It – Welcome to Derry 1×1 Review: The Pilot

From creatives Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, It – Welcome to Derry opened strong and made it clear that no one is really safe from Pennywise’s hunger.

Even though I’m not the biggest fan of the It franchise, I was still intrigued about a live-action prequel series due to the promotional campaign hyping up the horror and gore elements. Main characters do have plot armor, which can make one go “WTF?!!!”, especially when consuming horror content. And I did feel that way when watching the Losers Club from the two It movies trying to survive Pennywise.

However, I was expecting something a bit more daring with It – Welcome to Derry because even though the show featured young characters, we already knew Pennywise wasn’t going to be defeated in the timeline the show’s set in. So, yeah, there was a much higher chance of the current young cast falling prey to the cosmic horror.

Having said that, I’m still in shock (in a very fun way!) about how far this show was willing to go in the debut episode. Most of the kids we got introduced to got devoured by Pennywise, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the upcoming episodes continue to rack up the kill count. Again, that’s what I want to see from a prequel story meant to showcase how dangerous and deranged Pennywise can be.

The creatives could have played it safe and had Pennywise target more of the older cast during ‘The Pilot’. But nope, the kids in Derry are in true danger. And I’m here for it!

Set in Derry during 1962, ‘The Pilot’ opened with Matty having snuck into a movie theater to watch The Music Man. Upon being chased away by the usher, we got to see Matty trying to hitch a ride to finally get away from Derry. Apparently, he’s got an abusive father and liked to suck on a pacifier to calm himself down. I felt for Matty, knowing he would be the first victim. Pennywise getting involved to ensure Matty was unable to leave Derry was inevitable.

I liked how the creative team amped up the tension by slowly revealing that something was off about the family that gave Matty a ride during a winter night. Of course, Pennywise played into Matty’s desire to have a “normal” family willing to help him before twisting the people in the car into something horrific. As for the lady giving birth to a demonic mutant baby, who also played a role during the ending, it was linked to the fear surrounding nuclear war and nuclear emissions resulting in mutant babies in affected communities.

After Matty was attacked by Pennywise, the episode did a four-month jump to highlight three kids named Teddy, Phil, and Lilly, who were connected to Matty in their own way. I don’t know why Pennywise waited four months before going after the trio, but oh well.

While Lilly and Teddy felt guilty over Matty having possibly run away from Derry due to not being good enough friends with him, Phil continued to state how they weren’t responsible for Matty’s fate. However, I do think that Phil’s stance was his way of ignoring his guilt.

Wanting to figure out why Matty was trying to communicate with Lilly via plumbing pipes (their assumption being how a possible kidnapper could be keeping Matty prisoner somewhere underground), they connected with Ronnie, who had also been hearing voices. Ronnie worked at the theater and had helped Matty hide from the usher.

I do think the young cast did a good job in their roles. They all had enough character backstory that could have been explored further as the season continued. However, the creatives had other plans for most of them. By the end of ‘The Pilot, ‘ only Lilly and Ronnie survived Pennywise’s brutal attack in the theater, which also included the death of Phil’s little sister Susie (who was unfortunately collateral damage).

Pennywise placing Matty and the creepy family inside footage from The Music Man and then having them come out of the screen to attack the kids was a nice homage to a similar scene the Losers Club experienced. Again, the only thing protecting those kids was plot armor. The younglings in It – Welcome to Derry don’t have that. So, I’m ready for a bunch of deaths to occur whenever Pennywise decides to show up to terrorize his tasty targets.

With Lilly and Ronnie being the only survivors (for now), I’m looking forward to seeing how they will continue to be terrorized by Pennywise. Lilly’s backstory involved feeling guilty about her father’s death, while Ronnie mentioned how the police had tried to pin Matty’s disappearance on her dad. Both things are bound to be exploited by Pennywise and the racism during that era.

Talking about racism in Derry, the scenes with the adult characters were limited to an army base meant to be the first response in case of a nuclear threat. We got Major Leroy Hanlon and his friend Captain Pauly Russo arriving in Derry. Leroy’s been assigned to pilot a new state-of-the-art plane. And while Leroy experienced racism from one of his team members named Masters, most everybody around him seemed to give him the respect he deserved. But yeah, I’m side-eyeing Masters. He’s likely going to do something, probably under Pennywise’s influence. Also, Leroy’s not into rocking the boat as a way to not encourage certain people to be racist to him. However, I think the narrative’s going to force him to speak his mind soon enough.

As for some of the lore from the It novel, Leroy Hanlon is Mike Hanlon‘s grandfather. And yeah, Mike’s father Will Hanlon will be arriving in Derry soon. The trailer shows him connecting with Lilly, Ronnie, and more kids as Pennywise continues his hunt.

Another character from Stephen King’s lore that showed up in the debut episode was Dick Hallorann. With the adult side of the story about the military researching the paranormal and wanting to capture Pennywise, according to the promotional material, I’m expecting Dick to play a bigger role down the line due to his telepathic abilities that range from sensing the supernatural, reading minds, and more.

Also, the military running a secret operation involving the paranormal to capture a being that could be used to gain an edge in war… sigh!

It’s not going to end well for them, but I’m here to see certain military officials facing consequences for their reckless actions.

Even more lore, Lilly’s received a turtle charm from Matty. So, yeah, Maturin is likely to show up.

Kudos to the creative team for developing an It live-action property that serves the scares and sets up an intriguing lore that It fans will appreciate and casual viewers can get behind without needing to do homework to understand what’s going on.

I’m very excited about episode two.

What did you think of It – Welcome to Derry season one episode?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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