“Don’t I Know You?” – aired on April 22, 2018
Writer: Vicky Jones
Director: Jon East
Grade: 4,5 out of 5
Notice: All episode reviews contain spoilers
If any individual in the TV-show business theorized that the opening and closing scenes of an episode were paramount to its success, “Don’t I Know You?” would be tucked away in their vault as the defining proof of their theory.
The close-up panning shot of Sandra Oh’s face to kickstart the hour, as Eve describes Villanelle’s physical features, and the brutal elimination of one of the show’s beloved characters to end it, work together to transform the otherwise plot-advancement-oriented episode into a pivotal one for the show.
I have already said it more than once; with Oh playing one of the two leads, the showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge has at her disposition one of the most recognizable faces in the TV-show arena. What better way to make use of that asset than to pan the camera slowly from Eve’s left to her right while she gives details of Villanelle’s appearance based on their fleeting encounter in the bathroom from the pilot episode. Not surprisingly, Oh is up to the task.
Throughout the 58-second-long shot during which Eve says that Villanelle’s “hair was dark blonde, maybe honey,” that “her eyes are sort of cat-like, her lips are full,” and that “she is totally focused, yet almost entirely inaccessible,” it’s difficult to tell if she is simply digging deep within her memory to provide an accurate description, or if she is swooning as she visually reproduces Villanelle in her mind. Her expression oscillates between admiration, fear, curiosity, and obsession. In any case, the director Jon East must have had a field day filming this remarkable sequence that ends with an unintentionally hilarious question by the sketch artist that leaves Eve bewildered – yes, that face again – and makes Bill smile.
It does not take long to catch up with Villanelle who is in Berlin, ready for her next victim. She poses as a dominatrix specializing in medical-oriented fetishes to “treat” a Chinese client (Simon Chin) who yearns, obviously, to be the patient. Little does he know that his testicles are about to be “clamped,” and that his designated safe word frühstück (“breakfast” in German) will not change his doomed fate.
Thankfully, this murder is not just another one along the string of obscene killings designed to serve no purpose other than putting on display Villanelle’s deranged nature – reference: see my episode-two review. The victim is General Zhang Wu, a hacker working for the Chinese military. The probing into the case eventually leads Eve to meet a Chinese attaché named Jin (Lobo Chan). Unlike in the previous murders, Wu’s death plays a significant role in the episode’s narrative.
Martens and the investigating team are left behind in London as Eve and Bill leave for Berlin where most of the action takes place. Konstantin’s role in this episode is also diminished. He appears once to inform Villanelle, again, of Eve’s presence in Berlin. This is a storyline that could prove to be problematic, unless it is explained in a satisfactory manner in the upcoming episodes.
How does Konstantin know almost instantly, and down to the details, where Eve is and what she is doing? I already posed a similar question last week, when he immediately knew in episode two that there was a small team formed to pursue Villanelle and that it was helmed by “Eve Polastri.” Nobody outside our investigative team knew of either development. Is there a mole inside Eve’s team?** A scene in the later episodes needs to bring a meaningful explanation to this riddle, or else this storyline risks falling into the confines of arbitrary plot devices.
** If so, I nominate Kenny.
The story is almost entirely focalized around the Bill-Eve duo’s pursuit of Villanelle. On the upside, the dialogues are entertaining and there is substantial character development for Bill, the one delightful male in the show. Perhaps, that played into what Waller-Bridge and the writer of the episode Vicky Jones intended to do during this hour. They aimed to augment Bill’s “lovable” factor and lure viewers into forming a deep bond with the character, only to amplify the gut-wrenching impact of his brutal assassination by Villanelle in the closing scene. Perhaps, it was also meant to eradicate any shred of admiration held for Villanelle by the audience, in case some still lingered on.
On the downside, I am not sure how much of those two goals were reached, although I would venture to say that it worked 100% for the latter. Villanelle is, at this moment, officially despised by the show’s followers. As to the impact of Bill’s death, I am not so certain. Not because Bill’s character growth was anything less than phenomenal throughout the first three episodes, but rather because there were too many signals screaming his character’s write-off during the episode, as well as prior to its start.
First, I have reservations about the wisdom of tweeting, via the show’s official account, that “we’re saying bye-bye” to someone “this week” and adding an emoji of a knife to it, several hours before airtime. It does not take a genius to figure out that Bill is facing his last minute alive as Villanelle stares at him at the night club and pulls a knife out of her pocket. That is, of course, if you hadn’t already figured it out when Bill jokingly said “Daddy is going to die” to his cute infant daughter before his departure to Berlin. We are further cued of his doom as the storyline centers on him and he emerges as the first to notice Villanelle. The alarm bells are ringing loud and clear by the time he begins to pursue her with no back-up, naturally.
It’s a risky move to eliminate a treasured – and multi-faceted – character so early in the season. The writing fails if the character’s elimination does not mean much to the audience. Jones and Waller-Bridge, however, succeed on all cylinders, despite the above-noted signals sent prior to Bill’s death. The murder is carried out so efficiently – and barbarically – by Villanelle that watching the ending sequence, as Eve pushes the dancing crowd apart in an attempt to reach him as he expires, perfectly conveys the sense of helplessness that invades her.
This event takes us past the point of a simple cat-and-mouse game between an assassin and her pursuer. The duel between the two women has now conclusively become personal and the terms of the shift in dynamics were dictated by Villanelle. She stalked Eve and Bill, tricked Bill into following her alone, and by killing him, struck Eve where it hurts the most. I should underline “most” in the previous sentence because Bill appeared to be, by all accounts, the person for whom Eve cared more than any other, including her ever-confused husband.
Villanelle’s risk-taking, though, is out of control. At this point, I am inclined to believe that her official job has become a nuisance to her – Konstantin is increasingly worried – and that her addiction to toying with Eve has taken over that of the pleasure she used to derive from the simple act of killing. As is the case with all addicts, she is willing to take tremendous risks in order to get that next “hit” which consists of devastating Eve via tease-and-denial (another form of fetish, not mentioned in the show, yet).
The middle portion of the episode is filled with brilliant dialogues, especially between Bill and Eve. Their conversation after meeting with Jin – “he wants to fondle you,” says Bill with a wry smile – and the one in the hotel-room scene during which Bill reveals his sexual preferences through a delightful combination of metaphors, are simply magical. We are going to miss Bill.
Last-minute thoughts:
– Nit-picking time: how does Villanelle get to cut the line and enter the night club? The doorman who stops her at first did not know her. If the implication is that she is eventually allowed in because she is a single woman, why was the one in the front of the line required to wait? She was not the only one either.
– Villanelle gets to view the Skype conversation between Niko and Eve. I am declaring at this point that MI5, MI6, CIA, FBI, and SVR have nothing on Konstantin and Villanelle in terms of surveillance skills!
– The subway sequence is splendid from start to finish. The acting, directing, and score combine to form the most haunting scene of the episode, undeniably announcing the beginning of the end for Bill.
– The characterizations of General Wu and attaché Jin were not meant to box Chinese men into a certain stereotype, I am assuming…
Until next episode…