The Promised Neverland – Ep. 11

Oh Ray, you never cease to amaze me.

Part of me does want to suspect that there’s still something up with Ray. In a show such as The Promised Neverland, you’re rarely guaranteed straightforwardness. For now though, I’ll just have to assume that this episode is where Ray is at his most transparent. Turns out, he had planned to sacrifice himself all along by setting himself and the house on fire. It would make for a great distraction against Isabella and let everyone escape but nevertheless, it’s a very extreme plan, especially for Ray.

There’s two ways to look at it. One, and this Ray states himself, should he die, Ray wants to die as a human. It’s morbid to think but by incinerating himself, he’d not only deny the demons valuable merchandise but he’d also die on his own terms. Two, this is Ray at his most selfless. I never really thought Ray is a heartless person but a looming question throughout this arc is whether or not Ray would abandon his fellow orphans like he claimed. Oddly enough, Ray still thinks that is the most practical approach but in the end, he knew Emma would never do that and judging by the extremity of his actions, neither would he.

Naturally, Emma stops Ray and you find out what she had been planning in parallel. Apparently, she let everyone in on the secret about the orphanage and tasked them to do heavy lifting in her stead since Isabella would only keep eyes on her. She even already knew what Ray was up to do thanks to a final message left by Norman (who already deduced Ray’s scheme a long time ago) and uses some materials to fake Ray’s death so that Isabella would still get distracted. I’ll admit that a lot about this development feels preposterous, even by Neverland‘s own standards. Kids this smart is one thing, buy into the idea that they’ve developed such machinations for months is another. But to be fair, Emma eliciting Norman’s help in convincing the others is both in-character and satisfies a loose end back in Episode 6. Not to mention, it is nice to see Norman’s presence still driving the narrative. The boy may be gone but his work wasn’t over just yet.

You know, I thought maybe I was overthinking what the deal is with Phil but no, Neverland once again puts the spotlight on him. Seriously, who the hell is this kid? I’m assuming that he knows what exactly is going on but why he’s staying behind to approach Isabella is beyond me. No way Emma would have him distract their mother and yet I struggle to accept the idea that he’s still loyal in some way. Whatever the case may be, I imagine Emma would notice Phil is gone and go looking for him so perhaps this is setting up one final confrontation between our protagonist and antagonist.

Other Thoughts:

• Emma cutting hers and Ray’s ears with the trackers implanted and planting them in set locations to trick Isabella’s sensor is clever but I sure didn’t see that coming.
  • Not going to lie, when she slapped Ray, I thought for a second that was when she cut his ear off.
• It makes sense for the kids to seal Isabella’s secret door but the idea that they plugged the keyhole with play doh or something is frankly kind of funny.
• Something odd about Isabella snapping at the end. That’s something I can see Krone doing but not Isabella. Then again, this lady isn’t right in the head.

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