Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 8 Recap: Don't Be Brave

With the second seasons of Fleabag and Killing Eve ending in practically the same week, it's about to be a looooong summer of Phoebe Waller Bridge withdrawal. Unlike Fleabag, however, Killing Eve is coming back for a third season, which means it's not really goodbye. However, that is kind of hard to believe after watching the shocking twist that goes down at the end this finale. It's hard to say what could possibly next in Eve (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle's (Jodie Comer) game of cat-and-mouse, especially since we had a feeling it was going to end like this from the start. At the same time, the season 2 finale answers a lot of questions, particularly about Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) and what this whole mission has actually been about. Ahead, let's walk through every twist and turn in Killing Eve's season 2 finale.

The episode begins with Villanelle learning what we knew all along: Aaron Peel (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) is a creepy fuck. While snooping through his de-facto security station, she not only discovers all the video files from his surveillance of her, but also countless more of other women. The only difference? Their videos end with murder. It appears Peel has a penchant for luring young, fair women into his lair, making them do his bidding, and then killing them in his silk sheets.

Luckily, nothing shocks Villanelle, so she's able to act like it's business as usual when she joins her host for breakfast. He's going through the profiles of more potential buyers, and one man stands out. You know how I just said nothing shocks Villanelle? I'd like to amend that statement: Raymond (Adrian Scarborough), her old handler, shocks Villanelle, and he's on his way to meet with Aaron Peel. He prooooobably won't be happy to see her.

“What a weird looking gentleman,” Villanelle remarks at his profile, sending Eve, who's listening in from her hotel room, into a panic. "Gentleman" is their safe word, but just as Eve springs into action, she hears a gunshot outside her room. Moments later, the doorknob begins shaking. Eve hides under the bed, but luckily the intruder, who does manage to break into the room, is called away before he could find her.

Not-so-luckily, Eve finds Hugo (Edward Bluemel) on the floor in the hallway. He was on the receiving end of that gunshot, but rather than stay and help, she promises she'll call 911 on her way out to find and save Villanelle. Before she can leave, she's interrupted by a rather intimidating man who is clearly in search of his friend — the man who broke into Eve's room. Rather than find Eve's disguise — as the hotel lobby receptionist — suspicious, he's charmed by her behavior, and asks her out to dinner that night.

After agreeing to a date she definitely won't be attending, Eve swaps her receptionist disguise for a maid disguise, and wriggles her way into Peel's residence by pretending to deliver laundry. Once inside, she bursts into the breakfast room, where he and Villanelle are laughing, safe as can be. Once Eve arrives, the jig is up. Villanelle drops her "Billy" persona, and Aaron Peel is hardly surprised. He knew something fishy was going on, but Villanelle counters with the discovery of his "movies." AKA, she knows he's a creepy killer.

To save himself, Peel offers Villanelle the chance to work for him instead, to become the new "Ghost" doing his murderous bidding. She's tempted, despite Eve's protests, and Aaron explains that if she really is interested, she must start by killing Eve (!!!!!! I promise I didn't do that on purpose). With a glint in her eye, Villanelle grabs her knife and makes her way towards the MI6 agent — only to cut Aaron's throat at the last minute.

This was...not part of the plan. In fact, they had been given specifics instructions to kill no one on this mission. Understandably, Eve is freaking out, and it only gets worse when Villanelle reveals that Raymond may or may not be in town. Villanelle slaps Eve to know her out of her panic, and immediately dives into a plan.

The two sneak out with Villanelle (as Billy) pretending she is bringing the "maid" with her to help her carry her shopping, instructing the guards to not disturb Aaron, who is in an important meeting. The plan falls apart from there, as Eve wants to go back to her hotel to check on Hugo, but Villanelle wants to escape off into the sunset. However, she agrees to Eve's pit stop, and says she'll be waiting outside the hotel in a car.

When Eve gets to the hotel, however, there's no Hugo to be found. There's not even any blood on the carpet and, when she goes inside her room, it's been totally cleared out — equipment and all. Before she can spiral into a full-on freak-out, there's a knock at the door. It's Carolyn, and she wants to know what happened to Aaron Peel.

As Eve breathlessly explains what went down, and how all of her equipment has been stolen, things start to take a turn. Carolyn isn't at all surprised by the events, explaining that MI6 took the equipment during the cleanup mission, suggesting that Aaron's death was the plan all along. Is it really a problem, Carolyn posits, if it appears an assassin from The Twelve killed Aaron Peel? Eve is livid, realizing she was just a pawn in a set-up, and refuses to come with Carolyn back to England.

“You can’t be on her side and ours," Carolyn says, but it's no use. As she leaves, Eve threatens to tell Kenny (Sean Delaney) everything when she's back — to which Carolyn reveals that Kenny knows, and was part of the cleanup operation.

Over with Villanelle, she's facing a test of her loyalties as well. She bumps into Konstantin (Kim Bodin) while stealing a car, who offers her an escape. He relays Villanelle's role in the set up, and the fact that Raymond was instructed to wait to kill her until after she killed Aaron Peel. Now, however, she's fair game — unless she escapes with Konstantin, who only agreed to the plan in the first place because Carolyn promised to give him the location of his family. Villanelle says she wouldn't understand the importance of family because all of her family is dead.

"Most of them," Konstantin cryptically replies.

However, Villanelle won't leave Eve stranded, and turns down his offer of escape. As she waits in the car, however, a lot of time passes, and she eventually decides to find Eve herself by heading into the hotel, tucking a gun into her pants. She creeps into the building and up the stairs, only to come face-to-face with Raymond, who is holding an axe and ready to use it. They taunt each other back and forth, with Raymond saying that Eve is behind one of these hotel doors. If Villanelle picks correctly, she won't die.

Instead of playing his game, Villanelle chooses to fight. The two brawl in the hallway, with Raymond eventually pinning Villanelle against a wall, hands around her throat. In the midst of this, Eve emerges behind them. The only way to save Villanelle is to take the axe Raymond threw on the ground and use it to kill him. Eve has never killed anyone before, and it's only through Villanelle's urging that she's able to overcome her fear and hack Raymond to bits.

Although she saved Villanelle, Eve is dazed from what she did. It's up to Villanelle to lead them to safety, which they manage by venturing into some underground tunnels and emerging in a remote ruin. As they stroll in the sun, Eve panicked, Villanelle fantasizes about their new life together. They can move to Alaska, she suggests, and Villanelle has money and can take care of them. Her reverie is only interrupted by birds, which startle her so much that she brings out her gun.

This also snaps Eve out of her daze. Villanelle had a gun this whole time — she just wanted Eve to kill, to know how it feels. As Eve gets more and more angry, Villanelle becomes distraught. She tells Eve she's ruining the moment, prompting Eve to scoff. What did Villanelle think was going to happen? That they were going to become Bonnie and Clyde? Well, yes.

"You love me," Villanelle insists, but Eve says Villanelle doesn't understand what that is.

"You're mine," Villanelle insists as Eve begins walking away.

"No," Eve replies. A few moments pass, and Villanelle shoots Eve. We watch Eve fall to the ground.