04: The Beginning Hook for Killing Eve

Story Grid Showrunners

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4+ y ago 27:49

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This week we will discuss the 5 Commandments of the Beginning Hook of Killing Eve. Some things to remember:

3 acts - most stories are made up of 3 acts - BH, MB, EP
5 commandments are present in each act
The Global Life Value - determined by the primary genre of the story
Every core scene turns on the global value

In this case, as we think that Killing Eve is a Thriller, these core scenes should turn on the global values of Life and Death.

What is the Inciting Incident of the Beginning Hook?

The Inciting Incident for the Beginning Hook is the same scene as in episode 1, There is a killer on the loose and they need to solve the crimes.

It’s upending Eve’s life, isn’t it? Eve is interested in studying female assassins and finally on her doorstep arrives this assassination where she thinks it might be a female killer so that’s what motivates her to want to investigate these murders. If it had been a male assassin, she might not be so interested.

So formally, we have Eve Polastri, a MI-5 security manager who has an opportunity to input on a crime which MI-6 is looking into, but she is quickly slapped down, that this isn’t her position.

Does this turn on life and death - hell yeah it does; it begins with this guy having his femoral artery slashed.

This is the perfect setting for this series, I mean, this series is about a psycho assassin and the Inciting Incident is the assassination.

The first 2 episodes are incredibly strong. The further you get into the series, the viewers aren’t disappointed. It becomes more and more complicated.,

The Inciting Incident sets the theme, tone, and mood for the series - people will die, can the protagonist stop her? It’s exactly where you want to be as an author or a screenwriter - you want to tell you your audience this is what this series is about.

And also we see the power difference between the two. Eve is very, very unprofessional. She’s taking croissants to the briefing and making noise, she’s clumsy (she bumps the table, and she’s late to the meeting. And then we have Villanelle, who isn’t making any mistakes.

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35 episodes