Aahana Swrup
The second season of ‘Killing Eve’ expands upon the espionage world that its predecessor season established, creating new challenges and blunders for Villanelle, a Russian assassin, and Eve Polastri, the MI6 operative on her case. In doing so, the storyline further delves into both women’s narrative circles, introducing new faces from The Twelve and the British Intelligence. Hugo Turner, a Harvard graduate hailing from a wealthy family, is one such character who joins Eve in Carolyn’s MI6 operation, Manderley. Therefore, as Eve’s colleague, Hugo consistently contributes to the protagonist’s character development while using his non-specific skills to track down deadly assassins, including Villanelle.
However, within the show’s dangerous narrative, Hugo finds himself in a precarious situation by the season’s end. For the same reason, fans of the character might be worried about his predicament and the fate of Edward Bluemel in the show. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Hugo’s Plight in MI6
The second season finale of ‘Killing Eve’ finds Hugo gravely injured on a mission in Rome. During MI6’s dubious partnership with Villanelle in investigating Aaron Peel, a tech mogul with incomprehensible power in his hands, Carolyn sends Eve and Hugo as part of the surveillance team in Rome. Consequently, while Villanelle remains undercover— as Billie, a beguiling American woman who catches Aaron’s attention— Hugo and Eve accompany her from behind an earpiece. Even so, while inside a nondescript hotel room, a fair distance away from the real danger, the MI6 agents manage to attract trouble.
A tense atmosphere takes over the duo’s hotel room after a night of confusing passion, wherein Eve sleeps with Hugo— while listening to Villanelle’s voice in her earpiece. However, an incident renders such personal entanglements insignificant after some goons attack the Agents’ hotel room. Hugo, out in the lobby, becomes an easy target and takes a bullet to his chest. Although the man survives by playing dead, he remains in urgent need of medical attention. Nevertheless, Eve ends up abandoning the man to his demise— with a half-hearted note scrawled on the front desk to call an ambulance for him— before taking off in worry after Villanelle’s life.
However, since the entire mission held a secondary, secretive operation, MI6 was already ready with a clean-up crew to dispatch once trouble struck the hotel. Consequently, Carolyn’s other team picked up Hugo, hospitalizing him for his grave bullet wound. While his fate remains perilous at the season’s end, the third season brings confirmation of his survival from the incident.
Moreover, Hugo takes his displeasure with his higher-ups a step further and sues the agency for intentionally putting him in harm’s way. Thus, even though his character exits from his recurring position in season 2, he leaves a mark on the narrative that plays out in the future. After remaining absent from season 3, Hugo returns briefly in season 4, bringing trouble to Carolyn and Eve’s doorsteps.
Edward Bluemel’s Exit From Killing Eve
Although Edward Bluemel’s departure from ‘Killing Eve,’ as Hugo Turner’ remains for an entire season, the man eventually returned to the project to reprise his character for a few episodes in season 4. Therefore, considering his seamless re-inclusion within the show, it’s safe to assume his initial exit from it was simply a result of things running their course. Over the course of its four-season run, ‘Killing Eve’ introduced and wrote off several characters— to the point where only four of the original season 1 ensemble make it to season 4. Therefore, Hugo’s character most likely had no space in the season 3 narrative, leading to his withdrawal.
Nevertheless, once the opportunity for Hugo’s return presented itself in season 4, the project readily reintroduced him as a minor character in the show. Actor Bluemel discussed the experience in an exclusive interview with Fabric Magazine. “It was just two days [of] filming, and I had only read my scenes, so I didn’t understand what was going on with the plot because it was so top secret,” He said. “But it was so lovely to pop back and see all the same old faces, and it gave me a chance to reprise my widely hated role, which was great fun.”
Despite his limited appearance in ‘Killing Eve’s’ follow-up seasons, Bluemel’s career bloomed otherwise, with a variety of supporting roles in recognizable projects such as Netflix’s ‘Sex Education,’ ‘Persuasion,’ and a lead voice acting part in the animated show ‘Castlevania: Nocturne.’ Currently, the actor is set to appear in the much-anticipated British historical comedy show, ‘My Lady Jane,’ as well as the upcoming book-to-show adaptation of ‘Washington Black,’ among several other projects.
Read More: What Happened to Elena Felton? Why Did Kirby Howell-Baptiste Leave Killing Eve?
