Warning: SPOILERS for Killing Eve season 3, episode 2.
In Killing Eve season 3, episode 2, Villanelle (Jodie Comer) took arguably James Bond's (Roger Moore) worst moment - dressing up as a clown - and did it much better than 007. The new season of Killing Eve sees Villanelle back working for the mysterious international criminal organization called The Twelve. In fact, Villanelle is trying to move up the ranks into management as a Keeper. But her first task overseeing a young new recruit, Felix (Stefan Iancu), requires them to attend a children's party disguised as clowns to take out their target.
James Bond also once dressed up as a clown in 1983's Octopussy. In Roger Moore's penultimate 007 adventure, Bond was desperately chasing a nuclear device hidden in a circus owned by the female crime lord Octopussy (Maud Adams). 007 was pursued by the film's villains, an exiled Afghan prince named Kamal Khan (Louis Jourdan) and his massive henchman, Gobina (Kabir Bedi). To elude his foes, Bond ducked into the circus' costume tent and emerged moments later dressed as a clown. The British agent then found and defused the nuclear weapon, despite the indignity of his getup. Octopussy isn't fondly remembered by Bond fans and 007 dressed as a clown is the negative lasting impression of that film. It did Roger Moore's tenure as James Bond no favors and 007 dressing up as a clown was an inexplicable decision by the producers because it set up Moore's secret agent as an object of ridicule and countermands Bond's image as a suave operator.
Killing Eve season 3, episode 2, "Management Sucks", put Villanelle in a similar position but handled it in a much savvier way. In her situation, Villanelle was merely present to guide her protege Felix and it was his job to execute the hit. As she is wont to do when she cosplays, Villanelle had her own private fun as a clown by cursing at and scaring the children at the birthday party. When she discovered Felix had botched the assassination, Villanelle took out both the target and Felix, ruefully noting that "Management sucks". For Killing Eve's part, Villanelle's clown costume was better conceived and suited her more than Bond's get up did him. Killing Eve made sure that Villanelle looked like what she was, an evil clown, while Bond's clown costume made him look sad and pathetic. Worse, the point of the clown costume was for Bond to enter the circus incognito but he was immediately recognized anyway. Bond then announced himself publicly as a British agent, ruining both his cover and the whole point of the disguise.
It's easy to draw comparisons to Villanelle as a female James Bond because, after all, they are both world-traveling assassins, although she works for an evil secret agency and 007 uses his license to kill for Queen and country. Still, both Villanelle and Bond are flamboyant, enjoy the finer things in life, and chose a glamorous but dangerous profession that keeps them isolated from having to behave like 'normal' people. Of course, Villanelle is a psychopath who is exactly the type of target MI6 would deploy 007 to eliminate; for her part, Villanelle is no stranger to the British spy organization since she briefly worked for MI6 in Killing Eve season 2 and she's been targeted by it herself. MI6 also used to employ Villanelle's obsession, Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh).
However, James Bond dressed as a clown was an unforgivable offense to 007's dashing image and every ideal he represents. Meanwhile, Villanelle worked as a clown since she's mercurial and usually over-the-top. Along with being fluent in multiple languages and how she enjoys wearing outrageous costumes when she's on her missions, somehow made Villanelle becoming a clown work. Plus, Killing Eve smartly made Villanelle's brief tenure as a clown very meta since it acknowledged how the whole situation was ridiculous, but in a funny way. Whereas Octopussy tried to get audiences to laugh at James Bond, not with him, which was a huge mistake Killing Eve didn't make with Villanelle.
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