It: Welcome to Derry Recap: Tunnel Vision

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After a slow start (spread across four hour-long episodes), Welcome to Derry is finally building momentum. While seeing Pennywise as the iconic clown is a welcome sight after so much anticipation, the real improvement is how the different storylines are starting to connect and drive the plot forward. In the episode “Neibolt Street,” the characters literally run into each other while exploring the sewers under Derry. Even though it’s hard to picture a truly satisfying ending for a story that can’t change the original’s outcome, I’m starting to feel more hopeful about where the series is going.

I still have so many questions, like how Lilly is allowed to see Marge after supposedly stabbing her in the eye with a chisel. Marge claims her glasses broke – a somewhat flimsy excuse – but she’s determined to fix things with Lilly now that they know a monster is real. At the Standpipe, Ronnie suggests Marge could clear Hank’s name by telling the truth, which doesn’t really add up, but I understand why she’s grasping at straws. Their conversation is cut short by the unexpected arrival of Matty, who everyone believed was dead. He’s covered in dirt but alive, and he recounts a terrifying experience escaping from the sewers. He reveals the clown – Pennywise – lives down there, describing the horrific sights of Teddy’s brains being eaten and Susie dying. Matty also says Phil is still alive, though injured – something a viewer recently asked about. He refuses to go to the police, fearing they’ll send him back to his abusive father. Knowing Chief Bowers and the Derry police, Matty is probably right to be scared of going home. He’d rather face the sewers than his father.

At Derry Air Force Base, Dick has successfully extracted information from Taniel’s memories, pinpointing the location of the pillars. When Leroy presses for details, General Shaw explains that centuries ago, the Sqoteawapskot people crafted 13 objects from the material of the fallen creature and buried them, creating a boundary around its domain. Leroy realizes this means Derry is essentially a prison, and they’re searching for the elements that form its walls. While this information largely reiterates what we learned in last week’s flashback, it clarifies Shaw’s strategy: shrinking the creature’s confinement will allow them to capture it. The specifics of how they’d weaponize it against the Soviets remain unclear – even to Shaw, perhaps – but that’s a problem for later. Currently, Leroy and Colonel Fuller are preparing to lead a team to 29 Neibolt Street, the derelict house above the tunnel system leading to the pillars. Leroy remains troubled by the idea of Derry being a prison for an ancient evil, and wonders why Shaw didn’t mention this before the Hanlon family moved there.

Charlotte experiences another unsettling event in Derry when she watches Hank Grogan being transferred to Shawshank prison. Bowers casually mentions the previous transfer didn’t survive long, and the situation quickly escalates when a furious man, likely the father of Phil and Susie, breaks through the security barriers with a gun, shouting threats and firing. Though the police manage to shield Hank, Charlotte is deeply disturbed, especially by a specific officer who seems to be enjoying the chaos and gives her a chilling, Pennywise-like smile before vanishing. Later, Leroy returns home, eager to share a shocking revelation with Charlotte, and while their conversation isn’t shown, she readily agrees to leave Derry and move to a nearby military base – a base that, unbeknownst to her, is located right on the edge of the area where the monstrous creature is contained.

Rose arrived, angry about her nephew being taken, and confronted Shaw. He revealed his memories of Derry returned five years ago after being given a drug by the Department of Defense, and that he’s back to try and use the creature they faced as children to protect the country. Rose, who remains the most logical character alongside Charlotte, argues that this creature can’t be controlled. Seeing that she can’t talk Shaw out of his plan, she asks to prepare her son, Taniel, for the mission. She gives him a dagger made from a piece of a fallen star, telling him it will protect him. Rose and Taniel clearly know something Shaw and his team don’t, but the audience is still left wondering what it is. It seems likely the military understands the danger better than they let on, but they’re the ones in charge.

Despite warnings from her friend Ingrid, Lilly is determined to rescue Phil from the sewers, even though it’s a dangerous plan. Ingrid pleads with her not to risk her own life. Lilly enlists the help of Marge and informs the group they need to go down into the monster’s lair. Everyone is understandably scared, but Lilly tries to rally them with a motivational speech, and even threatens to involve the police if Matty doesn’t help. Rich voices his fear of being eaten, a legitimate concern, but Lilly believes they can protect themselves with her mother’s Valium. She suggests everyone take three pills, reasoning that her mother takes them regularly and is still alive. Marge jokingly agrees, and the idea of these kids being functional on such a high dose of medication is amusing – and unrealistic.

Things quickly go downhill when Leroy and Fuller’s team descend into the well. Fuller warns his men that whatever they encounter will exploit their deepest fears, telling them to shoot at anything strange. Almost immediately, two soldiers are lost and seemingly devoured by a terrifying, demonic version of Uncle Sam. Chaos ensues: Taniel panics and loses a protective dagger, while Leroy and Pauly become separated from the group. To Leroy’s surprise, he finds Charlotte also wandering the sewers, and she transforms into a poorly animated monster. Remembering Fuller’s warning, he manages to shoot her. However, Dick faces the most disturbing ordeal. He’s transported to a bathroom and confronted by his grandmother, who repeats her ominous warning about an approaching threat. It’s revealed she was actually warning him about his abusive grandfather, who arrives with a locked box. Knowing Dick and Rose use lockboxes to ward off evil, the grandfather demands Dick open it. As the grandfather’s face twists into a Pennywise-like grin and he forces the box open, it’s clear Dick has little control over the situation. The show heavily references elements from Doctor Sleep, particularly the use of lockboxes and confronting past trauma.

Deeper in the sewers, Matty leads Lilly, Ronnie, Will, Rich, and Marge – all heavily sedated with Valium, to the point where Rich and Marge are holding hands in a daze – to where he was imprisoned. They immediately discover the bodies of their friends: Teddy, Susie, and Phil. It becomes clear that Matty hasn’t been truthful. In fact, as many suspected, he isn’t who he seems. He transforms into Pennywise the Dancing Clown. “Duck and cover, kiddos,” he snarls, and begins chasing them as they desperately try to escape, the Valium doing little to help. Lilly falls behind and nearly doesn’t make it, but Pennywise is stopped by a dagger that conveniently landed near her feet. Meanwhile, the others run into Leroy and Pauly near the exit. Leroy, believing Will is another illusion created by the shapeshifter, shoots at him, but Pauly jumps in the way of the bullet. Tragically, Leroy accidentally shoots his best friend, but at least avoids the horror of harming his own son. Even in his dying moments, Pauly tells Leroy to “make it count.”

Things are incredibly chaotic, both underground in the sewers and in the town of Derry itself. Hank has escaped from the prison bus that was taking him to Shawshank – it’s unclear how – and is now on the run with Ingrid. It’s been confirmed that Ingrid was with Hank the night of the Capitol Theatre massacre. With the police searching everywhere, escaping Derry isn’t easy, but Hank sends Ingrid to the Derry Air Force Base to find Charlotte. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s husband is being questioned by Shaw, but he’s clearly leaving out key details about Pauly’s death. Shaw promises Leroy that those responsible will be held accountable, and it seems likely he’ll blame the local Indigenous population for the events in the sewers. He also reveals that Hallorann hasn’t checked in. Dick finally emerges from the sewers, deeply traumatized, and immediately sees the ghost of Pauly wandering in the woods. Back at the bathroom, a lockbox is found open and glowing, suggesting that whatever Dick was trying to contain has been released.

Losers Club

Let’s discuss the lockbox idea. I previously suggested that Dick’s grandmother, Rose, telling him to “keep that lid on tight,” could relate to the lockboxes featured in Doctor Sleep. In the book, she teaches Dick how to trap and contain dangerous spirits within a mental lockbox. He then shares this technique with Danny Torrance, who is haunted by evil ghosts from the Overlook Hotel after the events of The Shining. Importantly, at the conclusion of Doctor Sleep – be warned, there are spoilers ahead! – Danny uses his mental lockbox to release the Overlook spirits against the True Knot.

Stephen King’s grandfather, a deeply frightening figure, appears in the novel Doctor Sleep. He subjected King to physical and sexual abuse during his childhood and continued to haunt him even after death. King was so affected by this abuse that his grandfather became the very first spirit he imprisoned in his special lockbox.

What did Pennywise find inside the lockbox? Considering Dick’s strong reaction to seeing Pauly at the end of the episode, it’s possible the box didn’t contain a single person, but the source of Dick’s ability to see ghosts – his ‘shine’ itself.

I was pleased to notice that my recent suggestion – that actress Madeleine Stowe could play a younger version of Mrs. Kersh – seemed to resonate with others. Mrs. Kersh is a character Beverly meets in Derry as an adult, and in both the novel and movie It, she’s revealed to be a creation of the monster, Pennywise. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Pennywise was lying when he claimed Mrs. Kersh was the daughter of Bob Gray.

Right now, Mr. Kersh appears to be the more dangerous character, as the show suggests he has a history of abuse and struggles with alcohol. However, if Ingrid is actually the daughter of the clown who previously became Pennywise, she might be the same little girl we saw in the carnival flashback during episode three. (Thanks to a commenter for pointing that out!)

Okay, so I’ve been diving deep into the background of this story, and I just learned something really creepy about Derry. Apparently, the people who originally lived there, the Sqoteawapskot, believed the monster is the reason everyone in Derry is a little…off. They say it basically sheds something that’s polluted the town’s water supply since the very beginning! Seriously, how gross is that?

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2025-11-24 07:01