Calm down, Killing Eve fans, [spoiler] isn’t dead

We know you’re worried about *that* scene from the Killing Eve Season 2 finale. Don’t be. Here’s why.

The Killing Eve Season 2 finale was a whirlwind of action and emotion leading to a climactic standoff that had been an entire season in the making.

Note: Sorry babies, spoilers follow. XOXO

With only a few minutes to go in the Killing Eve finale, Eve (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodie Comer) step out into a Mediterranean paradise. Dazed by the events of the day, Eve stares around in blank awe, while the excitable Villanelle giddily plans out the rest of their lives. Roman columns tower over them, and huge expanses of clear blue sky peek through the ruins. A flock of birds suddenly takes flight, spooking Villanelle. Driven by instinct, she grabs her mini pistol and lofts it into the sky. This reveal changes everything.

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After a fight about the gun, Villanelle declares her love for Eve, and Eve rejects her. Oddly enough, it’s the polar opposite of what we saw back in the Season 1 finale in which Villanelle finally let Eve in – snuggling with her on her posh apartment bed – and Eve responded by impulsively and brutally stabbing her in the gut.

Here, Villanelle’s emotional instinct at being rejected leads her to pop off a shot in Eve’s direction, and then she coolly saunters off. (Note: Eve at least attempted to help Villanelle after she attacked. Villanelle strode away without looking back. Girl is stone cold.) The final shot of Season 2 now stabs us in the gut with a vision of Eve’s prone, helpless body lying in the ruins, with no help in sight.

Of course it’s a shocking image, but since the central relationship in Killing Eve is fueled by deceit and manipulation, it’s obvious that Eve is faking. There was even foreshadowing to her tactic earlier in the episode when a bleeding Hugo (Edward Bluemel) informs Eve that he was playing dead to avoid further harm. He dubs it, “the hero’s technique.”

Neither Eve nor Villanelle are heroes. And since lying has become a reflexive part of their toxic relationship, Eve is definitely lying about being dead. She’s alive, I tell you! Alive!

Also, there’s no way a critically acclaimed show such as Killing Eve is going to straight up murder the titular character when it’s already been renewed for a third season. Expect the series to return with Eve licking her wounds and plotting a path that leads back to her obsession, much like Villanelle did early on in Season 2. It’s the circle of life (and death), and now we just have to lie in wait for Season 3.

(Editor’s Note: If you’re looking for a way to kill some TV time before Season 3, may I recommend Fleabag? It’s another brilliant series by Killing Eve creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Waller-Bridge also stars in this one, often breaking the fourth wall to deliver devastating insights about life, love, and the human condition. The first two seasons are short, sweet, and available now for streaming on Amazon.)

Killing Eve Seasons 1 & 2 are available for streaming on BBCAmerica.com. Season 1 is currently available for streaming on Hulu.