‘Killing Eve’ Episode 5 Recap: Villanelle, as Oksana, Finds Her Mommy Dearest
Tragedy struck Eve in last week’s episode of Killing Eve, but the May 10 installment did not pick up where the show left off. Viewers knew Konstantin was tasked with finding Villanelle’s biological family, as she developed a curiosity after contemplating killing that baby.
He found them and gave her the information, and at the close of episode 4, she arrived in the small village in Russia for a visit. Episode 5 was all about Villanelle finding her family, herself, and some form of closure. She also found out if she was a cute baby.
[Spoiler alert: Do not read ahead if you haven’t seen episode 5 of Killing Eve: “Are You From Pinner?”
Oksana has a family reunion
Villanelle makes the journey to meet her birth family and explores the house without telling anyone she’s there. A little boy named Borka sees her and questions her, and they speak English. He has a small obsession with Elton John.
After a game of “Who are you?” with everyone else in the home, she asks for Pyotr. We learn that’s her brother. “Oksana?” he says. At this point, she’s met her stepfather Grigoriy, stepbrother Fyodor and his girlfriend Yula, and Borka.
Borka tells her “Mom” is pulling up. Villanelle is unnerved and tries to run out of the house, but the woman walks inside. It’s her mother Tatiana. She spots Villanelle and cries, “Oksana? My baby is alive.” She hugs Villanelle, who is shocked and nervous.
Tatiana explains she meant to come back for her, and in the meantime, Pyotr grabs a family photo album. Villanelle finally gets confirmation from her mom that she was a beautiful baby. When Villanelle she asks about her father, Tatiana gets up. It makes her sad.
They play a card game that evening and Villanelle checks out the family dynamics. Her mother makes a toast and suddenly, they start singing an Elton John song while dancing and acting out. Oksana is not used to this, but she is softening. Eventually, she sings too.
Villanelle is on pause and warms up as Oksana
The next day, she and her brother have a conversation in the barn. Pyotr has an anger problem and he’s beating a couch with a log. He doesn’t remember their father, but Oksana shares that he was strong, funny, and taught her how to fight. She liked him better than their mom.
They go to a local café for lunch and she urges him to leave town and see the world. He wants to stay behind for his mom, but Oksana calls her controlling. Moving on, she learns there’s a festival happening in the village and Pyotr promises she’ll love it, including the competition. They bond.
Later in the evening, Oksana is watching TV with Fyodor and Yula, and they start talking about flat earth and conspiracy theories. She laughs out loud then gets up. She notices the little boy Borka is banging his head against the wall.
Oksana goes outside to speak to her stepfather and asks which wife was his favorite. He replies that it’s her mom, but she says Tatiana wasn’t always this nice.
She learns her mom told him she was dead, and that she was a difficult child. Grigoriy answers that she’s sad sometimes, and Oksana responds maybe it’s because she feels guilty for abandoning her. They’re interrupted by her mother who’s offering tea again.
The festival reveals things
Still trying to make amends, Tatiana gives her a denim outfit from the ‘80s. Oksana says she loves it and smiles. The family heads to the harvest festival one of the games is a shell game which Oksana keeps winning until the lady shoos her away.
Sleazy Fyodor is making passes at women, Borka is sad he lost the food contest, and Oksana is having fun winning everything. Yula is a jerk toward Oksana and she snaps back.
She has a moment with Bork that night while everyone is dancing and finds out her mom told him he was stupid for losing. Apparently, she is verbally abusive.
Not only did he lose his chance to win money for Elton John tickets, he keeps physically punishing himself because his spirit is broken. Oksana is pissed and is glaring at her mother from across the field.
Oksana shuts down, Villanelle is back
Back home, Oksana is cutting tomatoes in the kitchen. Tatiana comes downstairs, and she turns around, pranking her mom with tomato juice coming out of her eyes.
They engage in a short conversation, and she tells Oksana to wipe the tomato off her face. But she prefers for her mom to do it and treat her like a child.
Suddenly, Tatiana says she wants her to leave the next day. “Why? This is my home.” “No,” her mom says, “You’re not a part of this family. You do not belong here.” Villanelle challenges her about leaving her behind in the past.
The mom calls her a darkness, and Oksana reverses it on her, calling her mom the darkness. They have a back-and-forth about it, and she confesses she’s killed “a lot of people.”
They hurl insults, and the mom says the father was afraid Oksana would hurt them. That’s why they left her an the orphanage. In an emotional moment, Oksana says what hurt her the most is that her mom wouldn’t admit they’re just alike.
The mother tells her to leave once more, and Oksana says, “I think I need to kill you, Mama.” And so it is. Gasoline spills on the floor, the gas stove is turned on, and Bork is awakened by an alarm clock. Mom’s body is lying on the floor.
He finds a note telling him to run to the barn now, and he does. There, he finds another envelope with money in it and a note that says, “Go see Elton.” Bork wakes Pyotr—who always sleeps in the barn—to tell him.
They’re caught off guard by an explosion at the house. Villanelle stomps off into the night, and we see her next on the bus ride home. She’s wearing the denim outfit.
