'Furious': Wait — why wasn't Mira killed?

Look, we're happy that young Mira (Riley Vinson) made it through her brush with Furious' serial killer (Lola Petticrew) alive. But three men have been felled by this murderess. What compelled her to leave Mira, a witness who saw her unmasked, alive?

Mashable Entertainment Editor asked Petticrew. But before we get to their answer, a bit of context:

In episode 2 of the Elizabeth Meriwether-created crime drama, killer Catherine has taken over the posh high-rise apartment of Oliver Charles (Rob Delaney), a lawyer who was working for her last victim, Caleb Easton. She's got Oliver drugged and trapped in his own home, as she's done at least twice before with other victims. But his daughter Mira catches her by surprise with an unexpected visit.

Over the course of the episode, Catherine bonds with Mira. They eat chicken, talk about boys and dads, and do their hair together — "like twins," as Mira puts it. But after the little girl finds her dad's body, Catherine gets shockingly honest with Mira.

In episode 3, while being interrogated by FBI agent Alice Black (Emmy Rossum), Mira recounts, "My dad had sex with her when she was my age. He paid her."

Meriwether's script doesn't deal in flashbacks. However, by showing Mira, who is clearly a child, as Catherine talks about being abused at the same age, we don't need flashbacks to understand the evil done to her.

Petticrew said of this choice, "I think that sometimes on screen, it feels like we are showing these violent images of things that happen to women and their bodies, and quite often there either isn't a reason. Or we could have done it without it. And often, that's almost the better artistic choice."

They continued, "Having Mira there, and you know, the young actress that played Mira [Vinson] was just so phenomenal. I mean, it was so much better than any flashback ever could have been, to be confronted with the image of her. Those were difficult, challenging scenes, but also intensely rewarding. When you get to work with an actress like that, especially a young one who is so emotionally open and able to pull things [out] of you that you didn't even expect, it's a complete and utter gift."

Why doesn't Catherine kill Mira in Furious?

To this, Petticrew said, "Mira is an innocent, a complete innocent. Mira hasn't done anything wrong."

They added, "Catherine has her own moral standards that, while other people may not understand them, they're there, and Mira is a complete innocent, and therefore [Catherine] has no reason. And she sees herself in her. And when they have that moment, you can see it all over Mira's face, and I think that Mira believes her."

The first three episodes of Furious are now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes every Monday through Aug. 31.