✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we send newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Support Us Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Shopping
  • CW SHOPS
  • Support Us
  • Get Started
  • Tickets
  • CW SHOPS
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
TV

Killing Eve, season 4 episode 4, BBC review ★★★★★

21 Mar 22 – 21 Mar 23, ON BBC iPLAYER

In It's Agony and I'm Ravenous, there's some return to form as Villanelle (Jodie Comer) resumes her former sadistic tendencies

By Euan Franklin on 18/3/2022

Camille Cottin in Killing Eve season 4, BBC (Photo: BBC)
Camille Cottin in Killing Eve season 4, BBC (Photo: BBC)
Killing Eve, season 4 episode 4, BBC review 3 Killing Eve, season 4 episode 4, BBC review Euan Franklin
It's taken too long, but this latest episode of Killing Eve finally ascends to a moderately impressive experience: the best of season four so far. Whereas the last three episodes have pussyfooted around the violent appeal of Villanelle (Jodie Comer), It’s Agony and I’m Ravenous reverse-ferrets the worst developments of this season and returns to strong and familiar rhythms.


The mediocre structure has shifted, presumably because we’re now halfway through and something substantial needs to happen. And thank god it has. But it’s like the writers' room suddenly disliked what they’d written and didn’t have enough time to change it, making their edits in this episode instead.


Key to these changes relates to Villanelle’s prison sentence, a situation that's resolved rather easily. Although the circumstances are miraculously untangled, they allow the assassin to resume her former sadistic identity (sorely missed).



Anjana Vasan and Kim Bodnia as Pam and Konstantin. Photo: BBC

There’s also Konstantin (Kim Bodnia), who has bizarrely abandoned his mayoral duties in Russia to train the aspiring assassin Pam (Anjana Vasan). Again, the writer Kayleigh Llewellyn reanimates previously successful dynamics instead of stumbling through kooky alternatives. Pam’s growing into a series favourite, her uphill journey from silent and solitary to strong and assertive is a joy to watch unfold. As this critic wrote last week, she's a great leaping-off point for a potential spin-off.


Similarly, The Twelve member Hélène (Camille Cottin) reveals the true power she wields in this internationally ridiculous game. More than that, her seductive and subtextual battles with Eve (Sandra Oh) are becoming compulsive, hilarious viewing. This season has been light on laughs considering Laura Neal (Sex Education) is the showrunner, but the humour really punches when it arrives.



Fiona Shaw as Carolyn. Photo: BBC

Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) was in danger of becoming less interesting, her connection to the Russians providing sparse entertainment or reward. She's had little to no connection with Eve, Villanelle or even MI6. But episode four rectifies that in a sun-kissed Havana, where she’s holding a ‘bilious’ male member of The Twelve under lock and key. The man in question is injured: having had his toes cut off and shoved up his nose. This leans into twisted comedy, of which this season has been bloodlessly deprived.


This is a strangely entertaining 40 minutes, improving upon mistakes and maybe opening doors to superior episodes in future weeks. Hopefully, it’s not a fluke. However, the plot directions raise a concern about the eventual fate of The Twelve: what if they’re not defeated by the time Killing Eve finishes for good? If they keep going, what’s been the point of watching thus far? Hélène indicates that the organisation can’t be stopped, so will the bad guys actually end up winning?


Killing Eve season 4 continues Mondays on BBC iPlayer and Saturdays at 9:15pm on BBC One.




What Killing Eve, season 4 episode 4, BBC review
When 21 Mar 22 – 21 Mar 23, ON BBC iPLAYER
Price £n/a
Website Click here for more information



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
Things to do in London this weekend: 27–29 January
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London (Photograph: Peter Lewicki)
London Theatre Guide: best plays on now in London, 2023
Culture After Dark: The Best Museum Late Night Openings
Culture After Dark: the best museum late-night openings

Editor's Picks

Helena Bonham Carter in Nolly, ITVX (Photo: ITV)
What to watch on TV this week
Bel Powley and Emma Appleton in Dolly Alderton's Everything I Know About Love, BBC One (Photo: BBC)
Everything I Know About Love, BBC One review
Gaia Girace in My Brilliant Friend season 3, Sky Atlantic (Photo: Sky)
My Brilliant Friend, season 3 episode 2, Sky Atlantic review
Margherita Mazzucco as Elena Greco in My Brilliant Friend, Sky Atlantic (Photo: Sky)
My Brilliant Friend, season 3 episode 1, Sky Atlantic review
Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey in Bridgerton season 2, Netflix (Photo: Netflix)
New to Netflix UK: March 2022
Secret Cinema presents Bridgerton. Photo: Luke Dyson
Secret Cinema presents Bridgerton review
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

Killing Eve

Jodie Comer

Sandra Oh

Fiona Shaw

Camille Cottin

BBC

TV

2022

You might like

  • Jodie Comer in Killing Eve season 4, BBC (Photo: BBC)

    Killing Eve, season 4 episode 3, BBC review ★★★★★

  • Jodie Comer in Killing Eve season 4, BBC (Photo: BBC)

    Killing Eve season 4 episode 2, BBC review ★★★★★

  • Jodie Comer in Killing Eve season 4, BBC One (Photo: BBC)

    Killing Eve, season 4 episode 1, BBC One review ★★★★★

  • Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders season 6, BBC One (Photo: BBC)

    Peaky Blinders, season 6, BBC One, first-look review ★★★★★

  • Florence Pugh in The Wonder, Netflix (Photo: Netflix)

    The Wonder, Netflix: everything we know

  • Sasha Lane and Alison Oliver in Conversations With Friends, BBC Three (Photo: BBC)

    Conversations With Friends, BBC Three review ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • Support Us
  • Tickets
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×