Tuesday TV Touchbase: Killing Eve and Snowpiercer

Hi there! Welcome to my weekly post about what I'm watching on TV.  

Killing Eve
Season 3 may be remembered as "the season that was really a season". 

Eve is a bystander to her own life until Kenny gets killed. Even so, in the episodes that followed, Eve seems to make very little headway on cracking the mystery of why Kenny was killed.  

Villanelle is just not into being the psycho killer for hire, looking for a promotion within the Twelve or an escape from it.  

Except for a brief encounter on a London bus where Eve and Villanelle fight (Eve gets the upper hand when she kisses Villanelle), the paths of these two do no sinc up until this Sunday's season finale. 

For a "season that was really a season", there are a lot of balls in the air to keep track of.

Who killed Kenny? Carolyn is shown a video from just before Kenny died. He's with Konstantin. I had guessed early on that Konstantin was involved in Kenny's death. Konstantin denies killing Kenny. He claims a frightened Kenny fell off the roof before Konstantin could save him. This is a weak apple sauce of a story and no one believes it. 

Why was Flo killed? We know 12 back up assassin Rhiann did the deed because it turns out Flo had confirmed what Carolyn suspected: Paul, her boss at MI6, is part of the Twelve.  Rhiann is dead now after having Villanelle beat the shit out of her and kick her in front of an oncoming train. And Paul is dead now after Carolyn lodges a bullet in his brain. 

The highlights of the episode are when Eve and Villanelle share screen time together. Eve actually invites Villannelle onto a dance floor to dance. They sway together, holding each other close. It's heartbreakingly sweet.

There's more heart break at the end as Eve and Villanelle share some quality time on a London bridge overlooking the Thames River while discussing who they are and their relationship.  The last scene is the two turning their backs to one another and walking away in opposite directions.  Last season, Eve turning her back on Villanelle did not turn out so good when Villanelle shot her. No such drama this time as the two walk away from each other. Several yards apart, the two stop to turn back to see the other looking back. 

I'm not sure where Season 4 is going to go. I doubt it will involve Eve and Villanelle sharing a country cottage together living a live of peaceful tranquility.   

Snowpiercer
For what seemed like forever, any time anyone watched anything on TBS, one would encounter this: 

"Snowpiercer is all that is left of the world." 

Wanna catch a mid morning episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond":  "Snowpiercer is all that is left of the world." 

Mid afternoon visit with "Friends": "Snowpiercer is all that is left of the world." 

A night time encounter with "Big Bang Theory": "Snowpiercer is all that is left of the world." 

The constant bombardment of promos for TNT's "Snowpiercer" was enough to make me pledge to NOT watch the damn thing. 

But as various TV shows fell into reruns with seasons truncated by the coronavirus pandemic quarantine, it almost seem like this sentence was literally true: "Snowpiercer is all that is left of the world." 

And curiousity got the better of me. Why, pray tell, is "Snowpiercer is all that is left of the world"? 

So I'm watching Snowpiercer. 

Disclosure: I have not seen the original movie on which this series is based. I've seen reviews and analysis online that suggests the movie is superior to the series. Without that comparison, I'm judging Snowpiercer the series on its own merits.

I find this series intriguing.  

Snowpiercer is a set on Earth in the not too distant future where the perils of climate change were ignored by the rich and powerful elite until a misguided effort at a quick fix through science winds up freezing the world.  The rich and powerful elite buy there way on to the Snowpiercer, a train over a thousand cars long, driven by a perpetual motion engine as it circumnavigates the globe. Just before the Snowpiercer begins its journey, a desperate band of humans who are not the rich and powerful elite, find shelter on the last cars of the train.   

The series picks up several years into Snowpiercer's journey.   The rich and powerful elite continue to their lives in stylish comfort with only a few minor complaints. Like how the Swedes like to use the sauna in the nude. Dealing with such minor inconveniences is the job of Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly), front person for Mr. Wilford, the mysterious unseen creator of the train. Except Melanie has a bigger problem to contend with: someone at the front of the train has been murdered.  

This will require the skills of a trained and experienced homicide detective.  

Fortunately for Melanie Cavill, there is a trained and experienced homicide detective on the train.  

Unfortunately for Melanie Cavill, that trained and experienced homicide detective is Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) who resides at the back of the train.  

Having known nothing of the train for years except the back car, Layton serves as our point of view character as the wonders and the secret underbelly of the front of the train are pealed back as part of Layton's investigation into the murder.  Layton hasn't given up finding someway to facilitate the fomenting revolution in the rear of the train. 

There is quite the tangled web of mystery and intrigue driving this Snowpiercer train and it appears I am on board for at least this season. 

Side note: Snowpiercer is NOT all that is left of the world on TV as ABC launches new seasons of prime time games shows with Celebrity Family Feud (the current Queer Eye cast vs. the original line up) and Press Your Luck. 

Andrea and I watched the original Press Your Luck back in the day and this new version is still very stressful to watch. This is the show that introduced "Big bucks! Big bucks! No whammies!" in the lexicon.  Players follow flashing lights on a big game board to land on cash and prizes or the dread Whammy which comes out as a cartoon effect to erase all of a player's winnings.  Elizabeth Banks hosts this new version of Press Your Luck with humor, energy and empathy. But damn if Press Your Luck isn't a very stress inducing game show.