Killing Eve S01E07 "I Don't Want to Be Free" Recap

Eve learns from Carolyn that Vladimir has agreed to transfer Nadia but their conversation is interrupted by a phone call informing Carolyn that Nadia has been murdered in prison. They then head to meet Konstantin for breakfast. He says that Nadia was attacked by another inmate, claiming it's very common in there. Eve is insistent that this isn't a coincidence and demands to meet the inmate who killed her but Konstantin refuses and Carolyn jumps in to mediate the situation, saying they want to be informed of any further updates on the situation. He advises them to go home, saying he can't force them to leave but implies that they aren't welcome. Eve is suspicious that Villanelle is involved but Carolyn thinks Eve is just forming theories from her own obsession. Eve and Carolyn meet up with Kenny, who is also in Moscow to help them with their investigation.

Villanelle attempts to proposition a male guard with sexual favours in order to make a phone call but her efforts prove futile for the time being.

Eve points out that there are no records of Oksana's family so the only lead they have to investigate is Anna, since it can offer insight into how she became a killer. Carolyn shuts this down, telling Kenny to book a flight for Eve to go back to London. He stands up to her and she merely tells him to also go back to London, despite his having only arrived there. Kenny agrees to stay and help Eve with her investigation, having brought the letters he discovered between Carolyn and Konstantin.

Villanelle is sent to solitary confinement where another inmate named Inga is lying down and saying nothing.

Eve discovers that the letters are all from 1977-1978 and Konstantin had sent them to Carolyn. They were all highly sexual and Carolyn had them hidden in a secret safe. Kenny also brought some old photos in which Eve discovers Carolyn and Konstantin cozied up together. Kenny was able to track down the address of Anna, a language teacher. Eve leaves to find Anna while Kenny decides to scan the prison security footage to try to find anyone matching Villanelle's description.

Inga emerges from her seemingly catatonic state to try to attack Villanelle when she was about to fall asleep but Villanelle is able to get on her back and viciously bites into her neck before the guards come in. They inform Villanelle that she has a visitor.

Eve meets Anna at the university she works at. Anna still believes that Oksana is dead and Eve allows her the peace of mind to continue believing this, saying that she needs to learn more about Oksana because of her possible connections to a dangerous organisation. Anna reluctantly agrees to help, saying she still has some old letters Oksana sent to her.

Villanelle is loaded up into a prison transport van along with some guards and her inmate 'friend' that had stolen her shiv in the lead-up to killing Nadia. The van is attacked and the driver is shot before one of the guards shoot and kills the other guard. An explosive device blows the back door of the van open and a man wearing a motorcycle helmet calls Villanelle to get out of the van. She takes a moment to admire the destruction and many dead bodies. Her prison friend is shot dead by the dirty guard when she refuses to try to escape, and Villanelle leaves with the driver who eventually pulls over and leads her into a building, only telling her to go up the stairs. Upon reaching the top, she meets Anton who is her new handler. He gives her a suitcase of new clothes and says she has until tomorrow night to complete her next assignment. She won't be given back her passport and credit card until it is complete, and her next assignment is revealed to be Konstantin. However, Villanelle shoots her new handler in the head.

Anna brings Eve back to her home and pulls out a box of old letters and mementos related to Oksana. Eve learns that Oksana always wrote to her in French and Anna says that Oksana favored learning French the most followed by English. Eve is shocked by how many letters there are and Anna says that Oksana had a 'fixation'. Anna says that before Oksana came, the teachers were told that a new student would be arriving with a history of violence, a dead mother, and a drunk father. None of the teachers wanted to step up to the challenge of helping Oksana so Anna took it upon herself to do so. She admits that she liked Oksana as a student but Anna became more demanding to get more lessons. Anna's husband Max thought that Oksana was cold but Anna brushed it off as a mere distrust of men, perhaps due to bad experiences. Anna and Oksana had a conversation in which Oksana claimed that Anna was only with her husband because he had a penis. Anna believed it was a joke and said she agreed. But later that day when Anna came home, Oksana had filled the house with balloons, a cake, and was jumping around excitedly. But then she showed Anna what she had done, believing it was a good thing. Anna is still devastated by the loss and trauma of what happened and says that Oksana had often written that she would escape prison and come find her. Eve then reveals that Oksana is still alive and now in Moscow, suggesting that it might be safer to stay with a friend. She also says that Oksana has been working for an organisation that has protected her. Anna agrees to call Eve if the need arises and identifies Konstantin from Carolyn's photograph that Eve was carrying in her purse as the man that visited her to personally break the news of Oksana's death.

Konstantin returns home and is lured upstairs by the sound of his daughter calling for him but it's revealed to be a recording that Villanelle made and she pulls a gun on him.

Anna shows Eve a gift that was sent to her ten months after Oksana's apparent death. It was an expensive French coat that she had thought Oksana had gotten a friend to send to her. When Anna leaves the room, Eve tears one of the coat seams since she felt something hidden within it and discovers a passport of Oksana's and cash-stash in a plastic bag. She pockets it into her purse but leaves the coat for Anna, despite her insisting she will never wear it. She then gives Anna her phone number.

Villanelle informs Konstantin about how Anton was sent to be her new handler and had told her to kill Konstantin. She is willing to let Konstantin choose how he will die since she wants to keep doing her job. He tells her that the reason why they want to kill him is because he was trying to help the British get her out of prison whereas the Twelve wanted to leave her in there. He explains that he had to argue with them to give her another chance more times than he could count. Villanelle demands the names of all the Twelve but he says that he doesn't have that level of access since he wasn't a Keeper. He claims to not know any and takes some pills that are supposed to kill him which he washes down with whiskey. He tells Villanelle that he's proud of her, loves her more than his family, and says that she's the best thing that ever happened to the organisation. He continues to praise her and she appears emotionally shaken by this and tells him to take more pills. He toasts to dignity in death before throwing a log at her head and running out of the house, making his escape on his boat.

Anna tells Eve how Oksana always sent her French gifts because Anna always wanted to live in Paris. Anna asks Eve to inform her if Oksana is caught, saying she wants to visit and forgive her as part of her healing process. Anna also warns Eve to be careful, saying that Eve is Oksana's type, but is offended when Eve asks if Anna ever had sex with Oksana which Anna denies.

Eve leaves her husband a voicemail apologizing and reaffirming her love for him. Eve is shocked when Kenny manages to hone in on some surveillance footage on which Oksana can be seen. Eve and Kenny are shocked to see on the footage that the visitor she had the day she escaped was Carolyn.

Killing Eve airs on Sundays on BBC America.