IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1, Episode 5 is the show’s biggest yet, and the ending sets up even more explosive events to come. The IT prequel show has gradually ramped up the threat of the entity known as It, the evil influence of which spreads across Derry. The show has even delved deeper into It’s origins long before becoming Pennywise, showing the creature’s early battles with the Shokopiwah tribe and how it was contained in what became Derry, Maine. But now things have gone up another level. Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Welcome to Derry Episode 5.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Following the tease of the house on Neibolt Street in IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 4, this installment takes us into the sewers with twin storylines: Dick Hallorann and Leroy Hanson lead the military via the old well house, while Lilly, Marge, Will, Rich, and who they believe to be Matty, head in via another tunnel entrance. There’s naturally a sense of fear and foreboding, and where that goes, It follows, leading to the death of Pauly Russo and a horrifying interaction with Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
Why Pennywise Finally Appeared In Welcome To Derry Episode 5
IT: Welcome to Derry has been restrained with Pennywise, teasing audiences with shadowy glimpses of the dancing clown, and popping in a few shots of his red balloons for good measure. This serves a few different purposes, including:
- It allows the TV series to use more of the entity’s other forms, which rarely get as much attention as the clown.
- It builds hype for Pennywise’s arrival, and makes it feel like a true, terrifying event for the TV show after weeks of anticipation.
- Bill Skarsgård’s schedule may well have played a part in it as well, so this makes it easier for him to fit the show in.
Pennywise appearing in Episode 5, then, equally serves a few different purposes. Firstly, it gives audiences a payoff after having waited for him to turn up. Secondly, it makes sense for the clown to appear as he terrorizes the group of kids; Pennywise is a common form due to being such a common fear of children (just ask Bart Simpson), and so for scaring them en masse, it is the perfect form.
But most of all, this signifies a turning point for the show. We hear at the beginning of this episode how this latest cycle of attacks has been “milder” than the previous two, but the dancing clown turning up means things are going up to a whole new level of horror, and there’s no more playing around.
Why Pennywise Stopped Attacking Lilly
As if things hadn’t been bad enough for poor Lilly, it seems like she’s going to become Pennywise’s latest victim. The clown run towards her at terrifying speed with teeth fully bared… and then stops at the sight of something in the water. For viewers who may have forgotten, that’s the weapon that was made from a shard of the cage It came to Earth in.
The people of the Shokopiwah tribe used those shards as pillars, creating a boundary line that trapped the creature, which is why It cannot leave Derry. The dagger was first created by one of their elders as a means of fighting off the creature, and years later, it’s enough to keep Lilly safe. So long as she has that, Pennywise won’t be able to attack her, but that one dagger isn’t enough to protect everybody since it works in a limited area. The clown may think twice about going after her directly, but that doesn’t mean he can’t torment the others and get to her through them.
What Dick Hallorann’s Box Is & What It Being Opened Means
IT: Welcome to Derry had previously shown us Dick Hallorann’s grandmother, Rose, with whom he shares the “shine” ability (she’s the one who taught him how to use it, and they’d communicate telepathically). This episode introduces her husband – Dick’s grandfather- and the concept of Hallorann’s mental lock box.
While this episode doesn’t go into it, King’s Doctor Sleep revealed that Dick was sexually abused as a child by his grandfather – whom he referred to as “Black Grandpa.” Even after his grandpa passed, Dick was haunted by his evil spirit, so Rose taught him how to create a psychic box to keep away those malevolent spirits, something Hallorann later taught to Danny Torrance.
Unfortunately, as the climax of the episode shows, following Dick’s vision of the spirit at the very end, that box is now wide open. This suggests that Dick is no longer able to keep It at bay. It’d take something of great power and malevolence to open his box, and this likely means that Pennywise was able to get inside Dick’s mind, causing him to lose control of his shining powers and inflicting mental torment upon him.
The mid-season trailer for IT: Welcome to Derry supports this idea, as we hear Dick say things like “that thing was inside my head” and “you got my mind all f**ked up,” while looking pretty darn anguished.
Dick may actually be harder for It to manipulate because of his own psychic abilities, but it does seem like he’s exerting some level of influence over him now, which will cause him to be haunted by evil spirits, and thus afflicting his own well-being and actions, which could have some dire consequences.
New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry release on Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Paramount+ -
Courtesy of TOHO Animation -
Image Courtesy of HBO
