It – Welcome to Derry 1×6 Review: “In the Name of the Father”

It – Welcome to Derry season one episode 6, titled ‘In the Name of the Father’, opted for a slower pace as the narrative decided to focus on certain relationships and set things up for the penultimate episode.

TRIGGER WARNING: This review of It – Welcome to Derry season one episode 6 mentions child domestic abuse and underage drinking.

With Ingrid being revealed to be Mrs. Kersh in the previous chapter and with only two episodes left in the current season, ‘In the Name of the Father’ wasted no time in diving into Ingrid’s past and explaining her connection to Pennywise. Was all of the detail necessary? Not really. But hey, an 8-episode-long season about It terrorizing children and adults decades before the main events of the original novel has to expand on certain elements. So, yeah, let’s get into it.

It’s shared that Ingrid decided to stay in Derry after losing her father (named Bob Gray) and the carnival (where she used to perform as a kid) traveling away from the town. She ended up taking a job at Juniper Hill. While there, an adult Ingrid overheard a child talking about how a clown named Pennywise had been asking her to visit the basement. Due to Pennywise being her father’s stage name, Ingrid assumed Bob had somehow returned.

I liked how the creative team filmed the scene with Ingrid, the little girl, and Pennywise, with everything being in black and white except for the iconic red balloon and the blood spill after the creature attacked the little girl.

Pennywise using Ingrid to gain access to vulnerable children at the asylum made sense. Especially when (and I’m sharing my understanding of the in-lore rules) Juniper Hill wasn’t located inside Derry, and thus, immune from Pennywise’s influence. The little girl was placed in the facility because she mentioned a clown wanting to befriend her. That’s why I can understand why Pennywise might be frustrated about losing access to his potential victims. So, using Ingrid to get to those kids was beneficial to him.

The dynamic, in a way, seemed related to how Lilly was the reason for putting a bunch of kids in harm’s way. Pennywise even called Lilly out on her decisions in the previous episode. The cosmic creature is having a whole lot of fun with her.

Coming back to Ingrid, Pennywise transforming into her father to emotionally manipulate her was a good move. The preview for the upcoming episode features more flashbacks to Ingrid’s time at the circus. So, yeah, I think we will be getting even more details about her relationship with It.

From what I could gather, Pennywise was inspired to take on the clown persona after the carnival arrived in Derry all those years ago. Carnivals attracted children, after all. Apparently, Bob Gray as Pennywise the Dancing Clown was a huge attraction. Whether or not It killed Bob to take on his persona is something I would like answered. The way Ingrid retold her story to Lilly, it felt like Bob died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

The writers also revealed that it was Ingrid whom Will saw in the cemetery. Turns out, she’s got a clown costume of her own. She wore said costume and stalked the Losers Club the night they decided to summon It in the cemetery. Ingrid’s presence explains why the picture Will took of a clown-like figure in the dark remained intact while the rest of the photos didn’t show any of the supernatural stuff Pennywise made the kids experience that night.

Seeing Ingrid trying to connect with Lilly over a daughter’s desire to do anything possible to reconnect with her father made me laugh. There was no way Lilly was going to buy what Ingrid was selling. And while I’m glad Lilly ran away from Ingrid, I’m sad that Lilly’s all alone. She has that cosmic dagger to protect her from It, but that won’t be enough without a bunch of friends to offer support.

Ronnie calling Lilly out for continuing to put them in danger made sense, even if Ronnie went a bit overboard with her verbal attacks. They want to put an end to It, but they need to come up with an actual plan instead of simply following Lilly back into the sewers and hoping to get the opportunity to stab the creature with the cosmic dagger.

With Lilly having severed her friendship with the Losers Club (uh-oh!) and Ingrid (rightfully so!), two other relationships blossomed. We had Ronnie and Will finally hug each other, strengthening their little crush. Rich and Marge continued to grow closer after Rich helped bandage Marge’s injured eye and proceeded to gift her an eyepatch. Items with sentimental value can harm It. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if the eyepatch played a role in injuring the creature or serving as a distraction. Having said that, with Marge and Rick thinking of themselves as a Pirate and a Knight, respectively, and pre-planning their Halloween costumes, I’m getting ready for at least one of them to die by the end of this season. Sigh!

Though Will’s relationship with Ronnie developed, he experienced an unthinkable shock when it came to his dynamic with Leroy. I understood Leroy wanting to keep Will locked up inside the house and away from Pennywise. But I also got Will wanting to help his friends. Unfortunately, as it usually pans out for parent and child relationships (especially during that era), Leroy couldn’t help but slap Will for not obeying his orders.

I wasn’t expecting Leroy to hit Will at all. However, his action was (kind of) explained by the trauma of recently killing his best friend and how the adults of Derry were being corrupted by Pennywise’s evil. Leroy might not feel “fear”, but he’s still vulnerable to anger, hatred, and frustration like the rest of the adults in Derry.

Everything is heading toward a major event involving The Black Spot occurring in the final two episodes. The establishment, primarily for the Black community, was burned to the ground by a hateful mob in Derry. ‘In the Name of the Father’ concluded with a bunch of armed people in clown masks, led by Clint Bowers, arriving outside The Black Spot to find Hank. Of course, things will escalate. Many lives will be lost. And that’s exactly what Pennywise is counting on before he’s forced to slumber again for more than two decades.

The Black Spot featured in the current episode gave me Sinners vibes, with people enjoying dancing and music. I don’t know why people were okay with having Will, Marge, and Rich walking around the place, but oh well. Also, Rich was impressive on those drums.

The only thing I didn’t like was how the bartender secretly added alcohol to Marge and Rich’s drinks when they asked for a simple Coke. There’s a difference between seeing the Losers Club intentionally taking valium to suppress their emotions when facing Pennywise and a freaking adult slipping alcohol into their drinks. The scene served no purpose other than to likely make the audience feel uneasy. I highly doubt any adult would have done such a thing, especially not an adult who knew that Marge and Rich were Will’s friends.

Before I close my review, I have to talk about Dick. After Pennywise forced him to unlock the part of his powers that allowed him to see ghosts, Dick’s not doing so well. It’s revealed that his grandmother taught him how to lock up the bad stuff in his mind when he was only 9 years old. Dick hasn’t seen a ghost since. Even though he’s now an adult, the childhood trauma was a bit too much for him to immediately cope with seeing dead people again.

According to Dick, the ghosts left him alone as long as he didn’t acknowledge them. However, once addressed, the ghostly voices wouldn’t stop, and he would get to hear things the living shouldn’t.

I liked how Dick stood up to Leroy when being forced to simply accept the dark side of his gifts for the greater good of protecting the country. Leroy wanted Dick to talk to the ghosts in hopes they might share more information about Pennywise. Similar to Shaw, Leroy was treating Dick as a tool instead of trying to empathize.

It does look like Pennywise forced Dick to open the locked box in his mind to sideline him. However, I have my fingers crossed that Pennywise’s plan will backfire after Dick finds the strength to communicate with the ghosts to learn something vital about defeating or hurting Pennywise.

I like Dick as a character. That’s why I’m not here to continue seeing him drown his trauma in alcohol and do nothing major in the final two episodes. So, fingers crossed he does something.

What did you think of It – Welcome to Derry season one episode 6 ‘In the Name of the Father’?

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.

Twitter

Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.

Copyright © The Geekiary