It is a sad convergence that on the night I sat not-so-patiently waiting for the season finale of IT: Welcome to Derry on HBO, I learned of the death of Rob Reiner. Growing up with parents who lived for All in the Family, Rob Reiner will always be “Meat Head” to me, but also the director who gave me some great movie memories (Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Ghosts of Mississippi) and two of the best Stephen King adaptations there are - Stand By Me (based on the short story “The Body”) and Misery. What is there to say? May you have a swift and peaceful journey to the distant shore, Mr. Reiner. And, thank you. I’ll remember you.
Now to my no spoiler review of It: Welcome To Derry
What: It: Welcome to Derry
Type: 8 Episode Series
on: HBO
Worth Watching: If you’re a horror hound - YES.
Note: Very bloody, if you’re squeamish - best stay away
Rating: 5 Red Balloons 🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈
One of the defining things about Derry in the Stephen King Universe is that when someone leaves it, they don’t remember anything about it. I’ve always found that interesting and tragic. Even though my mind has spent the last few weeks in the little Maine town of Derry, being shocked, horrified, inspired and terror-stricken - the one thing I won’t be doing when I leave Derry is forgetting it.
Andy and Barbara Muschietti along with writer Jason Fuchs have done something rare and amazing by taking the world of the novel IT and some other works (notably, The Shining) and creating a new work of fiction that is seamless in the transition from text to embodied world. It has been tried before (remember Castle Rock?) but never this successfully.
A maxim in mystery writing is “There better be a body in the first chapter” and IT: Welcome to Derry doesn’t disappoint. There are plenty of shocks, bodies and blood in the first episode to rivet you in your chair. It’s not what it delivers (and trust me - this show delivers) but how it delivers that matters.
From the show’s title sequence featuring the incredibly creepy “A Smile and a Ribbon” by Patience and Prudence and the plasticized1962 feel (clothes, cars, racism, patriarchy) - to the mic drops at the end of every episode, the show skewers our nostalgia-soaked view of “The Good Old Days” and brings us into the living nightmare of judgement, peer pressure and fear.
In the novel, Stephen King uses Pennywise the Clown as a villain but the book really exists to show it is the banal evil of adults forcing children to endure their drama and issues that is the real horror in the world. A clown kidnapping and eating children is horror. A shop owner watching white kids beat up a child of color and not intervening is the real nightmare.
The show gets both the supernatural and real-life horrors right and the time references for the 1960’s and societal pressure are perfect. Set just prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the tension in the air swells as small town despots like The Pattycakes (the rule-the-school cool kids led by mean girl Patty) and racist Police Chief Bowers hover over everyone.
Into this season of discontent comes Pennywise, a trapped supernatural entity that rises every 27 years to scare everyone, eat kids, and create havoc before hibernating again. The nod to the prevalence of “mommy’s little helper” (the valium the kids steal from a parent to help them navigate Pennywise’s lair) is a perfect emblem of time and place.
The acting is incredible. Bill Skarsgard giving us a terrifying and compelling Pennywise isn’t new, he’s done it twice before, but it is still something to watch. All the actors do an incredible job, particularly Kimberly Guerrero as Rose, Chris Chalk as the haunted “shine” guide Dick Hallorann and Madeleine Stowe as Ingrid.
One of the skills the Muschiettis showed us in their feature films IT and IT Chapter 2 was their ability to work with child actors. Every kid in this show does an incredible job whether they are in the film for 20 minutes or all 8 episodes. Special shout-outs to Matilda Lawler as Marge and Arian S. Cartaya as Rich Santos, who gives both the most joyous and heartbreaking portrayal in the series.
The only misstep is a monologue by General Shaw late in the series where he explains just what the hell he is thinking. It sounds less like a 1960’s reaction and more like a speech about political division and loss of national values gleaned from a 2025 MAGA Influencer. However, its a short scene and doesn’t distract from the main story.
It’s well-shot, fast, gory, humorous, and heartbreaking. Like the novel, you will find yourself in one (or more) of these kids. The end ties you directly into the films, so it is satisfying but not closing. When you turn of the TV, unlike the people who leave the town behind, you will definitely remember Derry.
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