Killing Eve Season 3 Recap: Villanelle Quits The Twelve, Nico Quits Eve

Summary Eve and Villanelle transition to civilian life after a dramatic encounter, only to be pulled back into their dangerous pasts.

Season 3 delves deeper into the twisted dynamics between Eve and Villanelle, leading to unexpected revelations and shocking betrayals.

Villanelle's journey through personal turmoil and violent encounters with family and foes sets the stage for a thrilling upcoming season.

A Killing Eve season 3 recap covers all eight episodes of the penultimate season of the BBC spy thriller series. In the mold of shows like HBO's Barry, Killing Eve is a violent, thrilling, and darkly comedic story about the love-hate relationship between Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodie Comer), with a cold war between MI5 and the mysterious Twelve as the backdrop. Season 2 of the series ended in May 2019 with Villanelle asking Eve to run away with her, finally admitting the feelings the two have secretly held for each other.

Eve's regretful "no" earns her a bullet, and Villanelle leaves her pursuer (in more ways than one) left for dead. Her two-season pursuit of Villanelle has left Eve near death, and it seems that the chase is over, with both parties exhausted. Season 3 picks up six months after that moment, with both women and their respective organizations dealing with the fallout of the previous seasons. Some consider Killing Eve season 3 a step-down for the show, but the series still offers incredible performances and a twisting story fans have come to enjoy.

Related Killing Eve: Villanelle's 10 Craziest Moments In Season 3, Ranked Villanelle, Killing Eve's resident attention-seeking assassin, is known for her erratic behavior. Her unpredictability is just as wild in Season 3.

Eve And Villanelle Return To Civilian Life Six Months After Season 2

Neither Woman Wants To Go Back To The Spy World

Six months after the shooting, Eve and Villanelle have left their respective professions and are now living as civilians. Eve works at a Korean restaurant and Villanelle is shockingly giving a speech at her own wedding, though it's clear she isn't over Eve. Villanelle's nuptials are interrupted by Dasha (Harriet Walter), who trained Villanelle to be an assassin when she was a child and whom Villanelle attacks, effectively stopping the marriage and ending the wedding.

Villanelle only backs down when Dasha offers her a chance to sit at the high table with the Twelve and become a Keeper. Eve is also coaxed out of her quiet life when she meets up with Kenny (Sean Delaney), now working as an independent journalist with Bitter Pill. Kenny asks her for help in uncovering the Twelve, and Eve can't help but say yes.

Killing Eve Season 3 Episodes Episode Title Air Date 1 Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey 12 April 2020 2 Management Sucks 19 April 2020 3 Meetings Have Biscuits 26 April 2020 4 Still Got It 3 May 2020 5 Are You from Pinner? 10 May 2020 6 End of Game 17 May 2020 7 Beautiful Monster 24 May 2020 8 Are You Leading or Am I? 31 May 2020

Kenny Falls To His Death From The Bitter Pill Roof

Konstantin Frightens Kenny Off The Roof

Unfortunately, Eve and Kenny's alliance is short-lived. As Eve goes to the Bitter Pill building to meet Kenny for coffee, in a Killing Eve scene no one saw coming, Kenny falls from the roof to his death, landing just a few feet from Eve. Some people suspect that Kenny jumped, but Eve knows better and is certain he was pushed. As it turns out, and the season later reveals, Kenny was on the roof with Konstantin (Kim Bodnia), whom he suspected of being his real father. Kenny nervously backed away, tumbling to his death.

Villanelle Is Tasked With Training Felix

Felix Mishandles The Hit, Leading To His Death

Back working as an assassin, Dasha tasks Villanelle with training a new recruit, Felix (Stefan Iancu), and the pair go to a birthday party where Villanelle is dressed in one of her best outfits yet: a clown costume. There, Felix doesn't follow the plan, making a mess of the job and resulting in Villanelle killing him and the target. Afterward, Konstantin informs Villanelle that Eve is alive. Eve, angry and drunk at Kenny's funeral, tries to get into Kenny's phone, only to be approached by Carolyn (Fiona Shaw), who insists Villanelle is active again, and she needs Eve's help.

Eve And Villanelle Meet Again

Villanelle Confronts Eve On A Bus

Despite going clean for a few months, Eve and Villanelle are back to their dangerous, high-intensity lifestyles. After Carolyn finds a break in the Twelve case and uncovers the identity of Charles Kruger (Dominic Mafham), Villanelle sets off to London to kill him. There, she meets Eve on a bus and the two get into a brawl. Eve shocks Villanelle by kissing her and follows that up with a headbutt to escape the bus. Villanelle continues on her way and assassinates Kruger before escaping London, stopping only to leave a stuffed bear with a voice recording on Eve's bed.

Dasha Stabs Niko But Pins The Crime On Villanelle

Eve Thinks Villanelle Has Gone Too Far By Attacking Niko

Dasha has handlers of her own, that is, the Twelve. They notice that Villanelle getting close to Eve will eventually stop her from being a part of the Twelve, so they instruct Dasha to drive a wedge in their relationship. Dasha gets her chance when she learns Niko (Owen McDonnell) is in Poland, hoping to manage his PTSD from season 2. In disguise, Dasha stabs Niko with a pitchfork with Eve watching, and the surrounding events lead Eve to believe her husband's attacker is Villanelle, just as Villanelle is going to her hometown in Russia.

Succession and Ted Lasso fans will recognize Dasha actress Harriet Walter as Lady Caroline Collingwood and Deborah Welton, respectively. She was nominated for Emmys for both roles.

Villanelle Burns Down Her Family's Farmhouse

Villanelle's Mother Does Not Want Her Daughter Around

Villanelle makes a pit stop at her family's home in Russia, where they greet her with surprise and suspicion. She bonds with her brothers but her mother, Tatiana (Evgenia Dodina), is clearly unhappy she's there. Villanelle begins to settle happily into family life, but when her half-brother Bor'ka (Temirlan Blaev) is berated by his mother, Villanelle confronts her about abandoning her to an orphanage as a child.

Tatiana demands Villanelle leave her home and claims the reason she put her in an orphanage and not the other children was because Villanelle's father, a man Villanelle adored, was terrified of her. Unwilling to let Villanelle dissolve her family like she did her marriage, Tatiana wants her out. Infuriated and anguished, Villanelle kills her mother and burns down her farmhouse. She does, however, leave some money for her two brothers.

Niko Rejects Eve After Being Attacked

Niko Has Had Enough Of Eve's Line Of Work Putting Him In Danger

After returning from her family's home, Villanelle is promoted to Keeper but is disappointed to learn she still must take orders and Dasha still holds sway over her. Frustrated, she asks Konstantin if she can run away with him, but due to Konstantin's daughter not liking Villanelle, she stays on as a Keeper. Eve helps Niko recover but her husband, fed up with the danger he's been put in, rejects her totally and leaves her. Eve then deduces Villanelle did not attack Niko and realizes it was Dasha, calling her and telling her so.

Paul Is Revealed To Be Working For The Twelve

Carolyn Discovers That Her MI6 Coworker Is A Double Agent

After confiding in Dasha that she wants out, Villanelle is approached by Hélène (Camille Cottin), a high-ranking member of the Twelve, and is told in no uncertain terms she had better get her act together. Villanelle and Dasha are then sent on another assignment and, while pursuing the target in Aberdeen, Scotland, Villanelle hits Dasha over the head with a golf club. After she leaves, Eve approaches, having tracked Villanelle's credit card, and breaks one of the semi-conscious Dasha's ribs after she admits her part in Niko's stabbing. Dasha later dies of her wounds in the hospital.

All the while, Carolyn is slowly building a case against one of her coworkers, Paul Bradwell (Steve Pemberton), who she's suspected of working with the Twelve. Carolyn's assistant discovers a connection between Paul and the Twelve right before she is assassinated — but not before she can tell Carolyn the truth about Paul's double-cross.

Villanelle Walks Away From The Twelve But Not Away From Eve

Eve And Villanelle Finally Admit What It Is They Really Want

Close

With Paul's identity uncovered, Konstantin still attempting to flee his connection with the Twelve, Villanelle hoping to save Carolyn, and Villanelle hoping to flee the Twelve as well, everyone converges on Paul's house where Carolyn is holding Paul at gunpoint. Konstantin, whom Paul had been handling, tries to explain he never meant to harm Kenny, and that he only wanted him to join the Twelve, though he now sees that was wrong. Carolyn shoots and kills Paul before despondently telling Eve and Villanelle that there's no beating the Twelve.

Eve and Villanelle leave together, both once again deciding to reenter civilian life, but not together. They agree that they will stand with their backs to one another and walk away without ever turning around. They only get a few yards apart before both women stop and slowly turn around to face each other, finally choosing one another and setting up the final season of Killing Eve.