When I finished Season 1 of Killing Eve, I thought no other season of a TV show this year could come close to the enjoyment I felt whilst watching the show- it is splendidly written, wonderfully acted and stylishly directed. And then the highly anticipated third season of Daredevil came out. And I watched it all in one weekend. And loved nearly everything about it. Both shows are, of course, completely different, trying to achieve completely different tones, characters and story and so can't be directly compared. Killing Eve is a darkly comedic, cat-and-mouse game between an MI5 employee and a highly skilled assassin. Daredevil is a grounded- yet still distinctly comic-book show- centred around a blind lawyer, who moonlights as a vigilante. Both have provided for some of my favourite stories, characters and performances this year, including any films I've seen.
Two stand-outs are Villanelle- the unhinged yet somehow charming assassin- played by Jody Comer and Bullseye- well known Marvel villain and marksman extraordinare- played by Wilson Bethel. Both of whom are psychopaths pretending to be normal people (some of the time) with deadly skills that they like to use to kill people with (most of the time.) So what makes these characters so similarly compelling and yet so different?
*This post will contain some spoilers for both shows- I would HIGHLY recommend them*
The facade of normalcy...
At first glance, Villanelle is clearly the more 'lovable' character; her almost childish moments with Konstantin are so charming, you can't help but fall in love with her. That is, I suppose, why she acts this way- throughout the series she poses as harmless party guests/waitresses/nurses/prisoners/etc. Her personas are sometimes charming, other times vulnerable or attractive and always fashionable. Her playfulness seems to be an extensions of these guises, but despite this falsehood, it's so hard not to fall for her anyway. Very rarely do we see her real, psycopathic personality and more often than not, it is on the other side of a gun; killing people is what she lives for.
Agent Pointdexter, on the other hand, is far from lovable even before his eventual descent into murder and chaos. At first glance, he is a typical FBI agent, impassive and tough. However, this personality and composure is revealed to be *his* facade. One of my favourite repeated lines 'that sounds hard, really hard' demonstrates that he has built an image of himself that doesn't truly reflect the monster that lies within. But the character is still just as compelling as Villanelle - I found myself gravitating toward his attempts to restore order in his life, and rooting for him to do so but then also loving every minute of his eventual fall into madness.
Embracing being a pyschopath...
This descent leads me onto another difference between the two portrayals of psychopaths- Villanelle embraces who she is throughout the season and revels in it, even admitting herself to be a bad person to Konstantin's daughter. Her facade of normalcy is simply there to achieve her given mission or play with a character like Eve; she lives for the moments where she can pull the rug out from underneath someone and/or kill them.
In contrast to this, Dex isn't a full blown psychopath at the beginning of the season. Or so we think. One of the most satisfying parts of the character is his slow unravelling- what seems at first to be a dutiful FBI agent with a slight tendency towards excessive force is revealed to be a man with suppressed issues since childhood. Through a beautifully told backstory, we get to see that, unlike Villanelle, Pointdexter has assumed his facade, training himself to act like a 'normal' human being. As things get more chaotic, and as Fisk takes more control, we get to see this facade slowly chipping away until things explode partway through the season and we get to see the real Pointdexter.
Using the system...
Part of the way that Dex maintains composure is through a regimented system, in this case through enlisting with the army and the FBI. Being in a regular routine with a fixed set of rules helps keep the chaos at bay, which of course leads to his breakdown when put on temporary leave a few episodes in. Villanelle is also part of a system to a certain extent- working for a shadowy organisation to kill strategic targets. However, we always get the sense that she's using this system more so than they are using her. All she desires in life is to do what she wants, which mainly involves killing people and working for an organisation allows her to do this. Though Dex mainly relies on the system for control, you could say that he also uses the nature of his job to relieve his urge to kill people- is it a mistake that he ended up in a role that actively involves violence? Probably not.
Ambiguity versus backstory...
Part of the complexity and draw of Villanelle is her ambiguity- we get hints of her past as Oksana but we may never truly know why she ended up the cold-hearted killer that she is. This part of her character is effective in making her highly unpredictable; throughout the story, we don't know how she'll react and whether she truly cares about anything (a great example of this is her therapy session, where she pretends to be upset over a dead dog only to end up laughing at the very idea of caring about a living thing).
In contrast, Daredevil Season 3 actively builds a comprehensive backstory for Bullseye whilst also serving as an origin story to his turn as a full blown villain in the next season (or so I hope). The use of the artful flashbacks through Fisk's eyes as well as the repetition of his therapy session recordings really paint a picture of his headspace. As he progresses further and further into insanity, the sound design when following his character is loud white noise, putting us directly into his mindset and through this, we fully understand his motivations at all times, something we can't say for Villanelle.
Deadly fixations...
As with most portrayals of psychopaths, both characters have fixations. Villanelle is obsessed with a woman from her past, which she projects to her obsession with being caught by Eve. It's debatable how much she truly cares for either but my guess would be very little. She simply wants to be entertained and Eve is the best fun she's had in a while. Similarly, Dex is obsessed with a woman named Julie who he wants to be his 'Northstar' due to her generous and giving personality. Though a few moments between them play as romantic-comedy situations (bumping into someone in your past, asking them to dinner etc), we never feel any romance, only his fixation.
Incredible Skills...
I think a major factor that contributes to the enjoyment of seeing Villanelle and Bullseye on screen is their incredible training and skill (*insert Taken reference here*). Obviously, Bullseye has deadly aim, which had the potential to be really over the top when looking at the source material. However, the writers and stunt choreographers made this incredible to watch and just believable enough to fit into the Daredevil world. Watching him pick up objects like office supplies and turn it into a projectile was massively fun to watch- a favourite of mine is him plucking glass ornaments from a chandelier to arm himself- and more importantly meant that the fights between him and Daredevil were not a battle of brute strength but of differing skills and techniques. Honestly, I'm just waiting for a Youtube compilation of all his throws because they were awesome to watch.
Villanelle is also highly trained in espionage. In a similar way to watching Dex's skills, Jody Comer's ability to flit back and forth between accents and personas made the character a sheer delight. In addition to this, her techniques for her various assassinations were oddly fascinating to watch- particularly one involving perfume. (Also, I would count her fashion sense as a skill but that's subjective). The tone of the show strikes the perfect balance between violence and comedy, presenting a fantastical world of espionage and assassins. This means that it is hugely entertaining to watch Villanelle kill people, without dwelling too long on the dark and depressing aspect of murder.
Parallels with the protagonist...
It is interesting to note that both Bullseye and Villanelle mirror the personalities of the main characters for whom they serve as antagonists. Pointdexter relies on the system throughout his life, and when it fails him, he is sent into a spiral of madness and violence. Similarly, in Season 1 of Daredevil, Matt felt like the justice system was failing and decided to take matters into his own hands. There's also the matter of both of them growing up as orphans and channeling their troubles into violence, which explicitly plays on Matt's mind in Season 3.
With Killing Eve, we are shown that Eve longs for a more exciting lifestyle despite protestations to the contrary. We see mere glimpses into the random bursts of violence that she is drawn to commit and she is frequently shown to be obsessed with Villanelle, just like Villanelle is with her. Eve is fascinated by assassins and espionage, just as Villanelle is fascinated with normalcy.
Brilliant performances...
Apart from the brilliant, complex writing for both characters, their success is also very much down to the actors that portray them. Jody Comer gives one of the most memorable, charismatic performances I have seen in recent years. Her line deliveries, mannerisms and facial expressions are so unique, so markedly *different*. If she doesn't get BAFTA consideration, it will be a huge injustice.
Wilson Bethel, who plays Agent Pointdexter, delivers a similarly stand-out performance, second only to Charlie Cox in the season. It broke my heart when I heard of his disappointment at narrowly losing out at the Captain America role which eventually went to Chris Evans, which is why I'm glad that he got to play this iconic and complex role. You can really feel his surpressed rage and his absolute glee when he gets to unleash it as Fakedevil, but also empathise with his struggle for sanity, given his tragic backstory.
Thanks for reading this blog post! I cannot wait to see both characters back in action for the next seasons of their respective shows. If you have any thoughts about Killing Eve or Daredevil, leave them in the comment section below or through Twitter (@filmdomblog) or Instagram (cinematicwallflower).