Aahana Swrup
The fourth season of ‘Killing Eve’ introduces another assassin into the mix, presenting a distinctly unique perspective into the life and backstory of a killer. The new assassin, Pamela “Pam” Palmeira, is a young woman stuck in an unhealthy home life. As a result, she becomes easy prey for The Twelve, who initiate recruitment through Hélène, a member of the lower end of their top brass. However, as Hélène looms over Pam for weeks and utilizes her skills as a mortician at her family-owned funeral home, the Twelve-operative decides to stray from the organization-provided script and employs Pam for her own motives.
Thus, as Pam’s prominence increases within the show, so does the viewers’ interest in her character and her backstory. For the same reasons, people might wonder if Pam’s family business, the J. Palmeira & Sons Funeral Home, holds any connections to reality. SPOILERS AHEAD!
J. Palmeira & Sons: A Fictional Business
The concept of a multi-faith Funeral Home that caters to numerous methods of wake and funeral services for the departed isn’t out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, although J. Palmeira & Sons remains a plausible business, it doesn’t share a basis with any real-life funeral homes, which renders the workplace a fictitious element confined to the similarly fictional narrative of ‘Killing Eve.’ Within the show, J. Palmeira & Sons serves the sole purpose of setting up Pam’s character as the brand-new, possibly psychopathic assassin on the board.
Unlike other similar characters, Pam’s introduction into the narrative arrives while she’s still in a relatively normal phase of her life. Even though she’s been in contact with Hélène— and by association with The Twelve— her continued employment under J. Palmeira & Sons confirms a consistent life of normalcy for her. For the same reason, the business fades out of narrative significance as soon as the woman kills her abusive brother, Elliot, and leaves her family business behind. Therefore, the Funeral Home serves little purpose other than providing an understanding of Pam’s character.
Pam’s profession as a mortician under the J. Palmeira & Sons banner is one of the only known facts about her civilian life. The business was left behind to Pam and her brother, Elliot, by their parents after their passing. Whereas Elliot took on the business/marketing aspect of the company, Pam was assigned the hands-on role of providing the actual funeral services. Consequently, in a show revolving around psychopaths and assassins, the woman’s deadpan expressions and easy existence beside dead bodies shed a chilling light on the character.
As such, Pam’s association with the Funeral Home and mortuary work does much of the work that goes into establishing her character’s backstory, focusing on feelings of alienation. Likewise, as the plot progresses and Pam’s character increases in depth and nuance, the same mortuary work becomes a sign of her empathy by showcasing the reverence with which she treats death and the dead. Ultimately, J. Palmeira & Sons— Pam’s family business— remains an efficient tool in establishing her character. Nevertheless, it doesn’t strive to hold any connections to real life otherwise.
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