Who was your favourite character from the shows that aired during this recent season (January - March 2019)?
I’d have to say that it would be Isabella from The Promised Neverland. While researching how well she was received, I came across Mother’s Basement’s video on YouTube over here for how he viewed Isabella, and I found that we shared many of the same opinions on her, so check out his video because it really helped me to articulate various of the following points.
She was such a good antagonist because her mere presence was just so… dominating. She was compelling in a way that few characters are, because she was able to constantly evoke feelings of concern, uncertainty, and to a certain degree, even futility with regards to the kids’ chances of success. However, most importantly, she added a constant sense of tension to the show, which was vital in determining how great of a character she truly was, because whenever she was in view, whenever she was even talked about, Isabella gave the scene a “what’s going to happen” element to it. She kept you on your toes, kept you guessing, and that’s what I loved about her so much. She was remarkably insidious with her actions and mannerisms, and this made her so captivating - Because even when she was in the background of the scene, Isabella just had this way of silently looming over everything that was going on, consistently reminding the kids and the viewers that she is always there, always watching, and would always be a threat. This was one one of the factors which contributed to her overall portrayal as such a truly intimidating force.
She didn’t need to be in focus during the scene in order to impose herself, and she certainly didn’t need to say anything in order to convey how fearsome she was - She could just be playing with the kids like any other normal day, and then she would flash that sinister grin, which always spoke a thousand words:
Isabella always carried herself with this aura of untouchable confidence which just screamed “you can’t win”, and this was very explicitly communicated in her grin above. She was always depicted in a way that made it seem as though getting the better of her was a near impossible task, because she always seemed to be at least three steps ahead, every single time.
Yet, that only scratches the surface of what made her so captivating as the series’ main antagonist. Despite her calm demeanour and her smiley nature with the kids, this didn’t prevent her from being scary, because there were times when she was scary. The expression that she wore at the very end of the first episode was one of the most memorable shots in the entire season for me:
It was just the mixture of cold rage and subdued panic on her face when she was staring down at Connie’s stuffed toy, and realising the implications of what that meant… It was just downright chilling.
Similarly, the way Isabella looked at Emma as she was confronting her during episode 2 had a similar effect - It’s like she was piercing a hole straight through Emma’s very soul with that frightening glare:
However, I’d argue that Isabella is actually collectively more scary when she is her normal, smiley self. Whenever she acts oblivious and puts on the caring Mama facade, even her warmest and most caring actions always seemed to have an underlying feeling of superiority to them, like she had the children in the palm of her hand. This ensured that whenever Isabella was even mentioned, the scene was immediately given a sense of uneasiness, and that is a very special quality to have; her character was powerful, because even when things seemed to be going according to plan for the main trio, you just couldn’t help but think that Isabella knew more than she was letting on.
To further reiterate how menacing she could be even when all smiles, are the multiple instances in which she demonstrates just how capable and dangerous she can be. One of the prime examples was when she somehow managed to become even more terrifying by orchestrating her own backup’s death:
This scene, as well as everything that came immediately after it during episode 8, really revealed just how far ahead Isabella truly was. We learned the full scope of what she knew - Sister Krone’s plotting, Ray’s treachery, Don and Gilda’s involvement and even the most minute details of their plans of escape, Isabella knew. This really emphasised that aura of untouchable confidence which just screamed “you can’t win” that I had mentioned earlier, and it was this revelation that initially brought on the feelings of futility, because from this point onward, it started to become agonisingly clear that every solution the kids could possibly formulate would only led to dead ends because Isabella would seemingly always be three steps ahead.
Just look at how she side-eyes Don and Gilda as she passes them with that trademark knowing grin of hers:
With that one look, she instantly set the kids back to square one, because every advantage they thought they had, they never really had in the first place.
Yet, I’d say the thing which made episode 8 truly great was how it managed to shed light on Isabella’s true nature. She adopts warm and motherly mannerisms when with the kids, but when she’s with Ray or alone, she is very distant and cunning. But when she confronted Emma and Norman for the first time “without the acting”, she revealed her true incentive for being a Mama - Love:
A very twisted love, but in her mind, a genuine and authentic love for the children, because due to her own experiences with being a child in one of the farms, she reached the conclusion that escape was impossible. So rather then fight what she deemed to be inevitable, she instead opted to ensure that the children would at least be able to live happy lives until they were eventually shipped out. This endeavour of her’s was genuine, and it just added to Isabella’s mystique because she would demonstrate mere moments later the extreme lengths she would go to in order protect them from their own idealistic fantasies, as she proceeded to nonchalantly break Emma’s leg, and would then comfort her as if nothing had just transpired:
That, is terrifying - This love that she harboured for the children would lead her to lie to them, manipulate them, and physically injure them all for the sake of their own “protection”. This love of hers was the kind of love that would lead her to cradle Emma with a broken leg in her arms, lavishing her with love and attentiveness, as if she hadn’t just broken it herself seconds earlier with minimal effort.
In my opinion, that is far more terrifying than any expression she could wear, or the cold and calculated persona that she adopted when with Ray or alone, because her method of controlling them and imposing her dominance through her love, made the angle so much more psychological, and when Isabella visited Emma shortly after Norman was shipped out, she had this very telling expression and demeanour; It was almost as if she was saying “I told you so”:
This is important because as mentioned earlier, Isabella has first hand experience with being a child in these farms, so a large part of her perpetual confidence in the futility of the children’s aspirations lies in her ability to predict the outcome of their efforts based on her own struggles all those years ago.
However, despite her outward aura of invincibility, there were one or two occasions where chinks in her armour were revealed. As she was escorting Norman to the gates to be shipped out, the latter asked her if she was truly happy, a question which although brief, appeared to have rattled her immensely:
I feel that this scene is a lot more significant than it’s often given credit for. Up until this point, Isabella had forgotten what actual love and happiness felt like; She only had in her mind the type of “love” that had been shown to her following her escape attempts, and as she was preparing to become a Mama. Therefore, it stands to reason that her manner of showing love to the children as discussed above may very well be the only type of love she could remember.
However, Norman’s question shook her, because for a brief moment, she asked herself that question, and realised that something was missing. This is key to what makes Isabella a sympathetic character, despite the horrible things that she had done over the course of the series and her severely warped mindset. Through the flashback in the final episode, we see what she was like during her youth, and the many parallels with Emma were unquestionable:
We understand how she became what she is currently, why she ultimately submitted to the Grandma of her time and started training to become a future Mama, and what motivated her to become such a valuable asset to the organisation. It’s like Isabella can really be herself when taking care of the children, even the ones who had no future. This wasn’t solely a means of survival to her - She did genuinely love the time that she spent taking care of them, and that’s part of what made her so successful. An authentic love for what you do always leads to a better performance.
Additionally, when it was revealed that Ray was her actual biological son, it made it easier to understand why they had the relationship that they did. When Isabella first learned about it, she displayed a level of vulnerability that was so uncharacteristic of anything we had seen from her adult self thus far:
And made it nigh impossible not to feel at least the slightest bit of sympathy for her, especially when considering the tragic origins of the melody Ray was humming. Leslie was Isabella’s closest friend as a child; she may have even loved him, but she could do nothing to prevent his departure. Thus, as she was alone, her subsequent attempts at escaping failed, and she ultimately gave in.
Isabella is a representation of what Emma could have become, had she not had the help of Norman, Ray and everyone else, and that just perpetuates the notion that at heart, Isabella is indeed a good person who is just making the most out of a truly morbid situation. However, that’s not to say that she is blameless. Isabella is definitely a victim, but she is not innocent. By accepting the Grandma’s proposition, she made the selfish decision to prolong her own survival at the expense of the other children, but her decision was understandable.
Ultimately though, when the children actually did manage to escape against all odds, Isabella lost the will to oppose them any further:
Because her desire to protect them from their attempts of escaping was only because she firmly believed escape to be impossible. Going back to the conversation she had with Emma during episode 10, Isabella reiterated what she had told the children during episode 8 - How she wanted them to give up because she truly believed that their efforts would only lead them to more suffering and despair due to its futility, and she didn’t want them to suffer:
She echoed to Emma the thoughts that crossed her mind when she eventually made the decision to become a Mama - To simply accept the grim situation that she was living in, to free herself from the suffering that would inevitably come should she persist in resisting, and to make the most of the opportunity that was offered to her by doing what she could to survive:
So she just didn’t want the children to keep hurting themselves by dreaming of things that would never come true. Obviously, they proved her wrong, and did so by having the utmost faith in their peers. The system only felt inescapable to Isabella because she faced it alone, a sentiment which she herself explicitly alluded to during her conversation with Emma:
So when Emma ultimately still refused to give up on trying to escape, even after all the setbacks they had experienced including her broken leg and Norman’s apparent death, Isabella would admonish her for her foolishness and take her leave, but not before turning back and giving Emma a look of genuine sorrow:
Because Isabella knew it too - Emma is just like she was in her youth, so she couldn’t help but feel a large sense of empathy for Emma because she knew exactly what she was currently going through. However, as Isabella was witnessing the children escaping, doing what she had agonisingly failed to do all those years ago, you could tell that she was genuinely pleased for them as she wished them all the best.
The shot of her waving goodbye to them as she prayed for their success in particular really tugged at my heartstrings, because it just illustrated how much she really did care about them, and how much in her own twisted way, she really was just trying to protect them, that much was now certain:
And afterwards, she would return to Phil and tell him not to worry because they had all escaped safely, thereby not only once again illustrating how far ahead Isabella always is because she already knew that Phil was aware of the truth, but also emphasising the authenticity of her affection for them. As mentioned earlier, Isabella finds a real purpose in nurturing all of the children, and this final shot of her taking care of the younger ones who remained really exemplified this:
Here, she is allowed to be her genuine self, doing what she genuinely loves for people who she genuinely loves, and it was very nice to see Isabella with her hair down (both literally and figuratively). Especially when considering that her future is now surely gong to be in question. So in light of this, it was all the more heartwarming to know that if her days were indeed numbered, Isabella would at least be spending them without the worry and stress of expectation on her shoulders. Seeing the contrast of how she was portrayed at the beginning of the series to her portrayal at its conclusion, and witnessing the journey she took to get from one point to the other was truly enthralling; No other character from the Winter Season gripped me quite like Isabella did, and that’s why she’s at the top.
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