After 120+ Deaths, Killing Eve’s Universally Acclaimed 6-Year-Old Episode Has The 1 Character Demise We Still Can’t Get Over

Summary Killing Eve season 1, episode 3 remains a brutal and heartbreaking highlight of the series' cat-and-mouse game.

Villanelle's murder of Bill in episode 3 sparked controversy due to the "bury your gays" trope.

Eve's obsession with Villanelle deepens after Bill's death, leading to a complex dynamic in subsequent seasons.

Six years after it first debuted, Killing Eve season 1, episode 3 endures as one of the series' most brutal and heartbreaking. Given psychopathic assassin Villanelle's (Jodie Comer) penchant for inventive murders, that's really saying something. Based on the Villanelle novels by Luke Jennings, the BBC spy thriller centers on Sandra Oh's Eve Polastri, an intelligence investigator who becomes obsessed with tracking down Villanelle. What ensues is a remarkable game of cat-and-mouse — one in which the predator and prey are equally transfixed on one another. This dynamic leads to many, many murders throughout Killing Eve's four seasons.

Eve puts forth her theory that a string of assassinations were committed by a woman killer...

Notably, each of the show's seasons was led by a different head writer, with Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge penning some of Killing Eve season 1's best moments. In Killing Eve's pilot, Eve puts forth her theory that a string of assassinations were committed by a woman killer — something her MI5 superiors are quick to dismiss. Eager to prove her suspicions, Eve interviews the one and only surviving witness, who winds up dead shortly thereafter. In retaliation, MI5 fires Eve and her friend, Head of Security Bill Pargrave (David Haig). However, this turn doesn't quash Eve and Bill's investigation.

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Bill's Death In Killing Eve Season 1, Episode 3 Is The Show's Most Heartbreaking

Villanelle Leads Bill & Eve Into A Brutal Trap

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Impressed by Eve's instincts and grit, Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw), who heads up MI6's Russian sector, recruits Eve for an off-the-record operation. Working with Carolyn and her son, Kenny (Sean Delaney), Eve brings a few of her former colleagues into the fold, including Bill. Meanwhile, Villanelle is made aware of the covert task force that's meant to smoke her out, which puts Eve, Bill, and their fellow associates very much in harm's way. By Killing Eve season 1, episode 3, "Don't I Know You?," Villanelle is setting a trap for Carolyn's ragtag team of operatives.

Eventually, Bill spots Villanelle and follows her into a pulsing Berlin nightclub — without Eve.

By committing a murder under Eve's name, Villanelle is able to lure the investigator to Berlin, Germany. While clearing her name is top of Eve's mind, she's more excited by the prospect of finding Villanelle. Eve can't resist the case — and doesn't want to, either. While Eve searches for evidence of the assassin, Villanelle covertly tails her. Clearly, Villanelle is just as intrigued by Eve. Eventually, Bill spots Villanelle and follows her into a pulsing Berlin nightclub — without Eve. In one of Killing Eve's most heartbreaking and shocking moments, Villanelle stabs Bill to death on the dance floor.

Related Killing Eve Season 5 Needs To Happen To Save The Show's Legacy The final season of Killing Eve neglects to give justice to its themes and story arcs with an unsatisfying resolution only a season 5 can fix.

Why Bill's Death Was So Controversial

Killing Eve Season 1, Episode 3 Uses The Harmful "Bury Your Gays" Trope

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Across Killing Eve's four seasons, Villanelle and the other assassins that crop up kill plenty of people. Even so, Bill's death is still seen as the one that hits the hardest. Given how early in the show Bill's murder plays out, it's kind of surprising that his death continues to hold such weight. In many ways, however, the trap Villanelle lays for Bill and Eve — and the way she toys with them — reveals a lot about her character. Undoubtedly, that feeds into Bill's death as one of Killing Eve's most heartbreaking and memorable.

[Bill's death scene was] criticized when the episode aired in 2018.

Even though Bill's death had quite an impact on Killing Eve's story and characters, the plot point and sequence were both criticized when the episode aired in 2018. Although Bill establishes that he has a wife, Eve's former boss shares that he's queer in episode 3 — mere moments before his tragic death. "I just fall in love with whoever I fall in love with," he explains, underscoring some of the show's most prominent themes. However, Bill's coming out, which happens almost back-to-back with his murder, frustratingly follows the media's harmful "bury your gays" trope.

Related Killing Eve's Series Finale Failed To Solve Its 2 Biggest Mysteries The controversial Killing Eve series finale neglects to explain two of its biggest mysteries around the identity of The Twelve and a previous death.

Why Eve Forgives Villanelle For Killing Bill (Despite Their Close Relationship)

Villanelle Claims To Be Sorry But Bill's Death Haunts Eve

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Murdering Bill is perhaps one of the worst things Killing Eve's Villanelle does to Eve. When Villanelle and Eve eventually talk, the assassin tells Eve that Bill was merely "slowing her down." While there's no way Villanelle really knew about Eve and Bill's friendship, it's clear that the murder of one of her few close pals starts Eve down a darker path: Villanelle has made the case very personal. "I want to kill her," Eve tells her colleague, "with my bare hands." In episode 4, Eve's missing suitcase from Berlin, which Villanelle had rifled through, turns up at her apartment.

Eve probably doesn't forgive Villanelle completely...

When Eve opens the suitcase, she discovers designer clothing, a bottle of La Villanelle-brand perfume, and a card that reads, "Sorry Baby x." At that moment, it's hard to know if Villanelle's note is an apology or another taunt meant to push Eve into making the next move. As Eve and Villanelle's cat-and-mouse game stretches across three additional seasons, they're pulled deeper into each other's orbit. Given how much of an impact Bill's murder had on her, Eve probably doesn't forgive Villanelle completely — she's just too intoxicated by Killing Eve season 4 to dwell on it.

As of April 2024, Killing Eve is streaming on Netflix.