Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 3 Recap: Listen To Your Heart

Finally, this episode of Killing Eve gives us the Villanelle we've been missing. No longer suffering from a stab wound or trapped in a creepy man's house, our assassin is living it up on assignment while crashing at a fancy hotel. When she's not strangling hedge fund managers, she's wearing a face mask and ordering sparkly pants. I'd watch a whole episode of Villanelle's shopping — perhaps she should become a YouTuber?

As for Eve, she's also up to her old tricks, going rogue from Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) to devastating consequences. But that's for later. Right now, they have a new murder to solve and the sneaking suspicion that Villanelle isn't quite out of the picture. How can she be when the Russian fashionista can't seem to stop following Eve all over London?

Some pretty big plot points were established in this episode that we should be looking out for later this season, such as the calls Villanelle makes to the school about Niko (Owen McDonnell), and the fact that Konstantin (Kim Bodnia) now knows the location of his family. But so much more went down in the third episode of Killing Eve's second season. Catch up on anything you may have missed ahead:

Eve has adjusted to seeing a man she previously believed to be dead as well anyone can be expected to — with a drink. Over some hard alcohol, Konstantin explains that MI6 is protecting his family, but that his family believe him to be dead from that little instance when Villanelle, uh, shot him. He also warns Eve that she’d do well to move on from Villanelle, likening the assassin to a parasite (specifically, the Hungry Caterpillar, burrowing holes into people and occupying space). Instead, he suggests, Eve should make Villanelle hate her...because we've all seen what happens to people Villanelle loves.

Speaking of love, or something like it, Eve prepares Niko breakfast, only to jet out before the morning sex he tries to instigate can come (no pun intended) to fruition. But, sorry honey, Eve’s busy with a new murder: Greg Richardson (Simon Thorp). He died via strangulation, catching his tie in a set of elevator doors. Eve sees right through that — but is it too discreet to be Villanelle?

When Eve gets home, she earns another strike with Niko: She has forgotten, like she has for the past two years, that his school is hosting drinks for the teachers that night. Quickly, she gussies up in the sexiest outfit she can find (per Niko’s request) and meets him at the school.

Once there, however, Even approaches Niko chatting with another teacher named Gemma (Emma Pierson). Gemma gets suspiciously flustered by Eve's arrival, and compliments her a little too much. She even jokes that the other teachers started to doubt Niko had an “astronaut” wife after all — is that the code name for "secret spy wives" these days? Gemma also lets slip something Niko had been keeping private: The school has been receiving complaints from an anonymous student, but he waves them off as prank calls.

The moment Gemma leaves, Eve calls out her behavior, telling Niko that she definitely has a crush. He denies it, but Eve still decides to seduce him. She asks to see his classroom and, once there, pretends all of his math-related material is extremely sexy. As they kiss, Eve gets distracted by something: a single apple sitting on his desk. While Niko insists it’s just an apple, Eve freaks out, remembering the apple that Villanelle left for her in Gabriel’s crime scene photos. She pulls the fire alarm and all the partygoers flood out of the building.

Once outside, Eve frantically searches the crowd for the face she knows must be lurking somewhere, but sees nothing. At this point, Niko has had enough. It’s the first time Eve has shown up to support him, he points out, and yet she somehow managed to make it about herself. He sends her home, saying she obviously doesn’t want to be there, and re-enters the school with Gemma.

The next day, Eve finds a mysterious lipstick in her purse. The name of the shade? “Love in an Elevator.” This basically confirms that Villanelle that not only did the Greg Richardson murder, but also that she’s in London, close enough to slip something into Eve’s bag. Eve relays all this to Kenny (Sean Delaney), and asks Kenny to get information that she can use as leverage with Niko. Specifically, she asks Kenny to find the location of Konstantin’s family — something Carolyn previously told Konstantin she would never tell him — so she can exchange it for information about Villanelle. Kenny is hesitant, but Eve gets harsh, reminding Kenny that he works for her.

Kenny, our good boy, pulls through, and Eve brings the information to Konstantin. After some investigating, Konstantin is able to get Eve the address of Villanelle's hotel. However, when Eve arrives at said hotel, the room is empty. Her anger is quickly replaced by a funny feeling pulling her to the room down the hall, where Villanelle is waiting behind the door. By the time MI6 kicks it down, however, Villanelle has escaped.

Sitting with Carolyn after the incident, it’s clear Konstantin betrayed them. He took the details of his family’s location and Villanelle, leaving MI6 with nothing. Carolyn is furious, telling Eve to never go behind her back again. Kenny is also furious, feeling like Eve took advantage of him.

But Eve has one backstab left — or rather, lip-stab? Whatever you want to call it, as Eve applies the lipstick Villanelle left in her bag, her lip gets cut by what turns out to be a knife hidden in the tube. Rather than feel fear, Eve feels...horny? She wears the cut like a badge of honor.

Villanelle has carried out her first murder under her new handler, and she hated it. Rather than killing with the flourish and flare she’s used to, her murder of Greg Richardson is just a simple strangulation, pulling his tie through a set of closing elevator doors and holding tight as he rises. Real shudder-worthy stuff, so let’s move on to nicer things.

That would be Villanelle’s hotel room, where she’s hiding out in London. Raymond leaves a note instructing her to not leave her room, and arrives shortly after to chide her for not being boring enough with her murder. He also taunts her about the presence of this second female serial killer, (incorrectly) telling young Villanelle that Eve is no longer interested in her the way she used to be.

In a fit of anger, Villanelle picks up the phone and places a call — to Niko’s school of all places. She puts on her best childlike voices and says she would like to make “another” complaint against the teacher.

But she doesn’t stop there. No, she hatches a full plan when she stakes out the school and sees Gemma getting flirty with Niko in the courtyard. With some dry pasta, flowy pants, and a dash of glitter, Villanelle transforms herself into a kooky art teacher and crashes the drinks event.

It doesn’t take long for her to find Gemma in the stairwell, smoking and clearly feeling distressed about her feelings for Niko. Villanelle stokes the fire, encouraging Gemma to do anything in her power, no matter how manipulative, to seduce Niko and break him up from his wife. The fact that this would benefit Villanelle by leaving Eve single and available is...not mentioned.

But even if she was going to divulge that information, their conversation gets interrupted by the fire alarm. Outside, just as Niko has left Eve standing alone and distraught, Villanelle approaches her love interest from behind, and gets so close you think they might finally meet again — only to withdraw at the last moment.

Back at the hotel, after a stern phone call from Raymond about all the clothes she’s buying, Villanelle is informed by the receptionist that there’s a “new guest” at the hotel. Villanelle heads upstairs, knife brandished, only to see Konstantin at the end of the hallway in his own room. She charges at him, resulting in an uncharacteristic embrace that her previously handler can’t bring himself to return due to the fact that the last time they saw each other, Villanelle shot him.

It doesn’t take much apologizing for the two to fall back into their old dynamic — which is, of course, still playing games. Villanelle lies and says she loooooves Raymond and doesn’t miss Konstantin at all, whereas Konstantin informs her that Raymond is only assigned to killers who are on their last legs, and that it's his job to shoot them like a retired horse.

But! There's a solution, he says. Konstantin tells Villanelle that he has a car outside, and that she can join him and go freelance...or else face the MI6, who happen to be arriving in five minutes. Villanelle calls bullshit, but then she hears a group of people bust open her door down the hall. The clock is running out, and Konstantin promises the two could have a partnership and, perhaps more importantly, a lot of money.

This is good enough for Villanelle, who agrees to the terms but isn’t ready to jet off without one last look at Eve, who she spots through the peephole. The unspoken connection between the women means Eve can feel Villanelle’s eyes on her. She's drawn to this mysterious other room, but, as we know, Villanelle and Konstantin escape just as MI6 kicks down the door.

Cut to: The escape car. The two are merrily driving away while Roxette’s “Listen To Your Heart” blasts on the radio, but Villanelle's mood sours when Konstantin echoes Raymond and informs her that Eve's attention is on this mysterious new murderer. Knowing Villanelle, she already has a plan to change that up her very expensive sleeves.