It’s so much weirder.
Weirder by an order of magnitude.
And it all starts where we endedlast week, and where Villanelle was born.
Credit: BBC America
This is MOTHER RUSSIA.
Mother being the optimal word, but we’ll get to that.
There are old pictures on the wall of a young, long-haired woman with a familiar, wide-eyed look.
I had to google to check that it wasn’t her IRL twin.
But he’s an analyst, not an actor.)
Pyotr recognizes his sister instantly.
They told him she was dead!
(Fyodor and Yula remain suspicious, for the same reason.)
At first, it all feels so genuine.
Villanelle’s mom, Tatiana, starts sobbing, hugging her, calling her “my baby girl.”
She, too, was told that Villanelle died!
and perished in the blaze.
But that’s all water under the bridge, right?
It’s a reunion!
Baby pictures are trotted out!
A murder mystery card game is played!
Surprise, it’s Tatiana.
Villanelle is reluctant, but finally stands up just in time to join the chorus: LAAAAAAAAAAA!
This moment is cut perfectly: was she singing, or screaming?
We’ll never know.
Just beat the crap out of people.
Itll make you feel much better.
Pyotr has his rage issues.
Fyodor is a flat earther.
Yula believes in lizard people.
Villanelle tells Grigoriy that her mom used to be different.
Tea or not, she’s still the woman who dumped her only daughter at an orphanage.
And why is little Bor’ka banging his head against the wall?
It’s a bad situation for all involved… including the shark.
Later, at home, Tatiana comes downstairs to find Villanelle chopping tomatoes.
This always used to make you laugh, Villanelle says, but mom shakes her head: no.
Nobody ever laughed and Villanelle needs to leave.
Youre not a part of this family, Tatiana says.
Isn’t she, though?
This is the question that drives the episode, and still, there’s no obvious answer.
Is Villanelle the way she is because she was born bad?
Villanelle wants it to be the latter, but not because she’s looking for an out.
She’s fine with being a psychopath.
She’s fine with being a killer.
She just doesn’t want to be alone.
But just like in Rome, with Eve, she’s rebuffed.
No, Tatiana says.
They are not alike.
In the wee hours of the morning, Bor’ka wakes to the screeching of an alarm clock.
A note by his bed tells him to go to the barn for a surprise.
The surprise is an envelope full of money, and a note: GO SEE ELTON.
The other surprise is that the house explodes with everyone but Bor’ka and Pyotr still inside.
