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This article contains spoilers<\/strong> for the first episode of “It: Welcome to Derry.”<\/em><\/p>\n It’s a question as old as scripted television itself: How do you hook viewers into a new series? For many showrunners and producers, the answer has typically revolved around casting likable actors in compelling roles, with the understanding that audiences might be interested in their relationships and exploits going forward. On the viewer’s side, it’s generally a good rule of thumb that if you watch the first episode of a series and you enjoy the protagonists, you’ll probably enjoy watching the rest of the show. Of course, another strategy for showrunners is to demonstrate to the audience a series’ boldness, to tell them to expect the unexpected. One of the quickest, clearest, and still transgressive ways of doing that is to kill off one (or more) of the protagonists in your pilot episode.<\/p>\n That’s a trick which hasn’t been pulled off that many times, despite the desire some past series had to try it. (Famously, the “Lost” pilot was originally written to have Jack killed off by the end of the first episode, only for those plans to change<\/a>.) The folks behind the new series “It: Welcome to Derry”<\/a> realized that, because the show is a prequel set 27 years before the first “It” film, they had the leeway to try this gambit out. Thus, the first episode establishes some teen characters who seem like they’re going to be ongoing, only to have them brutally killed off during a horrific setpiece at the end of the episode<\/a>. While this choice perfectly sets up how surprising, unsettling, and bold the show aims to be, it was understandably nerve-wracking for showrunners Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane to pitch it to HBO. Fortunately, the pitch went so well that not only did it reassure the creative team that the network was on board, it also gave them a new goal to reach for.<\/p>\n