Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 5 Fashion Recap: Villanelle is Dressed to Kill… Eve

Killing Eve season 2 hit its halfway point in episode 5 on Sunday night, which finally did its fans a service and reunited Eve and Villanelle. The circumstances, though, are not ideal: Villanelle, who’d been romping around town in a black turtleneck, printed overcoat, and red pants, eating an ice cream cone, practically wilts when Konstantin hands her a photo of Eve and tells her that she is her next kill.

Eve, on the other hand, can’t stop agonizing over how unflattering she looks in the photo, even as her zaniest idea yet—to reunite with Villanelle by putting out on a hit on herself—is going exactly as planned. Locked in her hotel room, Villanelle goes into self-pity mode: a pair of formal pajamas and room service (a single glass and a bottle of champagne). When it arrives, she tasks the young delivery man with softly brushing her hair, her head laid in his lap.

Meanwhile, Eve is struggling through her commute home, unable to stop fussing with her new bulletproof vest even while she’s on the tube. Of course, the moment she finally takes it off, leaving her in just a tank top, is also the moment she hears her doorbell ring, and rushes downstairs to discover Villanelle waiting patiently on her doormat, bottle of champagne in hand.

Just as in season 1, once again Villanelle is wearing an unmissable tulle dress, though this one’s a bit of a step up from the hot pink Molly Goddard confection that played up her flirty, silly side. Like Villanelle, it’s aged up a bit; this one’s more Valentino, with its all-black elegance. Though, the entire look doesn’t appear to be to Eve’s taste. When Villanelle steps through her doorway, she politely asks her to remove her shoes—and her theatrical polka-dot veil. “Seriously?” Villanelle asks.

The foreplay only heats up from there, with Eve caressing Villanelle’s face. Neither is too keen to take the other down, so they start drinking champagne out of mugs and play things relatively safe; Villanelle pulls the (somehow charming) move of convincing Eve she just downed several arsenic, whereas Eve goes for the low-hanging fruit: teasing her would-be killer about her appearance. “Nice outfit,” she says at a safe distance. “I thought I would dress for the occasion,” Villanelle replies. “I’m about to be in mourning.”

Before long, they’re outside and in the woods with Eve’s other assassin acquaintance, the so-called “Ghost.” It’s going pretty well, in fact, until Eve abandons Villanelle at the side of the storage container she’s just emerged from, which happens to match the red of her lipstick.

Meanwhile, Eve’s husband Niko has been off in Oxford, unwittingly chaperoning a field trip that Carolyn orchestrated to get him out of everyone’s hair. But distance has never deterred Villanelle, who’s looking so at ease when Niko first bumps into her that their run-in appears to be accidental. There’s no greater giveaway, though, than Villanelle’s outfit: She looks almost comically academic in khakis, a tie, and a white dress shirt that’s been draped with a cable-knit sweater and buttoned up to its neck.

Related: Killing Eve Season 2 Episode 4 Fashion Recap: Villanelle Does Cosplay