‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Premiere Killed

By Tess Gleason ‘26 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer

If horror junkies had to describe the premier episode of It: Welcome to Derry in one word, it would definitely be “weird.” But for those not desensitized to Stephen King’s scare tactics, it might also be described as horrifying. 

The premiere episode was filled with the classic suspense, gore, and terrifying imagery often found in King’s work that have fueled the nightmares of millions throughout the decades. It left me hopeful that King and director Andy Muschietti have something up their sleeves in the upcoming episodes to make even the most seasoned horror fans squirm. 

The spinoff series of King’s It franchise is set in the 1960s and introduces fans to a new group of characters—too many to keep count of, honestly. As the title suggests, the series explores Pennywise’s origins and his initial haunting of Derry, Maine, before the events endured by the Losers Club in the 2017 and 2019 films. And while Pennywise is the main character, we actually don’t see It in its dancing clown form in this episode. 

The episode starts in a movie theatre, with Robert Preston performing “Ya Got Trouble” from The Music Man on screen. Viewers meet Matty (Miles Ekhardt), a young boy who ran away from home and still sucks on a pacifier for reasons not explained. After getting kicked out of the movie theater for sneaking in, he hitchhikes, eventually getting picked up by a seemingly innocent family. Soon into the car ride, when the daughter dips her fingers into a Tupperware container with raw liver and begins sniffing her blood-soaked fingers, Matty realizes he isn’t safe. As he struggles to open the locked car door to escape, the mother goes into labor prematurely. 

Full disclosure: It is here that many viewers realized this series was going to be unhinged. 

Audiences watch the mother’s belly distort as she starts to push through contractions, her screams reverberating through the car. We see the baby’s head squeeze out from between her legs, and the camera pans to Matty’s horrified reaction. The camera flashes back to the mother, revealing her pale, slimy mutant baby with one bat wing, hollow eyes, and razor-sharp teeth. As the rest of the family reveals themselves to be Pennywise disguised as liver-eating demons, the car fills with blood as the mother swings the baby around the vehicle by the umbilical cord. During all of the commotion, the car swerves into a bridge, and thus, Matty is presumably Pennywise’s first victim of the series.

This first scene was certainly cringeworthy, serving as a great introduction to the carnage that quickly follows. For viewers who can’t handle the first sequence, be forewarned: it’s weirdly not the last mutant baby scene you’ll watch in this episode.

The rest of the story follows Matty’s friends, Teddy (Mikkal Karim Fidler)—who’s related to Stanley from the Losers Club—and Phil (Jack Molloy Legault), as well as the girl Matty had a crush on, Lilly (Clara Stack). Together, they set out to discover what really happened to Matty the night of his disappearance, aided by Ronnie (Amanda Christine), the daughter of a Black cinema worker (Stephen Rider) who has been framed for Matty’s disappearance. 

The dynamic between the friends was particularly enjoyable to watch. Teddy is sensitive, riddled with guilt for not being there for Matty that night. Phil, on the other hand, is insensitive, making numerous comments about boobs and whether aliens exist. The dichotomy between the two is fun to watch play out, as Phil cusses and makes sexual comments, and Teddy refuses to take part in his crude behavior. It also provides fans with a sense of familiarity, as the boy’s discussions resemble the banter shared between members of the Losers Club. Lilly, like iconic It character Bev, acts as the liaison between the boys, keeping them on track in their search to find Matty. 

Meanwhile, what’s happening with all of the adults? Well, it wouldn’t be Derry if they weren’t up to something suspicious as well—that is, partaking in secret Cold War work on the Derry airbase. This work is so secret that it becomes hard to follow the plotline, as we are introduced to multiple characters without any insight into their backgrounds or connections to other characters. We meet Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), a recruit who realizes he might be ill-prepared for the confidential work his new job entails, working alongside Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk). 

For non-It fans, this is where things get confusing, especially if you haven’t read the books. Hallorann is the telepathic man from The Shining who also appears briefly in the novel It when he uses his psychic abilities to rescue residents from a burning building, including a young Will Hanlon, the father of Mike, one of the Losers. Many fans speculate that the series plans to explore the connection between Hanlon and Hallorann further, eventually revealing Major Hanlon as Will’s father—and thus Mike’s grandad—which is the only noteworthy thing to take from this plotline, as it has never been explored in an It adaptation. 

Overall, Muschietti exercises all of the beloved horror tropes in this episode. We have an idyllic, picture-perfect town where malevolence lurks in the sewers, feeding on the innocence of children. It disguises itself as uncanny, unsettling creatures lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to pounce, repeatedly shapeshifting into a demon baby that rips limbs off young boys and feasts on the faces of little girls. As mentioned before, it’s horrifyingly weird. 

But the story is also confusing to follow. We’re introduced to so many new characters but learn little about their backstories (which only leads to rampant fan speculation), and the characters we do learn about get killed off, making many wonder about their initial importance to begin with. 

Overall, while the imagery and effects were spot-on, the plotline added more mystery than anything. Regardless of whether they were laughing at its ridiculousness or forcing eyelids shut to ward off the nightmares, fans will just have to find out in the following episodes whether these choices were intentional or not.