the name challenge » 6th letter: a quote

“Like I promised you, I will always be here for her.”

Sandra Oh Previews the Final Season of ‘Killing Eve’ | The Awardist | Entertainment Weekly

I’m emotional

Jodie came for our lives with no mercy

Fact: Jodie was told that she could never do theater because she is not "theater trained" (she has never received any kind of formal training for that matter)

Fact: Jodie made her theater debut by taking on a 100 minute ONE WOMAN play

Fact: Jodie has received nothing but praise, is an early favorite for the Olivier, and all the press is giving 5-star reviews

Fact: Jodie Comer is THE most talented actress of this generation and is the moment

"The show takes a heteronormative stance in punishing Eve and Villanelle for being in love. It's the most ham-fisted and wrongheaded ending that sets back both lesbian representation and feminism. The show became so puritanical that it couldn't even dare to take it's escapism to the end by letting it's heroines find a surprising escape; instead crashing them back down to Earth with banal moralizing."

How did Laura Neal ever get to be showrunner for Season 4?

Since Killing Eve’s horrible finale aired on April 10, 2022, and was followed up with Laura Neal’s homophobic and deranged interviews explaining its rationale, we’ve all been asking ourselves a burning question:

How did Laura Neal ever get to be showrunner for Season 4?

Our fandom knows that changing showrunners every season presented a problem for Killing Eve’s overall quality, specifically continuity, characterization, and Villaneve. This is why it was more important than ever for the showrunner for the final season to have an excellent grasp of key plot points, a deep understanding of the key characters, and an ability to finally realize Villaneve in the end.

In other words, we were all hoping that Laura Neal would do a good job.

But more than being hopeful, we had reason to expect that Laura Neal would do a good job. This is because Laura Neal wrote Villaneve’s bus kiss for S3E3, as well as writing for S3E7 with it’s dark humour, Hélène’s commanding presence, and Villaneve’s breathtaking almost-reunion.

I (bitterly) recall that our fandom was pretty excited that Laura Neal was going to be showrunner. Now after Season 4, we’re left feeling betrayed, shocked, devastated, and angry.

As showrunner, she messed things up to the point of being single-handedly responsible for Killing Eve’s lowest rated episode ever (along with being one of the worst finales in television history), wiping out Killing Eve’s legacy and re-watch value, and directly contributing to mainstream media harming LGBTQ well being and representation. 

So…what happened? How was someone like Laura Neal, with her homophobia and catastrophic misunderstanding of Eve and Villanelle, allowed to have so much power?

The answer has everything to do with how the entertainment industry works, specifically in the UK.

We all know that the entertainment industry isn’t exactly built around merit. So what “qualifies” someone for their position in the entertainment industry? Generally, the criteria can include both the quantity and quality of projects, awards won, and a good reputation that’s endorsed by industry executives.

Scouring the public record for information on Laura Neal revealed just how scarce her C.V. and other professional details are. Nevertheless, the information I have been able to find should raise some eyebrows.

The first point to note here is that Laura Neal was announced as showrunner for Season 4 in February 2020–two full months before Season 3 even aired.

Take a moment to let that sink in.

Before even gauging critic and audience reactions to Season 3, before any viewership statistics and profit calculations came pouring in, Laura Neal was given this position.

The only way this is ever possible is if an industry executive, such as an executive producer, simply makes it happen thanks to the power of their position.

At the time of this announcement, we were offered two crucial pieces of information:

That’s it.

Neither of these reasons have anything to do with merit. Not even past experience or industry recognition.

Speaking of which, examining Laura Neal’s qualifications shows a troubling pattern of nepotism and elitism.

Again, this is unsurprising for the entertainment industry. But it does reveal the answer to how Laura Neal got to be showrunner for Season 4.

In the UK, up-and-coming writers for the screen and stage often go through writer’s programs. More than honing their skills with a mentor, these function more like sponsorships for writers that bring them lots of exposure and coveted endorsements from industry executives. In other words, it’s a matter of prestige.

So let’s have a look at some of Laura Neal’s notable qualifications on both her official agent’s website and her IMDb page:

In addition, Laura Neal herself gives us some insight into her background as a writer:

All this serves to demonstrate that Laura Neal actually didn’t have the qualifications for a position as important as showrunner for Killing Eve’s final season.

Certainly, we can all feel that Laura Neal didn’t deserve to be showrunner after the mess we got. But I think it’s objectively clear now that we can back this sentiment up with facts. Laura Neal literally had no business being showrunner.

And now the logical counterpart to wondering how Laura Neal ever got to be showrunner for Season 4 is asking the following crucial question:

Why wasn’t Kayleigh Llewellyn showrunner for Season 4?

Kayleigh Llewellyn is Laura Neal’s direct contemporary colleague. They even got started around the same time, meaning their careers parallel each other. But the divergent results clearly speak for themselves, to the point where I think Kayleigh Llewellyn should have been showrunner for Season 4 of Killing Eve.

In no uncertain terms, Kayleigh is the most qualified woman for this position, especially by entertainment industry standards.

I mean, let’s just consider some of Kayleigh Llewellyn’s many notable qualifications on both her agent’s website (along with her C.V.) and her IMDb page:

Given all this, Kayleigh Llewellyn’s industry experience, her passion and work for LGBTQ representation, and her demonstrable understanding of Villaneve made her the perfect fit to be showrunner for Season 4 of Killing Eve.

To put this another way, the show In My Skin that she was directly executive producer for and actively writing for won four BAFTA awards the same year (2020) that Killing Eve’s executives were in the process of finding a showrunner for Season 4.

Kayleigh Llewellyn clearly should have been considered for the position.

And yet.

Laura Neal was announced as showrunner for Season 4 just because Sally Woodward Gentle said so.

To make this injustice worse, we know that Kayleigh Llewellyn was muzzled and literally kept from doing her job as a writer in Killing Eve, noting that she felt like “a cog in a machine.”

I cannot help but mourn the loss of what Killing Eve’s final season could have been if Kayleigh Llewellyn was showrunner. The amount of potential that was unfulfilled is maddening. Worse yet, we live with the disastrous results of the finale and Laura Neal’s legacy of homophobia while knowing that Kayleigh is a champion of LGBTQ representation.

So in light of all this, are we just supposed to be disheartened by yet more evidence of how unjust, corrupt, and bemusing the entertainment industry can be?

That’s definitely one takeaway.

Another much more important take away is that now we know how Laura Neal, the head person responsible for Season 4′s homophobia and atrocious quality, got to be where she is.

Now we know what we can hold her accountable for. Now we know some of the entry points in the entertainment industry that allow such people to slip through. Now we know what to look for when we examine who crafts our media. Now we know that there are always other options, just how Kayleigh Llewellyn is an inspiring direct contrast to Laura Neal.

It’s too late to change how Season 4 of Killing Eve turned out. And we will only spiral if we ruminate on how things could have been better if only the right person was in charge.

Instead, I hope that this post was informative and sparked a desire to experience media more thoughtfully. To peer beneath the surface of entertainment and consider who is making it, especially with what intent. To follow the trail and connect the dots to see the bigger picture.

And most of all, to know that if we truly want to make a difference in the industry of our choosing, we can best do that leading by example and looking to women like Kayleigh Llewellyn as examples of what we can create with our hearts in the right place.

Jodie Comer is a great actress. Also way more attractive in person.

eve and villanelle are in alaska rn picking a movie to watch together. eve wants to watch a murder documentary, villanelle wants a horror movie. they won't agree on anything so they go for suspense. eve will fall asleep after a few glasses of wine, villanelle will turn off the tv and just stare at eve until she falls asleep.

eve: [initiates a kiss] villanelle: 😳😧😵‍💫🤯😯

Birthday party 🥳

dogs are like i will lay down and huff sadly while staring balefully at you until you feel guilty and give me food. cats are like hey mom oh nice cereal don’t mind if i do! with their little criminal faces already in your fucking bowl

EVE looking at VILLANELLE