This article contains major spoilers for “It: Welcome to Derry.”
A child sneaks into the local theater to watch Morton DaCosta’s “The Music Man” from “It: Welcome to Derry.” This child, Matty (Miles Eckhardt), tragically disappears that night, where he was last seen running from the theater. Of course, We are privy to the incredibly bizarre chain of events Matty experienced that night, just after hitchhiking out of Derry, Maine, a place he desperately wanted to escape. While Stephen King’s “It” is full of horrific moments involving children, Andy and Barbara Muschietti’s new prequel series makes it clear that no one is safe here, because there are no limits to its monstrosity.
Later in the episode, we learn that Matty was friends with three other kids – Lilly (Clara Stack), Phil (Jack Molloy Legault), and Teddie (Mikkal Karim Fidler) – who gradually realize that there’s more to Matty’s disappearance than meets the eye. There is real heartbreak and regret here, as some of them realize that they could have been kinder to the boy, who seems bothered by something even during these flashbacks. After Lilly hears Matty singing through the pipes in her bathroom, the hauntings begin, all of which carry Pennywise’s characteristic tendency to exploit deep-seated fears. We don’t yet see the dancing clown in the flesh, which adds to the anxiety of wrestling with something that can’t be explained.
Returning to Matty’s attempt to leave Derry, we see him hitchhiking with a family of four (parents and two children), who kindly assure him that he will be safe with them. “Anywhere but Derry,” Matty murmurs when asked where he wants to go. But what follows is pure nightmare fuel, setting the tone for a very dark show about the cyclical evil that haunts Derry.
It: Welcome to Derry builds on surreal, disgusting horror to great effect
There is no reason to assume nefarious intent when the family treats Matty with kindness. But this so-called veneer of normality begins to crack quickly: children begin to behave in frightening ways (the little girl dips her hands into a can full of raw liver) and parents make inappropriate comments about their own children. This is Pennywise who mocks the security and normalcy associated with the traditional family unit, where every sanctified bond is subverted with perverse glee. Matty tries to protect himself, but is forced to witness another twisted event: a demonic birth inside the moving car.
We’ve seen children in peril in Muschietti’s “It” movies, but this opening sequence doesn’t hold back on the disgusting gore or over-the-top theatrics. It’s a bit reminiscent of the horror of exploitation, especially when the mutant baby demon (who can fly!) is born in a pool of blood/pus and begins wreaking havoc with the umbilical cord still attached to him. There is a surreal frenzy to these events, as this is only a glimpse of the horrors he has unleashed on Derry since landing on Earth. While “It: Welcome to Derry” will examine the origins of Pennywise, the events of 1962 are only a small part of the creature’s reign of terror.
Georgie’s death in “It” is meant to be a gut punch, but it sets the stage for the Losers Club to face it and fight it. But “It: Welcome to Derry” concludes its first few episodes with three dead children, all horribly torn apart by the same mutant baby Matty witnessed before his disappearance. There’s no hope here, as Pennywise is too vicious a presence for anyone to stand against, let alone a group of scared children who recently lost their friend to a primordial entity.
