receives their next target: Frank Haleton. Diego passes out guns and silencers, sending Villanelle and Nadia to the front of the house while he takes the back. Nadia tries attacking Villanelle again but Villanelle stops her and tells her she is glad Nadia got out. They head to the front door and knock. Villanelle introduces herself and Nadia as Natalie and Fanny respectively to Frank's mother, Veronica. Veronica tells them Frank has just left and invites them in for fruitcake.

Villanelle eats hot fruitcake served up by Veronica while they wait for Frank to return. Veronica calls Frank to see where he is at. Veronica tells them that Frank has been unexpectedly called back to London but Villanelle already noticed Frank's car is still outside. They meet Diego back at the van and tell him they will wait.

Villanelle waits out front with Diego while Nadia takes the back. Frank's car starts to drive away with Nadia chasing after on foot. They jump into the van and chase after Frank with Villanelle driving. Nadia has put together an automatic weapon and stands up through the moon-roof, taking aim at Frank's car. Frank's back window is shot out yet Frank manages to evade being shot and puts some distance between him and Villanelle.

Villanelle, Diego, and Nadia approach Frank's car and get out with their weapons. Diego shoots first, followed by Nadia and Villanelle and they ply the car full of bullets, blowing off the hood. Frank hides in the bushes, clutching his phone with Eve on the other end. Villanelle provokes Diego and they raise their guns at each other. Nadia shouts out, "Oksana," revealing to Diego that Villanelle is Nadia's ex-girlfriend. Villanelle claims she has been sent to get Nadia out and tells her she is beautiful. Nadia turns and fires at Diego, killing him. Villanelle hugs Nadia and invites her to go anywhere she wants, first class. She has Nadia check the trunk of Frank's car.

Nadia finds a kite and Villanelle tells her to put it in the trunk of their van. Villanelle reverses the van over Nadia before driving back over her. The van stalls and Frank takes his opportunity to run. Villanelle gets out of the van, picks up a gun, and shoots at Frank before following after him on foot. Frank continues running toward where Eve and Elena are waiting as Villanelle shoots at him. Frank makes it to their car as Villanelle approaches, aims her gun at Eve, and shoots.

I Have a Thing About Bathrooms
Eve is in the driver's seat of the car while Elena and Frank cower in the back seat as Villanelle approaches on foot. She fires her gun at Eve but misses. She continues shooting as Eve drives away. Eve stops the car and decides to confront Villanelle. Ignoring the protests of Elena and Frank, she gets out of the car and begins walking toward Villanelle. When Villanelle raises her gun and takes aim, Eve stops walking, placing one hand in the air, the other across her chest. Villanelle aims the gun under her own chin and Eve screams, "no!" Villanelle laughs and fires at Eve's feet instead, causing her to duck and flinch. When Eve turns back around, Villanelle is gone.

Eve arrives home and unpacks the suitcase, applying some of the perfume Villanelle made for her. She tries on a dress and a pair of shoes, admiring herself in the mirror. She kicks off the shoes and heads to the kitchen to review the files on Oksana and pour more wine. She hears a noise and calls for Niko before checking the front door. When she turns around, Villanelle stands in her hallway and tells her not to run. Eve runs upstairs, locking herself in a bathroom. Villanelle breaks open the door and Eve defends herself with a toilet wand. Villanelle easily overpowers her and tells her to stop screaming as Eve keeps screaming. She pins Eve into the bathtub and turns on the water to calm her down. She explains that she just wants to have dinner with Eve.

In the kitchen, Eve only has leftover shepherd's pie, which she microwaves for Villanelle. Villanelle helps her change out of her wet dress, complimenting her on her body. Villanelle sits down at the table as Eve gets silverware and slips a knife into her pants, which Villanelle comments on. The microwave dings and Eve brings over the shepherd's pie, removing the knife from her pants before she sits down. Villanelle comments on Niko's mustache as Eve asks her why she is there. Villanelle begins to sob, asking for help and saying she knows what she is but they make her hurt people. Eve calls her bluff and reveals that she knows Villanelle is Oksana; she knows her history and tells her she is a psychopath. She asks who Villanelle works for and Villanelle tells her that if Eve goes high enough up the chain, they probably work for the same people. Eve shows Villanelle her prison file and asks about the castration and why Villanelle killed Bill. She replies it was because he was slowing Eve down. Eve picks up the knife even as Villanelle warns her not to and Villanelle quickly has her pinned against the fridge with the knife pointed at her neck. Villanelle sniffs her neck and asks if Eve is wearing her perfume. The door opens as Niko and Dom enter. Eve begs for their lives as Villanelle picks up Eve's phone and asks for her PIN ("1234"). Villanelle takes Eve's phone and dress and says hello and goodbye to Niko and Dom on her way out the door.

Frank is brushing his teeth in the safe house when Villanelle appears behind him in the mirror. Villanelle toys with him as he begs for his life but she is unsympathetic. She takes out a switchblade and Frank asks if she can kill him in the bedroom. Villanelle responds that she has "a thing for bathrooms" but agrees anyway and directs him to the bedroom. He attacks her with a chair but she disarms him and demands for him to take off his clothes.

Villanelle makes sausages in her apartment as she tells Konstantin her version of events of what happened with Diego and Nadia, claiming Diego ran over Nadia so she shot him. Konstantin reveals that Nadia is still alive even though "Diego" ran over her, twice. Konstantin suggests Villanelle visits Nadia in Russia before she has a chance to tell her side of the story. Villanelle worries about running into "Anna" before she questions Konstantin about the Twelve.

Take Me to the Hole!
In Russia, Konstantin goes over Villanelle's cover story for while she is in prison. She is Natalia Popova who has been imprisoned for stealing hats. Once she is in prison, she will need to see the doctor, kill Nadia, and Konstantin will collect her in a few days. Villanelle tells him she will see him tomorrow. They meet the prison transport van and Villanelle waves goodbye as she climbs in. Once in prison, Villanelle changes into a prison uniform and undergoes a cavity search. She makes a snide comment to the prison guard who slaps her. She slaps the guard back, earning her a beating from the other guard. She makes her way through the prison and to her cell before asking to see the doctor.

The next day, Villanelle asks again to see the doctor as she walks by the kitchen. She spots Nadia and asks the guard how she can get a job in the kitchen, again mouthing off. The guard restrains her and forces her to keep walking. Carolyn, Eve, and Konstantin arrive at the prison as Villanelle is being escorted through the courtyard. Villanelle keeps her head down-turned but Konstantin spots her anyway. She is taken to the bathroom and forced to unclog the drain with another prisoner, Agniya. Agniya reveals to Villanelle that she is in prison because she is spontaneously violent.

Villanelle walks around the prison yard with Agniya. She spots Nadia in the distance and picks a planned fight with her new friend, getting Agniya to punch her.

Villanelle has made it to Dr. Marat's office. He recognizes her and instructs her that she will need to get herself into the hole by 9 pm tomorrow and Konstantin will meet her. He provides her with Nadia's location in Wing B, Cell 21 and slides a blade across his desk.

Villanelle is in the food line with Agniya standing behind her. Agniya keeps bothering her and Villanelle drops the knife on the ground. Agniya picks it up and refuses to give it back just as Villanelle reaches the front of the line and confronts Nadia on the other side of the counter. Nadia backs away, throwing things at Villanelle as Villanelle tries to get the knife back from Agniya. She punches Agniya and hops over the counter, chasing after Nadia as she pretends that Agniya is really chasing after her. Villanelle sets it up so Agniya ends up stabbing a guard trying to stop them and she palms the knife. Nadia escapes out the kitchen as another guard tries to calm Agniya down. Villanelle stabs her from behind and steals her keys.

In the prison, Villanelle makes her way with the guard's keys to Cell B-21 but Nadia is not there. Nadia makes it to her cell and scratches something on a piece of paper. She folds it and writes "Eve Polastri" on the outside. Villanelle slides out from under the bed. Nadia tells Villanelle about how the British are trying to get them both out and Konstantin is working with them. Villanelle hugs a sobbing Nadia as she begs. Villanelle turns away briefly and Nadia takes the opportunity to slip the piece of paper under the door. A guard spots the paper before noticing a pool of blood seeping out from under the door. He opens it to find Villanelle standing with her bloody hands raised, screaming, "take me to the hole!"

Villanelle is placed in the Hole. Dr. Marat visits her to give her some pills to calm her down. Villanelle asks where Konstantin is to get her out. The doctor asks, "Konstantin who?"

I Don’t Want to Be Free
At the prison, Villanelle is allowed outside for exercise. She tries to bribe and threaten her guard into giving her a phone call. The guard restrains her and takes her back inside. Villanelle is brought back to the Hole and finds she has a new roommate, Inga. Inga lies motionless and unresponsive to Villanelle's taunts.

Villanelle raps on her prison door and asks the guard if she can make a phone call. The guard refuses and warns Villanelle to not fall asleep around Inga. Villanelle paces and fidgets within her cell as Inga remains motionless. When Villanelle eventually falls asleep, Inga gets up and works a razor blade out of her mouth. She tries attacking Villanelle who immediately blocks her and climbs on her back. Villanelle viciously bites into Inga's neck before the guards enter and drag her away.

Villanelle is being transported along with Agniya to the court. The van screeches to a stop, knocking the guards down. Shots are fired outside and one of the guards pulls her gun. She shoots the other two guards dead and unlocks Villanelle's handcuffs as the van door is blown open. A man in a motorcycle helmet tells Villanelle to come with him. She exits the van and takes a moment to look around the accident scene of police cars and murdered guards. She tells Agniya that she is free but Agniya doesn't want to be free and would rather die. The remaining guard shoots Agniya in the head. Villanelle climbs onto the back of a motorcycle behind the man who rescued her and they leave the carnage behind. They eventually stop and the man takes her into a building, directing her up a flight of stairs. She meets another man, Anton, who is taking over from Konstantin as her new handler. He has a postcard labeled Moscow and a suitcase of clothes for her. She has until tomorrow night to complete the job and meet him back there. He gives her a gun and Villanelle shoots him in the head. She sits down at the laptop and looks up the postcard information for her next target: Konstantin.

Konstantin arrives at his home to hear his daughter calling for him. He enters her room and finds Villanelle with a tape recorder in her hand. She points a gun at his head.

Villanelle tells Konstantin that Anton wanted her to kill him but now Anton is dead. Villanelle has Konstantin's wife and daughter stashed somewhere and he asks her what she wants in order to release them. She asks him how he would like to die and he says with a glass of whiskey and pills. He pours himself a drink as he explains they want him dead because he was trying to help the British get her out of prison. She tells him to get his pills. She asks for the names of the Twelve and Konstantin reveals that only "Keepers" have the names. She has him take the pills with his whiskey. He claims that he loves her more than his family and she is the best thing that has happened to him. He begins to cry as he tells her how powerful and strong she is. She commands him to take more pills and he finishes the bottle off. He throws his whiskey glass at her and picks up a log from the fireplace, knocking her upside the head with it. He takes off running as Villanelle lies stunned on the floor. She struggles to stand back up, staggering after him and firing her gun. Konstantin makes it to his boathouse and takes off in a boat as Villanelle threatens to skin his family alive.

Eve and Kenny review the CCTV prison footage. Eve spots a prisoner from behind who walks like Villanelle. Kenny finds another angle and they zoom in on Villanelle's face, confirming that Villanelle was in the prison with Nadia. On the CCTV, Villanelle is led into a visitor's room where Carolyn shows up to meet with her.

God, I’m Tired
Villanelle walks down a road with Konstantin's daughter, Irina, who won't stop talking. Villanelle pulls a gun on her and tells her to shut up. They get into a shouting match and Irina says she will stop shouting for food. A car is coming down the road and Villanelle has Irina stick out her thumb so they can get a ride.

Villanelle and Irina sit on a bench, eating. Villanelle asks how her English is so good and Irina recites, "language is information and information is everything," a quote Villanelle knows as well. Irina also speaks Spanish, German, and Mandarin.

Anna's phone rings just as her doorbell buzzes and she opens the door to Irina. Irina pushes her way inside while Villanelle stands out of sight in the hallway, pointing a gun.

While Anna is distracted with Irina, Villanelle sneaks into Anna's apartment. Anna suggest calling the police to help Irina get home and Irina agrees, much to Villanelle's annoyance. Villanelle enters Anna's bedroom and looks for the coat she sent, finding it under the bed. She pulls it out and checks the lining, retrieving a note from Eve that reads, "Sorry Baby X." Anna discovers Villanelle in her bedroom and Villanelle pulls the gun on Anna, demanding to know where Eve is. Anna wants to tend to Villanelle's wounds before giving Villanelle Eve's number.

Anna is busy gathering supplies to treat Villanelle's wounds. Villanelle notices how Anna has not changed the apartment at all since Villanelle killed her husband, Max. Villanelle reveals to Irina that she and Anna had sex. Anna turns around, brandishing a gun. Villanelle scoffs at Anna being able to shoot her and points her own gun at Anna. Anna turns the gun under her chin and shoots herself so Villanelle cannot kill her. Villanelle commands Irina to get Anna's phone and find some money.

Villanelle and Irina sit under a colonnade. Irina has decided that Villanelle is a good person because she is sad. Villanelle sends her off to steal from a woman seated at a table.

Eve's phone rings with Anna's number but it is Villanelle demanding her passport. Villanelle sets up a meeting at Cafe Radozhny. Villanelle and Irina are already at Cafe Radozhny when Konstantin and Eve arrive. Irina runs toward her father but Villanelle stops her and takes her hostage, threatening the other patrons in the restaurant if they move. Eve pulls the gun from the glove box on Villanelle. Konstantin offers to go with Villanelle while Eve offers up the cash and passport for Irina. Villanelle calls Eve's bluff because she will not hurt anyone with the gun. Eve sets her gun down. Villanelle, Irina, and Konstantin all tell Eve to throw the passport and money, which Eve does, but the toss falls short. Villanelle has one of the diners bring it the rest of the way to her. Villanelle tells Konstantin that she has to do her job and shoots him in the stomach. Irina jabs Villanelle and manages to get away while Eve picks up her gun and aims it at Villanelle, calling her, "Oksana." Eve asks her to come with her, just the two of them. Villanelle backs away and flees.

Eve enters Villanelle's apartment in Paris and looks around. In a wardrobe, she discovers designer clothing and her own green scarf. She starts tearing the clothes off their hangers and goes into a rampage, making a mess of the apartment and breaking bottles.

The sound of the door opening sends Eve to the weapons drawer where she grabs a gun. She comes out to find Villanelle standing in front of the ransacked wardrobe. She threatens to kill Villanelle but Villanelle again calls her bluff. They sit down across from each other, Villanelle at the vanity and Eve on the edge of the bed. Eve admits that she thinks about Villanelle all the time and wants to know everything about her. Villanelle admits that she masturbates about Eve. Eve lies down on the bed, exclaiming, "God, I'm tired." Villanelle picks up the gun and lies down next to Eve on the bed. Eve asks if she is going to kill her and Villanelle promises she won't before setting the gun on the floor. They turn on their sides and face each other. Eve admits she has never done anything like this before. Villanelle says she knows what she is doing and moves closer, stopping when she feels a blade poking into her stomach. Villanelle still does not believe Eve can do it. Eve says she can and stabs her before rolling Villanelle onto her back and straddling her. Villanelle begs her not to pull the blade out but Eve does so and Villanelle begins to bleed all over the place. Eve runs to the kitchen for a towel and Villanelle starts shooting at her. When Eve finally makes it back to the bedroom, Madame Tattevin stand there, informing Eve that Villanelle has left.

Do You Know How to Dispose of a Body?
Villanelle has eluded the cleanup team at her apartment; she careens through the streets, bleeding, until she finally manages to stop a cab by throwing herself in front of it. When the panicking driver tells her the hospital is still ten minutes away, she deadpans the episode’s title: “Do you know how to dispose of a body?” At the hospital, a stitched-up Villanelle convinces the doctor to keep her out of the system by claiming she was stabbed by her police officer husband. She also makes friends with the patient in the next bed, a heavily-bandaged kid named Gabriel. With his help, she manages to steal an ID and lab coat, raids the hospital’s supply room, and then outfits herself in his spare set of pyjamas and some stolen shoes from the nurse’s station. In return, Gabriel asks a favor: can she peel off his bandages and tell him how bad his injuries are? She looks, and doesn’t mince words: “You look like a pizza.” [Pause.] “Oooh! Wait, did you lose an eye?!”

Villanelle stays at the hospital just long enough to have a final chat with Gabriel, who starts to cry, and says he wishes he’d died in the accident that killed his parents. She gives him a hug — and snaps his neck. And then she’s off, stowing away in an English family’s minivan for the long journey to London. As night falls, the two women lie awake, staring into the dark. Thinking of each other.

Nice and Neat
Armed with superhero pyjamas, Crocs, and all the antibiotics she could need, Villanelle exits the trunk of the strangers she hitched a ride back to England with, only arousing suspicion when one of the sleeping children spots her exit. However, a quick “shh” and the matter is solved — but a whole new problem is unfolding.

While sleeping at a laundromat as a single pair of underwear tumble dries, Villanelle’s medication is stolen, leaving her gaping wound open to all kinds of infection. To get help, our mismatched heroine takes to a grocery store, and manages to convince a seemingly harmless man to rescue her from her made-up abusive husband. The man, Julian, takes her to his home, which is filled with porcelain dolls belonging to his ageing mother. However, that explanation doesn’t cover his other weird behaviour, which includes locking the windows and doors and becoming increasingly possessive of the assassin while at the same time refusing to get her the medication she needs.

Villanelle is left alone in brief chunks at a time. During one, Julian’s mother tells Villanelle to be “careful” of him, but it’s unclear if that’s the dementia talking or her genuine knowledge of what the man is capable of. Regardless, Villanelle would do well to heed the warning, because his behavior goes from creepy to downright psychotic when he realises Villanelle is trying to make a phone call.

First, she attempted to call The Twelve, but they would not help her. Then, she tried to get connected to Eve, but the automated MI6 answering machine couldn’t recognise the name through Villanelle’s heavy accent. However, Julian interrupts the call, and takes the whole phone out of the wall in response. While Villanelle initially tries to cover her tracks by saying she was ordering him a surprise cake, she abruptly breaks character to launch a full-on attack. Julian gets in a few jabs, including a close call via strangulation, but it’s of course Villanelle who emerges victorious when she stabs a knitting needle into his neck.

When she exits the house, there’s a car waiting for her outside — but it’s not Eve. It’s her new handler Raymond, and he is not as charmed by her as Konstantin. “Circumstances have changed,” he says, echoing Carolyn’s line to Eve from the previous episode. He locks Villanelle in the car with the coveted antibiotics and drives away.

The Hungry Caterpillar
Villanelle has carried out her first murder under her new handler, and she hated it. Rather than killing with the flourish and flare she’s used to, her murder of Greg Richardson is just a simple strangulation, pulling his tie through a set of closing elevator doors and holding tight as he rises. Real shudder-worthy stuff, so let’s move on to nicer things.

That would be Villanelle’s hotel room, where she’s hiding out in London. Raymond leaves a note instructing her to not leave her room, and arrives shortly after to chide her for not being boring enough with her murder. He also taunts her about the presence of this second female serial killer, telling Villanelle that Eve is no longer interested in her the way she used to be.

In a fit of anger, Villanelle picks up the phone and places a call — to Niko’s school of all places. She puts on her best childlike voices and says she would like to make “another” complaint against the teacher.

But she doesn’t stop there. No, she hatches a full plan when she stakes out the school and sees Gemma getting flirty with Niko in the courtyard. With some dry pasta, flowy pants, and a dash of glitter, Villanelle transforms herself into a kooky art teacher and crashes the drinks event.

It doesn’t take long for her to find Gemma in the stairwell, smoking and clearly feeling distressed about her feelings for Niko. Villanelle stokes the fire, encouraging Gemma to do anything in her power, no matter how manipulative, to seduce Niko and break him up from his wife. The fact that this would benefit Villanelle by leaving Eve single and available is...not mentioned.

But even if she was going to divulge that information, their conversation gets interrupted by the fire alarm. Outside, just as Niko has left Eve standing alone and distraught, Villanelle approaches her love interest from behind, and gets so close you think they might finally meet again — only to withdraw at the last moment.

Back at the hotel, after a stern phone call from Raymond about all the clothes she’s buying, Villanelle is informed by the receptionist that there’s a “new guest” at the hotel. Villanelle heads upstairs, knife brandished, only to see Konstantin at the end of the hallway in his own room. She charges at him, resulting in an uncharacteristic embrace that her previously handler can’t bring himself to return due to the fact that the last time they saw each other, Villanelle shot him.

It doesn’t take much apologizing for the two to fall back into their old dynamic — which is, of course, still playing games. Villanelle lies and says she loves Raymond and doesn’t miss Konstantin at all, whereas Konstantin informs her that Raymond is only assigned to killers who are on their last legs, and that it's his job to shoot them like a retired horse. But! There's a solution, he says. Konstantin tells Villanelle that he has a car outside, and that she can join him and go freelance...or else face the MI6, who happen to be arriving in five minutes. Villanelle calls bullshit, but then she hears a group of people bust open her door down the hall. The clock is running out, and Konstantin promises the two could have a partnership and, perhaps more importantly, a lot of money.

This is good enough for Villanelle, who agrees to the terms but isn’t ready to jet off without one last look at Eve, who she spots through the peephole. The unspoken connection between the women means Eve can feel Villanelle’s eyes on her. She's drawn to this mysterious other room, but, as we know, Villanelle and Konstantin escape just as MI6 kicks down the door.

Cut to: The escape car. The two are merrily driving away while Roxette’s “Listen To Your Heart” blasts on the radio, but Villanelle's mood sours when Konstantin echoes Raymond and informs her that Eve's attention is on this mysterious new murderer. Knowing Villanelle, she already has a plan to change that up her very expensive sleeves.

Desperate Times
It's the start of Villanelle's new life as a freelance assassin, and she's bored. She's not enjoying the beautiful city streets of Amsterdam because they're far away from Eve, so Konstantin takes her to the museum for a little inspiration. It's there our young villain becomes enamoured with a brutal painting of a man hung upside down with his stomach cut open. She buys a postcard of the painting and sends it to Eve, along with a message imploring the agent not to forget about her.

While writing this postcard, she identifies her target: A middle-aged man, father, and husband. We learn it's his wife who wants him killed as Villanelle dons a tutu and a pig mask to lure him into a private room in the Red Light District. He thinks he's in for some light BDSM, but Villanelle has other plans — and they might sound familiar. She ties him up and opens the blinds of the room so everyone on the street can watch her hang him upside down and cut open his stomach...as his wife watches. The final scene looks exactly like her new favourite painting.

Once the deed is done, Villanelle assumes they can go back "home" aka London, but Konstantin says no. He's been urging her to forget about Eve, and a frustrated Villanelle heads back to the Red Light District to watch the police and medics busy themselves at the scene of her crime. As she's leaving the area, she follows a whim, buying drugs from a man on the street and entering a nightclub.

Things, of course, go south. While waiting in line for the restroom, she attacks a girl who cuts the line. She would have strangled her to death had Konstantin, who must have some kind of Villanelle beeper, not crashed into the bathroom and pulled her off. The next morning, she wakes up hungover in bed with Konstantin asleep on the floor. As soon as she looks at herself in the mirror, the tears start flowing.

Smell Ya Later
Villanelle's latest hit begins with a strawberry milkshake and ends with murder in a car wash. In other words, another Wednesday for our villain. In her spare time, she's taken to staring down statue impersonators in hopes of making them flinch, but Villanelle is the one flinching when she's handed her next assignment. It's Eve.

At first Villanelle thinks this is some kind of joke Konstantin is playing on her, but it's genuine. he reminds her that this is her job, and accuses Eve of making her weak. To get ready for the most conflicting murder of her life, Villanelle goes into pre-emptive mourning, ordering room service champagne and making a hotel employee stroke her hair.

Once Eve’s home, our two protagonists finally reunite. Dressed as if for a funeral, Villanelle arrives at the house ready to kill her victim. Eve asks her to take her shoes off. The two banter, having to make up for four episodes of absence, and mainly talk coyly about their fears the other had forgotten them. Neither apologise to the other for what went down in France.

Finally, Eve comes clean and says she took out the hit on herself, but Villanelle says she must do what she's been told. She hands Eve "cyanide" pills, and Eve takes them, thinking she was calling Villanelle on her bluff. Villanelle begins freaking out, saying she didn't think Eve would actually take the pills, and Eve runs to the sink as Villanelle stars laughing. Double bluff.

But the games are over and Eve takes Villanelle to the Ghost, who has been taken out into the forest and put into a metal shed. Eve gives her one last chance to talk, to say who she's working for and why she killed Allister Peele, but she stays silent. So finally, she brings out the big guns. We don't see what Villanelle does to the Ghost, only that it works: Allister Peele's son took out the hit on his father.

The episode ends in Oxford, where Villanelle has donned her best schoolboy look in order to casually run into Niko. She apologises for making those fake complaints to the school, and reveals herself to be Villanelle. She explains she just wanted Eve's attention, and taunts him, fends off his attack, and strolls away with her sweater still snugly around her shoulders.

I Hope You Like Missionary!
Villanelle, bored as ever, makes her way to Eve's empty house to essentially fuck some shit up — rearranging CDs, using her toothbrush — While neither of them can get close to Aaron given that they have already met, Villanelle can get close to the only relationship he has in his life: with his sister, Amber Peele (Shannon Tarbet). They hire Villanelle not for killing, but instead for her keen ability to assume different characters and looks. For this mission, she's a pink-haired jobless New Yorker named Billie with as many philosophy degrees as she has DUIs, so she's going to "coincidentally" cross paths with Amber in AA.

To pull this off, Carolyn explains in a meeting with Eve and Villanelle, they have to be totally analogue. Aaron will be recording and spying on everything, even when it may not seem like he's watching. As Carolyn emphasises the importance of never breaking character, Villanelle realises that she is the real boss — something that makes her immediately attractive to Villanelle. Don't worry, she still has a soft spot for Eve, teasing her throughout the meeting and reminding her to "be professional" as they browse the tech they'll be using.

But Eve has bigger problems to worry about, mainly that Niko isn't answering her texts, and as Villanelle unhelpfully points out when she plops herself across from Eve at a coffee shop, it's going to take a little more than a blowjob to fix this. But Villanelle doesn't want Eve to fix this, because Niko is too nice and normal for her.

“You will never understand how much harder it is to be nice and normal and decent than it is to be like you," Eve tells Villanelle. "Like us, you mean," Villanelle shoots back.

But, duty calls, and Villanelle — or, Billie — finds herself smack in the middle of an AA meeting for which she didn't read any of the materials Eve prepared, which leads to her getting called out for being disingenuous (it doesn't help that she stole Eve's personal troubles almost word-for-word, which does not go over well). The pity parties are over, the group explains, but Amber seems sympathetic, approaching Villanelle after class to sympathise. Their conversation is cut short by Amber's handler, who extracts her from the convo to take her home.

In Villanelle's next attempt, she speaks from the heart. Her heart. The characters get surprisingly genuine, or at least we assume her talking about her boredom and her inability to feel anything and enjoy life is true to her real life, and it really strikes a chord with the group. In fact, it almost prompts Amber to invite her over, but she's once again interrupted by her handler, who warns her against forming associations. However, Villanelle has a quick fix for this problem: push the handler in front of an oncoming truck! Suddenly, the path to Amber is clear, and she's going to the Peel's for supper.

Luckily, she can throw herself head first into the dinner between Villanelle, Amber, and Aaron, where not only is Villanelle bugged, but she has an earpiece through which Eve can help get her out of binds. Binds like, let's say, Villanelle not reading any of the research and therefore being unable to answer basic questions about philosophy, or accidentally revealing that she knows more about Aaron than she should, or being caught snooping by Aaron's trick bookcase.

Villanelle ignores the earpiece, at one point stuffing it into her food and eating it. This wasn't the best idea, because the suspect immediately takes a dislike to Villanelle, taunting her throughout dinner and their card game with Amber afterwards. He wonders why someone with two philosophy degrees would be putting on this ditzy act, and tries to call her bluff. Not before, however, hits him across the face with a philosophy book.

“You’re a bully," she said before her strike. "Why would I even bother to have a conversation with someone like you? My dad taught me there was only one way to communicate with a bully.” Thwack.

Steamed, Villanelle heads to a local kebab shop, where she immediately becomes enamoured with the kebab meat spit. She presses the cashier for more info, such as, can you put any meat on one of those things? You can guess where she's going with this as she follows two women out into the dark of the local train station.

Wide Awake
Outside her front door, one of Aaron Peel's minions has left Villanelle an apology of sorts — a book of philosophy and a request for her to join him at lunch.

As Villanelle explains to a world-weary Eve that she's scored the date with Aaron, her two dates from the night before leave in succession, which does not improve Eve's mood. Nonetheless, things are progressing.

Aaron booked an entire restaurant for his meeting with "Billy," where he does nothing but watch her eat pasta and interrogate her about why she befriended his sister. He thinks it has something to do with his money, and in a bizarre turn from paranoid to sexual, he asks Billy to tell him just how much she likes money and what she spends it on. Her compliance wins her a ticket to the Rome conference...and a bunch of worried voicemails from Eve wondering how the lunch want.

However, keeping Villanelle under control is already proving difficult. As Niko and Gemma move his things into a storage unit, the assassin pops up with an urgent question: What is his Shepherd's pie recipe? Niko shakingly gives the ingredients while Villanelle's knife is pressed to his throat, and even though she's pleased to know the missing ingredient has been "Worcester sauce," she's not done with the pair. She sits them down on the couch and asks Niko if he loves Gemma, which he denies. He loves Eve, he says. However, that was the wrong answer.

Villanelle arrives in Rome, but her packing was for nothing. Aaron has not just given Villanelle her own room, but also her own clothes — oh, and that luggage she bought? She can't use it. Not only does she not have access to her microphone which allows Eve to listen in on the mission, she's being watched from every angle through cameras set up by Aaron.

Luckily, Villanelle's silence alerts Eve that something is up. She finds Villanelle and Aaron in a restaurant and slips her a backup mic in a bread roll while Aaron takes a call. It's clever, but later Aaron still is able to see that Villanelle was up to something when her back was turned to his cameras. The important thing is, however, the mic is now on and the mission is in full swing.

The only problem? Villanelle is wearing a belt over her dress, and Aaron doesn't approve. He demands she take off the accessory, because why do anything if it isn't perfect. He then informs her that she'll be sitting in on dinner, and demands her to be bored during the entirety of the conversation. That's difficult, however, because it's the conversation MI6 has been waiting for.

Even the buyers themselves don't know what the weapon is, but that didn't stop them from showing up the meeting. Aaron refuses to reveal specifics without purchase, but he aggressively makes his point by giving each buyer a full rundown of their personal lives, including things they didn't even know. He learned it all through data, and if they buy the weapon, they'll be able to type in anyone's name — be it a wife, a minister, a prime minister — and know exactly as much information.

This is good news for the MI6, but they might have another problem: Villanelle and Aaron seem to be connecting a little too well. Later that night, he approaches "Billy" about her lack of digital footprint, calling her a "void" — just like him. She's the only person in the world he knows nothing about, which must be what makes her so interesting.

If Eve was getting jealous, Villanelle certainly made it up to her. In bed, she talks directly to Eve, knowing the agent is listening to everything she says on the mic. It becomes sexual, prompting Eve to approach Hugo in bed for sex — with Villanelle in her ear the entire time.

You’re Mine
TBA

Season 3
Jodie Comer is set to return as Villanelle in the upcoming third season.