With Killing Eve wrapping up its third season just a few weeks ago, work is already underway for the acclaimed series’ fourth season. The series, which showcases a different female showrunner each season, had previously announced that Laura Neal (Sex Education, Secret Diary of a Call Girl) would be the head writer for season 4. But a now-deleted tweet from writer Kayleigh Llewellyn reveals that the writers room for season 4 is entirely white people.

It’s a surprising and disappointing revelation considering that Killing Eve is one of the few shows on television anchored by an Asian female lead. And a closer look at the writing staffs for previous seasons of the show do not indicate that the series has ever staffed a person of color. It is a poorly timed post, given the global protests for racial justice and equality that have forced us all to reckon with the pervasive and malignant racism that touches every corner of the globe.

While unintentional, the image of a Zoomful of white writers raising their glasses comes off as strikingly tone deaf. Many took to social media to call out the lack of POC representation in the room:

Killing Eve has an Asian lead, but the writers’ room doesn’t have a single Asian writer? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/biHVOXCs9L

— jes vũ (@jesthevu) June 12, 2020

Killing Eve having an asian lead but an all white writer’s room proves that the entertainment industry does not care about representation, only optics

— Abby Govindan (@abbygov) June 12, 2020

this tumblr post perfectly explains why that photo of the ke writers room was so harmful. i know it’s a little long but please read it. sandra/eve being cast aside this past season is definitely the worst thing that has ever happened to this show pic.twitter.com/UhpqoC4tot

— charlotte | BLM•ACAB (@lovesilkes) June 13, 2020

In light of this revelation, the series’ struggle in season three becomes quite clear. Many criticized season 3 for decentering Eve (Sandra Oh), the de facto protagonist from the action. Oh had much less to do in S3, and most of her character choices were driven by the actions of those around her. It was a frustrating, unsatisfying season for a series that has had diverse street cred since its inception. We expected more from a female-driven deeply queer feminist series with an Asian lead.

du know how many writers i know in this room? the next cool generation + they don’t seem to give one fuck 😓 (i retweet not to stir – i know the exec v.well – im just tired of people pretending they care to ur face) https://t.co/6pkVxSapd0

— Dela-who…? (@Rachel_Delahay) June 13, 2020

the audacity to have an ASIAN lead… an ICONIC asian actress whose rise to fame was from her performance on an insanely popular show written by a BLACK woman…

for a show whose writers room is all white? @killingeve you see… how this is weird, right? how that's off, right? https://t.co/croDcvrWEA

— miya kodama (@_buttstallion) June 13, 2020

(via Variety, image: Des Willie/BBC America)

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