Yakusoku no Neverland Episode 11: The great escape
Published on March 23, 2019
It's always satisfying to watch a plan come together, and this episode is no exception. I'd been noticing the tiny hints in previous episodes, and I'm glad that they came together before the season ended. Given that this was a manga adaptation, there's never any guarantee, so it's a pleasant surprise. And so, we've finally reached the escape. It's actually kind of interesting that this series makes the escape look so slipshod and well-planned at the same time.
I always enjoy seeing loaded statements, and this one is a good example. Ray makes the implicit assumption that we do as an audience, which is that Emma is giving Don and Gilda room to act. As it turns out, though, she's playing distraction for far more kids than that.
In my opinion, this development is a bit rushed. While it's not overly surprising that Ray would do this, the reveal makes it hard to believe that the story would actually let him go through with it. It's a gruesome death that he doesn't deserve. Maybe that's just based on the assumption that Norman isn't dead.
I do like the idea that Norman leaves behind a plan for Emma, having realized that Ray is trying to kill himself. It does a great job of making it feel like he's still just as much part of the escape plan as he was before he left. It did kind of make me feel like Emma's own role was diminished, but I think she makes up for it when it's revealed that she suggested recruiting more allies.
I think this is perhaps my favorite reveal of the episode. During the entire conversation with Sister Krone, we're presented with the assumption that Emma and Norman are confirming their knowledge with Krone. It's a reasonable thing for them to do, but here we find out that they were planning something else entirely. It changes the entire dynamic of the conversation, which originally looked like a favorable conversation for Sister Krone alone.
I'm not going to lie. I expected Isabella to appear out of nowhere at this point.
Phil, what have you done???
