Review Tuesday - IT: Welcome to Derry (2025)

  

 

IT: Welcome to Derry

2025

A prequel series for Stephen King's IT.

When I heard that HBO was putting out a prequel series for IT I felt conflicted. This could be very cool, but will they do a good job with it? So I talked it over with my BFF and she adores King's work so we decided to watch it. 

 

The show starts right off with Pennywise taking child in a terrifying manner. I was thinking that was some horror pacing to get right down to business like that but that sort of scare would be impossible to maintain over eight episodes.

 

What is the show about? It's the events that take place during Pennywise's awakening during the 1960s. You have your usual group of kids trying to gather their wits about themselves while adults seem to not even motive all that much. There is this weird atmosphere of not caring that's settled into Derry. Things happen. People don't seem to take much notice. As if it's par for the course. 

 

So while the children are trying to avoid getting devoured, the Air Force (why the Air Force of all the Armed Services?) are nosing around Derry. Seemingly looking for something, but what? As it turns out, the military is aware that something isn't right in this small Maine town. The want to collect it and use it as a weapon. Maybe against enemies overseas, or maybe just to control the population at home. 

 

Add a whole bunch of racism and there's season one of Derry. 

 

Pennywise doesn't actually make an appearance until the third episode and even then, while his presence is always felt, he doesn't become a main character further into the series. 

 

What I brought out of watching this show is a little more about the background of the entity that we know as Pennywise the Dancing Clown and why he stays within Derry. I never read the book so I found that part pretty good. Otherwise, I felt like there was more about the horror of racism than the horror of a blood drenched immortal being that lives off of fear.