Critical Condition: Killing Eve
July 24, 2018 
2 Comments
Killing Eve | TVNZ 2, 9.30 Tuesday
➢➢ “One of the many grand achievements of the thrillingly addictive new BBC America series Killing Eve is that once it fails to be a revolution of the form (and yes, it’s hard not to have expectations for it to be so), it still manages to become quite the prize: a spy vs. assassin battle in which both players are women (Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer); both are badass in their own ways, but neither is robotically flawless; both are funny in the midst of violence; and both are emotionally nuanced.” — The Hollywood Reporter.
➢➢ “Oddly enough, it’s easy to find commonalities between Killing Eve and Fleabag, writer/executive producer Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s previous project. They’re both about women who are messy, flawed, and yet still fascinating, in part due to their driven and unapologetic natures. It’s still rare to find a TV show with one woman like that, but Killing Eve showcases two … The show gets its distinct, spiky blend of humour and danger right more of the time as the season progresses.” — Variety.
➢➢ “The result is entertaining, clever and darkly comic, anchored by Ms. Oh’s performance as an intelligence agent whose instincts and resolve have to make up for her inexperience and her tendency to scream like a terrified child in the face of danger. It’s in no way a disappointment, though it might not be as revolutionary or as subversive as its makers and its network would have you think.” — New York Times.
➢➢ “Killing Eve is a helluva good time, it’s already more interesting than many of its genre peers, and the first season illustrates a self-awareness essential for its survival. The show may follow a formula, but there’s nothing routine about it.” — IndieWire.
➢➢ “Eve is an enthralling trip that follows a familiar path and then suddenly veers off course, never ceasing to shock and satisfy. The series manages to be as gripping as it is kooky and darkly funny, reveling in the tennis match between the two actresses.” — USA Today.
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July 25, 2018 at 9:41 am
Once again I don’t understand TVNZ’s strategy with respect to content. Killing Eve is being scheduled in primetime after heavy marketing and full availability via TVNZOD. What incremental audience do TVNZ hope to attract? TVNZ is repeating its Love Island mistake again – the audience has already gone. Surely the correct strategy for properties that enjoy OD interest is to rush them into the schedule in primetime and simultaneously make it available online? Maximise the marketing, maxmise the audience and maximise the yield? Quick to shift programmes that arent working but not to put successful OD programming into the broadcast schedule!
Very concisely and trenchantly put, Mike. TVNZ’s OD strategy baffles me, too. I understand OD’s usefulness for platforming content that wouldn’t be viable in today’s FTA primetime market and for testing the appeal of an unknown series. But Killing Eve’s success was clear very early on and it should have been given a broadcast run much sooner. The delay may have to do with how digital and broadcast rights are negotiated or TVNZ 2 waiting until it had the strongest lead-in possible — ie Wentworth — to maximise Eve’s sampling well beyond the online audience. If the strategy works, expect S2 to make it to air the same time it goes OD.