Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Killing Eve: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie Review

From Russia with hate.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III September 23, 2020

Following in the medium-sized footsteps of the show's first and second seasons, Killing Eve: Season 3 serves up another eight episodes of this compulsively watchable British spy series. Based on the very recent Villanelle novella collections by Luke Jennings (which now includes a third volume, released earlier this year), it's a show that serves up loads of violence, intrigue, and tension set against picturesque European backdrops. Although it often feels a bit more "guilty" than "pleasure", Killing Eve has proven to be a consistently engaging effort though its first 24 episodes -- and surprisingly enough, this most recent season feels like the show's best run to date. Break out the party hats!

Unlike the very brief window between its first two years, this third season does not immediately pick up where the second left off -- in fact, six full months have passed. Our main and supporting players all seem to be in a state of limbo, scattered to the wind and in unfamiliar environments: Villanelle (Jodie Comer) has just gotten married in Spain, Eve (Sandra Oh) has quit MI5 and works in a Korean restaurant in southwest London, and her former colleague Kenny (Sean Delaney) bides his time as an investigative journalist for the online publication Bitter Pill. Far removed from the dialed-in focus of the second season, the season's first steps offer a more comfortably varied change of pace that includes the introduction of several new and supporting characters to spice things up a little.

But it's not long before a pair of events wakes the separate souls out of their temporary sleep -- in at least one case, it only takes a matter of minutes. Villanelle is approached by former mentor Dasha Durzan (Harriet Walter) and Eve is shocked to hear about the untimely death of a close friend; in turn, this tragic event deeply affects her former boss turned ice queen, Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw). Now far removed from the common ground of MI6, Eve -- along with Kenny's co-workers Jamie (Danny Sapani) and Bear (Turlough Convery) -- must use new methods to find out if a killer was involved, while Villanelle plans her own reunion with Eve who she still seems to be infatuated with.

Although larger portions of Season 3 rely on the formula of earlier years, a few surprises and fresh changes between that recycled material make Killing Eve fitfully more engaging than previous years. The sudden presence of Villanelle's former mentor Dasha adds a interesting new dynamic, while a few one-off outings -- including the superb fifth episode "Are You from Pinner?", in which Villanelle returns to her small hometown in Russia -- add more depth and variety to the proceedings. Yet this third season doesn't feel like too much of a spiritual detour from past years: the show's pitch-black comedy is deeper than ever here, while its final three episodes -- especially the ultra-tense season finale "Are You Leading or Am I?" -- taps into the same cat-and-mouse atmosphere that drove most of the first and second seasons. All the while, other new and familiar supporting roles are filled out nicely by the likes of Kim Bodnia (as Konstantin Vasiliev, Villanelle's handler), Yuli Lagodinsky (Irina, Konstantin's daughter), Owen McDonnell (Niko Polastri, Eve's estranged husband), Gemma Whelen (Geraldine Martens, Carolyn's daughter), and several others.

Previous collections of Killing Eve were distributed by BBC but it's now in the hands of RLJ Entertainment, who likewise presents Season 3 as either a two-disc Blu-ray or DVD set. Under the hood, the only potential difference is that the discs are now locked for Region 1/A playback only, which might be bad news for international fans.

Episodes include: "Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey", "Management Sucks", "Meetings Have Biscuits", "Still Got It", "Are You from Pinner?", "End of Game", "Beautiful Monster", and "Are You Leading or Am I?". This batch continues Killing Eve's tradition of "revolving door" directors getting two to three consecutive episodes each, with the only familiar name being series regular (and executive producer) Damon Thomas. A fourth season is planned, eventually.

Killing Eve: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While I've never been entirely sure of Killing Eve's technical specifics, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few upgrades made during this third season. The show has always been very stylishly shot and chock full of terrific location footage which captures a wide range of colors, textures, and fine details that all work together to create a strong and memorable atmosphere. Yet the colors look even more pronounced and contrast levels are better defined now -- almost similar to the appearance of 4K with an HDR grade, though of course Blu- ray's limitations can't take full advantage of that -- which gives it a slightly richer and more visual appealing look overall. As usual, skin tones are accurate, colors are evenly saturated with no bleeding, shadow detail is excellent, and the disc is encoded very well; aside from a few stray moments of banding on harsh gradients, there are no compression-related issues to be found. Overall, this is another fantastic effort that, like the third season itself, represents a small step forward in quality.

Killing Eve: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Although Killing Eve has always primarily been a dialogue-driven series, its subject matter and strong psychological undertones leave plenty of room for creative sound design such as isolated music cues and distorted effects. Sparse action sequences also sound great with strong channel separation and rear channel support, while low frequency effects are limited but kick in on occasion. Dialogue often balanced evenly with the traditional and diegetic music -- the former is definitely one of the show's strongest highlights, as its music cues establish a perfect tone without being too lyrically on-the-nose. No sync issues or other defects were heard along the way. It may not have the big-screen ambitions of like-minded TV shows, but Killing Eve offers a pleasing mix on Blu-ray that gets the job done just fine.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included, which are formatted nicely and fit nicely within the 1.78:1 frame. Similarly, occasional burned-in subtitles are included to translate certain lines of foreign dialogue.

Killing Eve: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Like earlier seasons, Killing Eve: Season 3 arrives in a dual-hubbed keepcase with a matching slipcover and no inserts. Extras include eight bite-sized "Closer Look" Featurettes across both discs; these include brief comments from key cast and crew members such as executive producer Lee Morris, actress Jodie Comer, lead writer Suzanne Heathcote, actress Sandra Oh, production designer Laurence Dorman, executive producer Sally Woodward Gentle, actress Harriet Walker, producer Nige Watson, directors Shannon Murphy and Damon Thomas, actor Sean Delaney, executive producer Gina Mingacci, actor Kim Bodnia, and others. In addition to the "talking head" segments, there's an equal amount of on-set footage and other peeks behind the curtain that add a little bit of depth. Due to their short length and similarity, the titles of each featurette pretty much tell you all you need to know. Several interview segments suffer from less- than-ideal audio quality, although it's possible that recent pandemic-related complications are the culprit.

• The Spice Kill (3:08)

• A Bitter Pill (3:07)

• Meet the Team (3:08)

• Konstantin's Word (3:06)

• The Family Home (3:08)

• The Locations (3:08)

• Dasha (3:08)

• Psychology of a Killer (3:07)

Killing Eve: Season 3 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

During the past three seasons (with a fourth on the way, eventually), Killing Eve has maintained a pretty high level of quality -- it's never quite been "appointment TV", but has gotten closer than ever this time around. Featuring a renewed sense of structure and a more comfortable flow, this eight-episode run stretches its legs without diverting from the show's unique formula too much. It's just good, solid entertainment for those who love soapy drama and black comedy with a sleek international backdrop. RLJ's Blu-ray carries the torch for BBC, serving up a solid A/V presentation and a few short but enjoyable extras -- only the region coding has changed. Recommended to fans.