Killing Eve Season 3 Only Has Four Original Characters Left

Warning: SPOILERS for Killing Eve season 3, episode 4 – “Still Got It”

Killing Evekilled off one of the series’ original core characters: Niko Polastri (Owen McDonnell) was murdered at the conclusion of Killing Eve season 3, episode 4, “Still Got It”. Niko’s shocking death comes just three episodes after another fan-favorite, Kenny Stowton (Sean Delaney), was murdered in the Killing Eve season 3 premiere, “Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey.” With Niko and Kenny’s demise, this leaves only four original cast members from Killing Eve season 1 remaining: Eve Polastri (Sanda Oh), Villanelle (Jodie Comer), Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw), and Konstantin Vasiliev (Kim Bodnia).

Niko was Eve’s long-suffering husband. At the start of Killing Eve season 3, poor Niko was in a rehab facility after he survived an encounter with Villanelle at the end of Killing Eve season 2. Villanelle murdered his friend, Gemma (Emma Pierson), who was romantically interested in Niko. In Killing Eve season 3, episode 3, “Meetings Have Biscuits,” Eve was stunned to learn Niko moved back home to Poland to get some distance between the two of them. Indeed, far from the danger and madness of his wife’s obsession with Villanelle, Niko was happily settled into a simple new life as a bread delivery man at the start of “Still Got It.” However, despite her animosity towards Eve’s husband, whom she derisively called “the Mustache,” it wasn’t Villanelle who killed Niko – it was Dasha (Harriet Walter), Villanelle’s mentor and current handler.

Under orders from Helene (Camille Cottin), a high-ranking member of The Twelve, Dasha orchestrated events so that Eve witnessed Niko’s murder. Posing as an old Polish woman named Magda, Dasha killed one of the elderly recipients of Niko’s bread deliveries, stole Niko’s cell phone, and texted Eve pretending to be Niko. She invited Eve to Poland under the auspices of patching up their marriage and, when Eve arrived, Dasha killed Niko by impaling him through the neck with a pitchfork. Tied to the pitchfork was a note that said, “Still got it!”, which framed Villanelle for Niko’s murder. Dasha’s goal was to finally drive a wedge between Eve and Villanelle in order to curb her protege’s erratic behavior. It was a gruesomely violent and undeserved end to the hapless Niko; Eve’s husband is an innocent victim of her obsession with Villanelle and her dealings with MI6 who never fully understood what was happening to his wife.

Killing Eve has certainly never been shy about killing off major characters. Eve’s friend at MI5, Bill Pargrave (David Haig), was the first principal character killed off, followed by Frank Haleton (Darren Boyd), who was both Bill and Eve’s boss at MI5. Meanwhile, supporting cast members who were part of Eve’s MI6 team in Killing Eve seasons 1 and 2, like Elena Felton (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Jess (Nina Sosanya), were simply written out of the series. Hugo Tiller (Edward Bluemel) was nearly killed by The Twelve’s assassin Raymond (Adrian Scarborough), although Hugo is still alive. Killing Eve has added some new characters in season 3, but the series has mercilessly kept on thinning out the original cast. Unfortunately, many fans liked the eliminated characters more than the newbies like Bear (Turlough Convery) or Jamie (Danny Sapani).

It’s interesting, however, that although Villanelle killed Bill and Frank in Killing Eve season 1, she has nothing to do with the murders of Kenny and Niko in season 3. Currently, Villanelle isn’t even aware of either killing, nor does she know that she will be blamed for Niko’s death. However, Villanelle will certainly shed no tears for Niko since he was her rival for Eve’s affections. Indeed, the only thing Villanelle ever wanted from Eve’s husband was his shepherd’s pie recipe (which she got). Meanwhile, the identity of Kenny’s murderer is still a mystery, although Dasha is also the most likely culprit.

But with Niko now dead, Killing Eve‘s inaugural roster has been ruthlessly whittled down to the final four who seem to be untouchable – or at least, Eve and Villanelle would appear to be. The series, which has been renewed for season 4, couldn’t continue without Sandra Oh’s titular heroine or Jodie Comer’s magnetic assassin. But since are no limits to Killing Eve‘s bloodletting, it makes fans fear whether Konstantin or Carolyn will also be killed off before it’s all said and done.

Killing Eveairs Sundays @ 9pm on BBC America

About The Author