Killing Eve season two returns with heart-pounding action

The thrilling and addictive series that made obsessives of everyone is back. And it’s back earlier than we expected.

In a nice surprise, Killing Eve season two will now drop on ABC iview two days earlier than expected.

The first episode will be available to stream on Saturday at 12pm instead of the original Monday premiere date, which makes your weekend 17 times better.

The TV series that made obsessives out of all of us last year returns with the same thrills, heart-pounding action and charged sexual energy between Eve (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodie Comer).

The alluring story of Villanelle, a psychopathic Russian assassin with a penchant for luxury and showboating (or as Eve describes her, “flamboyant”), and Eve, the brash, unlikely MI6 agent chasing her across Europe, made huge waves when it debuted last year.

Here was a TV series centred on two captivating and complex female characters and the performances to match, it also focused the story on their twisty, strange and inscrutable relationship with each other, and not men.

And then there’s the magnificent Fiona Shaw’s Carolyn, Eve’s enigmatic MI6 handler with nerves of steel, unholy alliances and a stunning wardrobe.

When a stranger approaches a frayed looking Eve and assumes she’s a junkie, Eve laughs it off mirthlessly. Of course, the uncomfortable truth is that Eve is a junkie, a thrillseeker and a woman with an obsession — it’s just not for drugs. Which is an apt metaphor for our experience of watching Killing Eve — it makes addicts of us too, constantly chasing the high of the next episode.

The first season saw Eve and Villanelle discover each other’s presence, chasing each other across Europe before ramping up to their many encounters.

The second season picks up literally 30 seconds after that explosive conclusion in Villanelle’s “chic as sh*t” Parisian abode — the assassin slinking off into the street with that bloody knife wound, and Eve shaken by her own act of violence.

Sandra Oh won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance as Eve Polastri

Oh, rightly, was showered with plaudits and awards for playing Eve but, oddly, Comer less so. The young British actor is so wonderful in this, clearly relishing her thespian muscles through Villanelle’s multifaceted personality, and personalities.

Hopefully, Comer, the lesser known of the two leads outside the UK, will get more recognition in this second season.

Though brilliant on their own, placing Oh and Comer in the same frame is what makes this show really sizzle. Seeing them perform opposite each other is so deliciously watchable.

In that sense, the fact the show separates them again for the first two episodes of season two made available for review, is a little disappointing.

It’s not clear why they’ve made that story choice, except maybe in the name of sustainability, but Killing Eve’s writers have proven they can throw a shock twist out there like no one else — so we’re happy to go with it for now, but also hoping that they won’t keep them apart for long.

Jodie Comer as the sociopathic and alluring Villanelle Picture: Aimee Spinks/BBCAmerica

And the frantic tension of the cat-and-mouse game is so, so fun — especially now that the dynamic has been shaken with Villanelle more vulnerable than we’ve ever seen her.

The season introduces some new elements, including another female assassin.

Killing Eve’s writing has been taken over by writer and actor Emerald Fennell, who’s best known for her role on Call the Midwife and will play Camilla on the next season of The Crown.

Like Killing Eve’s TV creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge who hand-picked Fennell, Fennell is evidently a talented woman, and she confidently takes the creative reins of the second season.

Few TV shows have two female leads as compelling as Killing Eve

What Killing Eve does so well is how expertly it manages to balance its violent thriller element with a pitch-black sense of humour — its pacing, and Oh and Comer’s comedic timing is perfect.

The show knows when to lighten the serious life-and-death stuff with a wicked joke or gag, and it knows when to speed up the electrifying action. And just when we’ll been lulled into something resembling comfort, bam!

Killing Eve remains, one of the most captivating and obsession-inducing shows on TV.

Killing Eve season two will premiere on ABC iview on Saturday, April 6 at 12pm. Following episodes will drop on iview on Mondays from April 8. The series will also be broadcast weekly on the ABC from April 19.

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