Yet again I am rather surprised at the slim amount of content in these episodes. It’s not to say that this episode was by any means bad, honestly it’s quite the opposite. This was one of the best episodes. However it’s strange when I consider that the entire first half of the episode was dedicated to just Krone dying. An entire ten minutes dedicated to Krone getting killed off. I do like the small flashes of her life which do give some insight into how sisters are trained up from Livestock to moms and contrasting it to the children eating dinner was delightfully morbid. But this show is certainly taking it’s time and I feel it’s somewhat becoming a detriment as it continues. Nonetheless the death of Krone was executed excellently though it does sort of undermine her presence throughout the series. Her death makes for a unexpected twist but with it that pretty much makes all her plotting and psycho faces really all fulite. Perhaps though, that was the point. It’s now clear from the start that Krone never had any control over her situation and that her being sent to the farm was a intended sacrifice from the start. Maybe due to her clear mental instability which makes her rather unsuited for the position as mother and when comparing her to the current mom, Isabella, she does seems like a bit player at best.
Man, Isabella really is something. Looking at her actions throughout the series I just have to marvel at the level of manipulative control she had. Truly it is honestly impressive just how insidiously focused and thorough in how she trapped these kids in a no win situation. So she found out the kids knew and knew who found out and that Ray was a double crosser. So she hires Krone and brings in a new boby, giving the impression that she’s doing something about the situation. However the real game was deeper and Krone was just a distraction to keep the kids occupied while she prepared. It worked, the kids where so preopuccied with the immediate threat (Krone) that they pushed the greater threat (Isabella) to the background. Even Krones machinations to overthrow her were to plan as she used it to keep the kids off her. Slowly waiting for the delivery date to be set. Then when the date is set and it’s too close for the kids to do anything about it, she makes her move. Krone gets the boot,(Or the guillotine in this case.) she treminates her deal with Ray and she catches Norman and Emma in the act. Then the final move in breaking Emma’s leg just crushed all the kids plans in one fell swoop. Emma, the most achelic of the trio is crippled, Norman can’t leave without her due to his feelings and he’s getting shipped out the very next day hereby eliminating the most logical of the group and Ray is no longer in the good graces of Isabella which eliminates his usefulness in information and his ability to mislead Isabella. Truly a checkmate so complete that you can’t help but applaud.
But the really interesting thing is in how Isabella sees herself. He words to Emma and Norman but how she loves them really feel like her true feelings. Indeed in the first episode she hugged Connie’s drawing before taking her to the gate and her secret room looks to contain a toy of every child that was sent off to be eaten. Isabella loves these children and is dedicated to making their short life that the farm as the happiest they can be. I have no doubt that she sees herself as the good in these kids lives and her motivation seems so altruistic. But the contrast between that and her snapping Emma’s leg without hesitation to cooing her like a beloved child is want makes her so frightening. She sees what she does is the best that she can do in the situation but ultimately the job is a job which she will accomplish by any means necessary. Like Krone this woman is fundamentally broken but broken so completely that her sense of morality is skewed to psychotic affection. WIth an enemy like this, it’s a wonder that the kids thought they could escape at all. Really my complaints about them being so vocal with their plans seem pointless now. After all it didn’t matter how loud they talked about it, they were in the palm of Moms hand right from the beginning.
