It: Welcome to Derry – The Pilot

A toddler is in a movie show. His title is Matty. Regardless of trying too previous for it, he has a pacifier in his mouth. He’s watching a film with adults, till a guard comes for him: Matty should not be there. The kid is chased however manages to flee. He has a troublesome life; his relationship along with his mother and father is not good. Reduce to Matty on the highway, attempting to hitchhike with one of many passing automobiles. It takes some time, however a automotive lastly stops. There is a household inside. A smiling father, a pregnant and pleasant mom, and their son and daughter silent within the again seat. They are saying they’re leaving Derry, simply as Matty needs.

Time passes.

The older daughter reveals Matty a jar with sticky liver inside. The youthful son invents a spelling recreation whose chosen phrases change into more and more sinister, and the ambiance within the automotive is abruptly extra violent. The mom screams — she’s giving delivery to the kid contained in the automotive. Matty is terrified. They did not depart Derry, and the new child is not a baby; it is a monstrous creature that flies across the automotive, distracting the driving force, banging in opposition to the home windows, and being celebrated by the household of murderous kidnappers whereas Matty watches in horror, clinging to his pacifier as if it could assist him escape.

For these accustomed to the Muschietti’s IT diversifications and their opening kills, Matty’s destiny was sealed from the start: the creature violently assaults him. On the identical time, the automotive continues to take the household additional and additional into Derry. That’s how IT: Welcome to Derry begins, with Matty attempting to flee his abusive mother and father and dying by the hands of a fair worse household. There’s no such factor as escaping it: you both face your fears and conquer them, or it drags you beneath to the city’s entrails. The factor that kills Matty — the creature that haunts Derry — is one thing nobody can escape from.

“The Pilot” – IT: WELCOME TO DERRY. Pictured: Clara Stack as Lilly. Picture: Brooke Palmer/Max ©2025 HBO Max, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Created by Andy and Barbara Muschietti, Jason Fuchs, and Brad Caleb Kane, Welcome to Derry relies on the IT e-book by Stephen King, this time taking inspiration from the novel’s interlude chapters. Within the interludes, Mike Hanlon, the one most important character who remained in Derry, tries to know how the creature is expounded to the city’s darkest occasions and research how they’re all rooted in racism and totally different sorts of hate crimes. Greenlit in 2023, the present has three seasons deliberate, with the primary set in 1962, and subsequent ones deliberate to be set in 1935 and 1908. Every season ought to adapt a exceptional, violent occasion from the interludes, beginning with the Black Spot nightclub fireplace, when a nightclub attended largely by black troopers from the close by Military base was burned down by the Maine Legion of White Decency.

Thus, Welcome to Derry is centered on the Hanlon household: Mike’s grandparents, Leroy and Charlotte, and their son Will, who’ve all simply moved to Derry. Leroy works for the Military and will likely be seemingly linked to the Black Spot plot; Will is among the kids anticipated to be a part of this era’s Losers Membership; and my guess for Charlotte is that whereas interacting with Derry’s white mothers, she is going to one way or the other stumble into the Legion of White Decency. This manner, all the Hanlons might have a connection to the aforementioned occasion.

However that is only a concept, as Charlotte and Will don’t seem within the premiere, and Leroy’s navy plot takes little screentime from the episode. The truth is, this primary hour offers largely with the implications of Matty’s, now presumed useless, vanishing. Lilly, one in all his mates (kinda), is the one to overlook him probably the most, particularly after she hears his voice coming from the pipes. First enlisting the assistance of Matty’s (kinda; it’s sophisticated) mates Terry and Phil, who’re later joined by Phil’s sister Susie and Ronnie, the group investigates what is occurring in Derry, at first seeming to be the 1962 model of the Losers’ Membership. In case you watched your complete episode, nonetheless, you realize that isn’t precisely true: lured to the movie show the place Matty’s was final seen, the youngsters are attacked by the creature, and except for Lilly and Ronnie, they’re all shockingly killed by it. The ultimate scene within the movie show is wild, depraved, and chilling in one of the simplest ways doable, one for the books with regards to beginning a horror present.

With an ending that will get to be much more surprising than its opening, the premiere units the stage: nobody is secure this time. Will has to stay so Mike Harlon is born, so he’s actually surviving the horrors; the others, nonetheless… Something can occur anytime with anybody, and that’s a very good factor for a horror present. That’s to say that Welcome to Derry begins robust, extra surprising and gorier, however not essentially scarier, than ever. Not counting the opening or the ultimate sequence with the flying child monster, the opposite varieties assumed by the creature usually are not as atmospherically terrifying as they might be, and with the clown Pennywise saved for later episodes, this episode feels typically low-cost with regards to its leap scares.

However this introduction has extra execs than cons. If the navy plot launched within the premiere just isn’t thrilling sufficient, a minimum of it counts with a mysterious, youthful model of The Shining’s Dick Hallorann, who will most probably combat the creature later within the present along with his telepathic powers. The children are charismatic, with Lilly and Ronnie — the surviving ones — being established as robust, fascinating characters to observe. There’s additionally Marge, Lilly’s pal, who seems briefly within the premiere and doesn’t become involved with this primary model of the 1962 Losers, as she seems to be very frightened about what individuals will consider her. That might change into a compelling narrative later, if Marge will get to be concerned with the subsequent model of the 1962 Losers — will she overcome the will to be accepted, or will she change into part of Derry’s sick society? This time, friendship and love is probably not sufficient to save lots of everybody, because the darkest chapters of the city unfold, so something might occur. And naturally, Taylour Paige’s Charlotte is an enormous professional — there’s one thing distinctive concerning the present creating narratives for each kids and adults, because the viewers will have the ability to watch how the creature impacts totally different components of society and hurts individuals in varied methods.

Be happy to go away a remark together with your impressions and ideas, and thanks for studying!