Jodie Comer as Villanelle in the second season of Killing Eve. Photo / supplied
Jodie Comer as Villanelle in the second season of Killing Eve. Photo / supplied
Reviews are in for the second season of BBC America's spy phenomenon Killing Eve, and it's reportedly as thrilling and darkly comedic as ever.
The second season is marked by the departure of original writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with writer-actress Emerald Fennell taking the helm as showrunner. The first season woncritical acclaim from critics, with star Sandra Oh winning a Golden Globe Award earlier this year for her performance.
Season two reportedly picks up straight after the first season's cliffhanger, in which Eve stabbed Villanelle in the stomach. A title card declares: "30 seconds later".
The Guardian's Jake Nevins says this "deftly" continues the show's story, retaining "the snap-crackle-pop dialogue of season one".
Jodie Comer as Villanelle in the second season of Killing Eve. Photo / supplied
The New York Times critic Margaret Lyons says the dialogue "hasn't lost any of its verve" in the changeover from Waller-Bridge to Fennell, while stars Oh and Jodie Comer "burn just as brightly".
Vox says the new season is "just as sparklingly quippy" as season one, with the performances still "uniformly terrific".
The Hollywood Reporter declares the show "as effervescent and fun and thrilling and smart and witty as ever," as well as being "still as believable and twisty, an emotional entanglement of motives and obsessions and tactical fun that a psychopathic assassin can have with the in-over-her-head agent on her tail".
From left: Jodie Comer, Sandra Oh and Fiona Shaw at the premiere of Killing Eve season two. Photo / AP
A number of critics pointed out a number of speed bumps, however; The New York Times says a heightened focus on "The Twelve", an organised crime syndicate referenced in season one, may weaken the human focus of the show.
"I'm girding myself for double-agent and triple-agent secret infiltration stories that are rarely as interesting as two characters just telling the truth and seeing where that takes them," wrote Lyons.
Entertainment Weekly's Kristen Baldwin says the show's new plot points are "worrisome problems" and "awkward TV contrivances".
Vox critic Constance Grady says season two is "not quite" at the same level as the first season, but "it makes strides toward getting back to the high-water mark in quality".
Killing Eve season two is streaming on TVNZ OnDemand from Saturday 6 April from 2pm, and screening on TVNZ 2 on Monday 8 April at 9.30pm.
