The Promised Neverland Episode 11: 011445

Now I understand why the OP mentions fire a lot.

I knew things were going to escalate in these last two episodes but they’ve escalated in a way I never even thought of. Why did I never think about a fire? Probably because I have no idea how Ray got a bunch of gasoline, did he ask Isabella over the years? Or I think Isabella uses them for her lantern? Either way, starting a fire is a crazy but smart way to escape. Emma wasn’t going to let Norman die in vain and give up, and neither was Ray. He was ready to go and while Emma had created her own plan with Gilda and Don, Ray also had his own plan up his sleeve to aid Emma’s.

His plan is pretty brilliant though, very well thought out. Starting a fire, it would cause a commotion in the House where Isabella would be preoccupied with getting rid of the fire. In this time, the kids would have a chance to make their escape. But with planning ahead, they can seal the door to Isabella’s secret room so she won’t be able to call HQ. To HQ, a fire doesn’t necessarily mean an escape so security won’t be tight, even less so if Isabella can’t tell them. With Isabella frantic, it’s easy for them to make their escape. However, Emma brings up the point that there’s a huge possibility of Isabella being suspicious and keeping her eye on them the whole time. To this, Ray douses himself in the gasoline. With this crazed expression, what he’s doing is basically a huge middle finger to Isabella and the whole messed up system. Him, a high scoring, top notch piece of merchandise offing himself just before his shipment. The demons anticipating their scrumptious meal won’t get it, and what’s worse for them is that their other meals will escape and Isabella will be made to look like an absolute fool. It’s smart, I understand his intentions, but dammit is it crazy and I was just like Emma when she started freaking out. Norman’s departure last episode destroyed me, I wasn’t ready to lose another of these kids! It hurt even more when Ray gave Emma the book with the pictures of her and the kids. It really did look like a goodbye.

I really loved how the show went about this entire scene as well. From Isabella checking on the little babies, humming the same lullaby Ray was humming (is that significant?), to wishing Ray a happy birthday in her room when suddenly we hear Emma’s screams. Isabella rushes to Emma and it was then I knew something wasn’t exactly right simply because I didn’t see any tears on Emma’s face. And it turns out I was right in thinking something was wrong. As Isabella came back with a crappy fire extinguisher, which I assume the kids messed with so she wouldn’t be able to put the fire out, Isabella turns and notices Emma is gone. She checks her radar, and rushes over to the washroom. There were two pings, one where supposedly Ray was burned alive, and the other was in the washroom where Emma’s severed ear was.

Emma is insane and I love her more and more! She’s made her escape with Don, some of the other children, and a very confused but alive Ray!

Norman may be gone, but this kid is still playing intergalactic 9D chess while Isabella only plays regular chess. Ray’s fire is still going according to plan, and the secret room is sealed, but there’s even more. The stuff Norman found under Ray’s bed were those cannisters of gasoline, and judging from the words Ray used when he revealed himself as the traitor, Norman believed that Ray would kill himself in order to make the escape plan work. I understand how Norman came to that conclusion, but one thing about this that I don’t entirely understand was how Norman was able to deduce exactly when Ray would carry out his plan (two months from then). Either way, he warned Emma about this and he wanted her to be sure to stop him.

What’s even crazier is how Emma got the other kids on board with them! She spoke about it with Norman and slowly they told some of the kids at a time. The night she and Norman spoke with Sister Krone, some of the other kids were listening in. The red-haired boy, the girl with the braids, and the little boys who I noticed had frightened looks when Isabella came back with Emma when she broke her leg. Now it makes sense! Emma mentions how much more mature the kids are than they think, and she’s right. I like that she wanted to give them the choice to willinly join then in their escape. It’s also extremely of the little kids knowing the truth because Isabella wouldn’t even suspect it. It was amazing when Thoma and Lannion came into the room with a change of clothes for Ray, and also some ham and sausages to trick Isabella with the smell of burning “flesh”, as well as Anna cutting off her braids to make it even more convincing. And the whole time when Emma was “depressed”, she was moving the plan along the whole time. It’s amazing how far back this plan was, and seeing it all unravel when the whole time I had no idea, not even a hint this was all going on all this time. I was bamboozled, Ray was bamboozled, and Isabella was double bamboozled and holy crap it was satisfying! Norman is a genius but Emma is a straight up badass, but I can’t count out the other kids either because they’re all amazing.

It’s all going according to keikaku. Or is it? Just when we think all is going well, I was just as confused as Ray. Where are all the other kids? Where’s Gilda and the babies? And what is Phil doing?! Are Gilda and the others meeting up with Emma somewhere else and Phil is distracting her? Or Phil is on her side? Or did Emma really decide to leave most of them behind? It’s a possibility but I kind of doubt that because we all know how insanely reckless Emma is. But my head is spinning and I’m thinking of all kinds of scenarios.

The finale is next week and I can’t wait to see how if this escape plan will end in success or failure. Even when you think all is going well, The Promised Neverland still needs to leave us with an insane cliffhanger that leaves us on the edge of our seats. This show has been an amazing ride, let’s hope for an explosive finale.