This review was made possible by Popped receiving advanced screeners of the first 5 episodes of It: Welcome To Derry.
2017 saw the return of the popular Stephen King title, IT, to the big screen, striking the zeitgeist with Bill Skarsgård’s performance as the titular terror known to us as the clown Pennywise. Director Andy Muschietti takes us back to Derry, 27 years prior to the incidents of the first film in It: Welcome To Derry. After years of development and the question of Skarsgård’s return, the show has finally arrived with its clown in tow, lurking around each and every corner. So just how does the follow-up prequel series fair in comparison to the films?
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An Even More Scary Derry?
Welcome to 1962, exactly 27 years before the Losers Club faced IT, before them came another team of cast out’s who catch the eye of the evil lurking around Derry. The series quickly proves that it’s going to get away with a lot more than the films did, especially with the first episodes gruesome kickoff. Welcome To Derry quickly sets its tone, easing back into the fear of being in that small little town in Maine.
The series features a multi-narrative plot, with one focusing on the children of the series and another on the military men working on whatever the government has rolled into town to do. The two fight for dominance at times, often lulling at different points early on, but as the show continues and you get past the setup of the first episode, the story really starts to sing. The series has a lot of moving parts, with both narratives having overlap at times and their own little subplots and side characters that really move things along.
That’s not to say the first episodes don’t have their excitement. When the show sheds it’s moments of setup and lets the horror seep into the story is when it really gets moving. Muschietti has such an eye for horror and it really shows here. The monstrous amalgamations that he comes up with to haunt his characters are quite something.
IT Is Always Lurking
Speaking of monsters, the series is littered with them. One of the main ongoing conversation’s around the series has been it’s use of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the fan favorite antagonist of the films. Getting Bill Skarsgård to return was a big get for the series and certainly gave fans a lot of faith in the potential. The question has been just how much will IT be in the show. Without giving anything away, IT’s presence looms large throughout the show, with the entity’s influence felt in nearly every scen, even when you can’t see it.
The show gets continuously creative and clever with its depictions of the evil, at times relevant to the scene almost as if IT is mocking them, and at times just downright as grotesque as possible. The children in this series barely get any time to rest with this thing lurking around just about every corner and within every shadow.
One of the most exciting parts of the show was knowing exactly the kind of situation that our characters were about to walk into yet never knowing exactly what to expect. The approach to the scares in the series and the way that IT is used to its best capabilities was incredibly exciting. It does a good job of reminding viewers of the potential of this monster while also reserving its best asset for down the line and only using silhouettes and far sighted glimpses to tease the return of the clown, an infinitely more chilling exercise.
Deeper Into Derry
While of course the show takes place in the past and previous seasons have been teased to go back even further, Welcome To Derry explores every nook and cranny it possible can to expand the scope of the story, swiping through years and years of Derry’s history to piece together the hundreds of years of odd happenings in the little town. It’s exciting to see this lore be so richly expanded. Whether its over 400 years or just a couple decades, every moment is important.
Without going into spoiler territory, it is the further and further into the history of the town that is the most exciting. This being that native storyline and the first people and protectors of what would become Derry.
Beyond the tales and history of Derry, the series pulls from elements left out of the films and other properties from within Stephen King’s universe of terror with Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann. Many will remember the character from The Shining and Doctor Sleep, as well as the original Novel for IT. Chalk is one of the best parts of the show, and the series uses the character quite well and really ups the supernatural stakes of the series. Hallorann is an integral part of the narrative and is given a much larger part than his inclusion in the novel.
‘It: Welcome To Derry’ – Final Thoughts
It: Welcome To Derry is an exciting return to the franchise and to form for director Andy Muschietti. The team behind this show really manage to craft a chilling narrative and lurking threat in IT with a stellar leading cast of both children and adults. While it can really take a few episodes to get going and really focus itself, what begins to unfold becomes increasingly rewarding leaves you pining for more. With what the show builds to in its first five episodes may have fans excited not just for the rest of the season, but for what’s to come in the past in future seasons.
It: Welcome To Derry releases on HBO Max on October 26, and launches in the UK on Sky and NOW on October 27. Check out the trailer below:
The Review
It: Welcome To Derry
It: Welcome To Derry is an exciting return to the franchise and to form for director Andy Muschietti. The team behind this show really manage to craft a chilling narrative and lurking threat in IT with a stellar leading cast of both children and adults. While it can really take a few episodes to get going and really focus itself, what begins to unfold becomes increasingly rewarding leaves you pining for more. With what the show builds to in its first five episodes may have fans excited not just for the rest of the season, but for what's to come in the past in future seasons.
