Killing Characters

Before you read any further, have you watched Killing Eve? Because if you haven’t, there are spoilers ahead.

Characters are precious to me. They’re usually the first thing I get a firm grasp on when I start writing a new project. A character comes to me, and they tell me their story. They point at the journey they want to go on, and they entice me with dreams of adventure, until I have no choice but to find out where that journey leads.

They may be the most important aspect of writing. Because the protagonist is usually the person a reader relates to. We find a connection in their struggle, seeing it as a reflection of our own struggles. As an extension of that, we then care how other characters react to the protagonist. This aids in carrying the character’s journey forward, and the story with it.

As a writer, perhaps the very first lesson we are taught is, what does a character want? That determines where they are headed. Soon after, we learn to ask the question, what will they do to get it? This is important as it defines a character’s persona. Will they kill to get what they want? Will they lie or steal? Those two questions, when answered properly, give the character life.

And so, I found myself watching Killing Eve. Oksana, the antagonist, is a perfect character. She wants nice things. And she’ll do anything to get them. She sticks to this, making her actions fitting of the character, even when wild or surprising. This makes the character become real to the audience. Because the reality of the character, who they are, remains the same. It helps that she’s flawed, too. Because her imperfections make it easier for us to like her. We don’t feel belittled.

Equally, I found Eve to be a poor character. Before I continue, I feel obliged to state, this is just my opinion and I could be wrong. A lot of critics found the series to be amazing. I found it to be very good. But the character of Eve was lacking for me. What does she want? To catch Oksana. Except when she does that she can’t decide why. Even in the last scene, she changes her mind three times. What was the point of the journey, if when we arrive, we don’t know why we are here? You might ask, “But, Sam, can’t characters be confused?” Of course, they can. But if that was the case, it was neither done well nor resolved.

More infuriating, was Eve’s character. It changes constantly. What will she do to get what she wants? It changes. She pulls a gun on Konstantin and threatens to shoot him if he doesn’t give her information. Yet, in the very next scene, when a child’s life is in danger, Oksana questions why Eve is holding the gun, and Eve admits to not knowing what to do with it, throwing it to the ground. So, Eve is a character who will shoot someone for information to further her agenda, but not to save a child’s life? Except, Eve has previously been shown to be kind and caring. Her actions change because the script requires them, not because it makes sense for the character.

Please understand, I’m singling out Eve. Worse characters have been written by the thousands. But Killing Eve had the potential to be a great show, and for me, the writing let it down. That’s not to say it was bad writing. It just wasn’t great writing. Now, I can’t help but wonder if this is because the character’s arc in the book, Codename Villanelle, which the series is based upon, was too complex to fit the TV show. That’s not an excuse though. Shoddy writing is shoddy writing.

Maybe I’m overly critical, or maybe I just didn’t get it. That’s possible. Art is subjective, and the critics adore Killing Eve. It’s a good show with a great premise. And it contains some fantastic characters. I just didn’t happen to think that Eve was one of them. It did remind me of those lessons, though. What does a character want? What will they do to get it? In a sense, for character, it’s the only thing that matters. And if you get it right, it can change the story dramatically. And if you don’t, you risk your reader/viewer sitting there wondering why they bothered to go on the journey at all. Which is how I felt at the end of Killing Eve.