The Promised Neverland – Ep. 4

Insert something about anime betrayals here.

It’s odd that Isabella is aware that Krone has enacting by her own agenda and yet is still willing to work with her. What is this? Megatron and Starscream? I suppose that just speaks to how confident Isabella is with her ability to read her opponent and gain some level of subordination through intimidation. At the same time though, it’s hard to shrug of the possibility that Isabella keeping Krone around and expecting her to obey will backfire in the long run.

As for the kids, it seemed inevitable that the trio would tell others the truth about the orphanage though it is surprising to see them add Gilda and Don the ranks since there’s a traitor they need to weed out. Gilda especially seemed suspicious at that point in the episode given how much The Promised Neverland has empathized her presence as of late.

Nevertheless, watching two other characters react to the horrifying news that they actually live in a slaughterhouse was great. Gilda buys into it immediately, having noticed that something is off about Emma ever since Conny left. Don tries to laugh it off at first as a cruel joke by Emma but the reality sinks in when he agrees with Gilda that Emma would never do such a thing. What really bothers me though is Norman’s decision to not tell those two that Conny was killed. It makes sense in that it allows for the path of least resistance to be taken but damn, you know it’s still a cruel move if even Ray gets pissed about it. Curiously, Emma doesn’t confront Norman about his calculation but I suppose she just wants to spare her friends (Gilda especially) the horror she witnessed.

To be honest, part of me still questions how Neverland pushed the idea that Gilda is the traitor to the point. I just think it would’ve been better if last episode didn’t hint so specifically and by this episode, it became increasingly obvious that Gilda is a red herring. Well, kind of. I must concede that it did make for a clever subversion how Gilda isn’t the spy but concurrently, Krone tried to turn her into one. It’s a really intense scene with Krone trying to intimidate Gilda into spilling the beans while Emma eavesdrops on the whole conversation, afraid of what her friend’s true colors might be. Things could’ve gone either way given Gilda’s meek personality so it’s a relief to discover that she ultimately sides with her friends and lies about her involvement in the resistance. The hug shared between Emma and Gilda is heartwarming; nice to know Neverland isn’t that cruel of a series.

There is one red herring that I think Neverland pulled off fantastically. See, Norman devised a plan in which he tells Don and Gilda where he’s hidden the rope for the escape plan. Each person is told a different location so that Norman will know who is the traitor based on what location gets ransacked. Later in the episode, Isabella receives a message informing her where the rope is located. The editing or storyboarding here is really clever. This scene precedes Gilda’s confrontation with Krone so at first, you’re led to believe that Gilda is slipping the message underneath Isabella’s door. Right as Gilda is revealed to be meeting up with Krone, you find out that the message tells Isabella that Norman’s rope is underneath the boy’s bed which is the location Don was told about.

For a while, I really did think Don was the traitor but to be honest, I had a hard time buying into that idea completely. I don’t know, Don’s shock that he is essentially just produce felt so genuine to me. Then it occurred to me that we don’t actually see Norman bait Don or Gilda. The only person we know he explained the plan to is Ray…

Assuming Ray truly is the traitor, it makes complete sense that he would stoop to such a position. After all, Ray is the pragmatist in the cast, preferring the course of action with the highest chance of survival. And as he (accidentally) speculates with Norman, being spared from the shipping process and becoming an adult would be a huge incentive for backstabbing all the other children. It would actually be in character for Ray to take up such an offer from Isabella.

You have to wonder what Norman plans on doing now that his suspicions have apparently been confirmed. Obviously, the easiest thing to do would be to find some way to get rid of Ray but complicating things is the fact that regardless of who the traitor is, Emma still wants to escape the orphanage with them. As we’ve learned from a few episodes ago, Norman has a very hard time refusing Emma’s wishes.

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