How Killing Eve Trojan Horsed Itself Onto My Watchlist

It all started with a semi-cryptic tweet from the official BBC America Orphan Black Twitter account.

Given that the series ended over the summer, I’d long since removed Orphan Black from my DVR’s series recording list so I had to do a quick check of the TV Guide to find what they were referring to. Sure enough, on Friday March 30th at 6am there was a 90-min block on BBC America entitled Orphan Black “A Memorable Trip.”

Even though I love Orphan Black, I had no intention of waking up at 6am to catch a retrospective special so I let the DVR do its thing. When I did get around to watching it, imagine my surprise when after 30-mins the recording segued into the first episode of BBC America’s new series Killing Eve. Confused at first, I did all the usual things – fast forwarded to see if there was more Orphan Black content to come, checked the recording time (I always set my DVR to record long, but not that long), and reread the description to see if there was some kind of error.

But nope, this was a completely intentional move on the part of BBC America. Initially annoyed that I was duped, I thought I was getting a full 90-mins of Orphan Black goodness, I hit the “Delete Program” button, but wavered on the confirmation screen and ultimately arrowed down to the “Don’t Delete Program” option. You win this round BBC America.

With the program still safely on my DVR, I did a quick Google search to see if Killing Eve was worth checking out. I honestly hadn’t heard of it before that moment; I haven’t had much reason to watch BBC America since Orphan Black ended in August. (Sorry, Doctor Who fans, I just can’t get into it.) Anyways back to my Google search, one of the first results to appear was a review by TVLine.com. They gave it an A- for its strong performances and ability to balance its typical crime drama elements with humor. I love me some TVLine, so that was all the push I needed to hit play.

Good Marketing Tactic, Even Better Show

It only took a few scenes in the first episode for me to see what TVLine was talking about. Both Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh bring fully realized characters to the table. I’m assuming there will be a cat-and-mouse game driving the 8-episode run, which I look forward to because right now I’m rooting for both women. One’s an assassin, the other’s a MI5 security officer, but both are intelligent, flawed, and interesting in their own right.

Speaking of 8 episodes, that always feels like a good number for a season. I haven’t seen more than this special preview of the pilot, but most series with a similar episode count have pretty good pacing. Only time will tell, but I’m optimistic. Plus, the series is working from an existing property, Luke Jennings’ Villanelle novella series, so there’s a fully formed narrative to pull from.

Another reason to be optimistic, Killing Eve was developed for television by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the creator of Fleabag, a British comedy that you can find on Amazon Prime. I haven’t seen that series yet, but I’ve only heard good things about it. Given her resume, the element of humor only makes more sense now. But don’t worry, it’s not campy or awkward. The comedy is natural, like how in life some things are just amusing or worth a chuckle.

While the humor is a welcomed touch, at its core, Killing Eve is still a dark crime drama set in Britain. It’s not nearly as bleak as Luther though, or at least not yet. However, there still appears to be real stakes for the characters and the body count looks to rise, so in that regard the series is successful.

Come for the killing, stay for the comedy. Killing Eve premiers on BBC America on Sunday April 8th at 8pm.

And hats off to BBC America for pulling a trojan horse move on Orphan Black fans. Killing Eve is officially on my watchlist.