So, Is Villanelle Going to Kill Niko on ‘Killing Eve’ or Just Try to Break Up His Marriage?

*Warning: Spoilers ahead*

There’s no denying the sexual tension that’s been brewing with Eve (Sandra Oh) and Villanelle (Jodi Comer) since season one of Killing Eve. But in last night’s episode, titled “The Hungry Caterpillar,” Villanelle makes a move to clear the path for her and Eve that’s both surprising and totally not.

In season two, episode three, Villanelle grows jealous that Eve is investigating another female contract killer nicknamed the Ghost. She lashes out at Eve in a sneaky and indirect way, posing as a child and calling the school Eve’s husband, Niko (Owen McDonnell), teaches at to lodge a complaint about him. Then, she goes to the school and watches him chatting (and, honestly, flirting) with a fellow teacher named Gemma (Emma Pierson). Finally, she has the fodder she needs to set fire to the one relationship standing in her way.

Later, when Niko and the rest of the faculty gather for a cocktail party, Villanelle dresses in a spot-on teacher’s outfit and saddles up to Gemma. Using her eerily high emotional intelligence, Villanelle encourages her to go after what she wants (aka Niko) despite the fact that he’s married. If Villanelle’s plan is successful, Eve will have more time to focus on her. But if that’s what she wants, then why hasn’t she set out to destroy Eve’s marriage earlier?

The fact that she hasn’t killed Niko, even though she’s perfectly capable of breaking into the home he shares with Eve, is likely a testament to the strange way she cares for Eve. She wants Eve to herself, but she doesn’t want to harm her in any irreparable way, at least not yet.

You might argue that she deeply hurt Eve when she killed Bill (David Haig) in season one, episode three, on a dance floor in Berlin. But Villanelle likely didn’t understand the complexities of Eve and Bill’s relationship then. Now she knows Eve on a deeper level and for that reason she’s acting delicately with the Niko situation so Eve can’t immediately blame her when her marriage (potentially) falls apart in one way or another.

So, the question remains: Will she get rid of Niko in a more permanent sense, or just continue to try and lead him into the arms of another woman? We’ll have to wait and see when Killing Eve returns for season two, episode four, this Sunday, April 28, at 8/7c on BBC America and AMC.