IT: WELCOME TO DERRY’s first episode opens and ends with the franchise’s most gruesome scenes
This article was originally published on FearHQ.com.
This: Welcome to Derry opens with a young boy, Matty, being chased out of a Derry cinema by a very dedicated bailiff. The boy clearly comes from a troubled home and is hitchhiking with family out of town.
However, the car journey becomes increasingly sinister (and somehow returns to Derry), and it soon becomes clear that mother, father, son, and daughter are all under the influence of Pennywise. The mother gives birth, in a grotesque sequence, to a two-headed demon baby with fangs and wings. This causes carnage in the car, without us seeing what happens to its occupants.
We later learn that Matty is missing, prompting local children Lilly, Phil, Terry, Veronica and Marge to investigate. They heard a familiar song playing through the pipes and realize it’s from the movie Matty watched the night he disappeared.
He appears on screen in front of his friends, and all hell breaks loose as this demonic baby, now a little bigger, is unleashed. He injures Terry and tears Phil in two, before brutally attacking the youngest child, Marge.
Lilly and Veronica flee towards the hall, and when the former looks down, she sees that Marge’s severed hand is in hers. They both scream at the end of the episode, confirming that what they experienced was real.
So, does Pennywise the Clown appear? In this emblematic form, no. At this point in the series, “It” takes on the appearance of a nightmarish “baby”, the better to torment these children.
As for where This: Welcome to Derry It’s going away, it’s too early to tell. We’ve seen the next four episodes, and things become a little clearer in the second part (that subplot with the army turns out to be very interesting). As for when you’ll see Pennywise, we can’t spoil that, but expect a wait.
Set in the world of Stephen King He universe, This: Welcome to Derry is based on King’s He novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in feature films He And This is chapter two.
The cast is led by Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso and Bill Skarsgård.
The series, from Warner Bros. Television and developed for television by filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (He, The lightning) and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman), will debut on HBO and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Muschietti will direct four episodes of the nine-episode series.
The first episode of This: Welcome to Derry is now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes released weekly until the season finale on December 14.
