TV

The ‘Killing Eve’ Finale Has Infuriated Queer Fans

After four seasons, 'Killing Eve' let everyone down.

by Merryana Salem  12 April 2022
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Killing Eve fans have been left furious this week after the much-anticipated grand finale finally aired, calling the ending anti-climactic at best and homophobic at worst.

— Warning: Spoilers ahead for Killing Eve. — 

Since 2018, Killing Eve has chronicled the action-packed game of cat and mouse between MI6 agent Eve Polastri and assassin Villanelle. Over four seasons, the two women obsessively pursued one another across the world, becoming so enamoured with the chase that they slowly but surely become the only thing that matters to one another.

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If you think that sounds kinda very gay, you’re kinda very right. The series has been a cult hit for queer fans. Despite accusations of queerbaiting in the show’s early days, Killing Eve eventually confirmed that Eve and Villanelle were headed for requited romance.

As it was, the grand finale sees Eve and Villanelle finally get together. The pair share a passionate kiss and agree to run away with each other. This fits with what happens in the books the series is based on too, in which the pair end up shacking up in Russia with new names and lives.

But it wasn’t to be. In the final minutes of the finale, Eve and Villanelle are fleeing in a boat on the Thames when a sniper takes out Villanelle. The final shot sees Villainelle bleeding out in the water as Eve screams in grief.

Sadly, it’s an all too familiar ending for many a queer couple on TV. A hangover from the days of the Hays code which forbade queerness to be rewarded on-screen, ‘the bury your gays’ trope often sees a queer person die just as happiness is within reach. It would appear that even in 2022, the trope is alive and well given Villainelle’s fate.

Not only is the trope one with a homophobic history, but in this case, it’s also a downright disappointing anti-climax. For years viewers have watched Villanelle and Eve chase a life together, a life they’re given in the very books the show is based on, only for the show to sell its viewers short on what was the expected and long-anticipated ending.

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So, understandably, fans are pissed. Eve and Villanelle’s tragic ending aside, the show also failed to deliver answers to the show’s key mystery, the identity of “the Twelve”. The identities of the evil syndicate controlling both MI6 and Villainelle’s assassin network are never revealed, despite them being teased as the show’s true villains from episode one. Instead, they’re murdered by Villanelle in a quick montage, the answer of who they were dying with them.

So, it’s a disappointing ending all-around. Killing Eve joins the ranks of other once-beloved series like BBC’s Sherlock, Supernatural, Merlin, and Hannibal that supremely pissed off their audiences with homophobic, unfulfilling endings. View some of the reactions to the finale from fans below.

Killing Eve is streaming on ABC Iview.