This article includes spoilers for \u201cIt: Welcome To Derry.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt: Welcome To Derry\u201d is one of the most captivating TV series of the year \u2014 and Sunday\u2019s episode is a prime example of its excellence. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The new HBO series is a prequel to the \u201cIt\u201d films, which were adapted from Stephen King\u2019s 1986 novel of the same name. The eight-episode series premiered in October and became HBO Max\u2019s No. 3 premiere in terms of viewers, coming in after \u201cHouse of the Dragon\u201d and \u201cThe Last of Us,\u201d Variety<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt: Welcome To Derry\u201d is set in 1962 in Derry, Maine, about 27 years before the end of the first movie. U.S. Air Force Major Leroy Hanlon, wife Charlotte and their son, Will, have moved to the town\u2019s base just after a boy went missing. A group of kids \u2014 quite similar to the Losers\u2019 Club made famous in \u201cIt\u201d \u2014 starts looking for him and runs into a world of trouble. The Air Force and its local commanders are also attempting to contain the evil \u201centity\u201d wreaking havoc in the town. In short, everything is going awry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In Episode 7, which aired Sunday night, all hell breaks loose, and it\u2019s worth unpacking the details. In this chat, celebrity.land staffers talk about the series, its cast and why everyone needs to be watching this incredibly haunting series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I had no idea what to expect when I started watching \u201cIt: Welcome To Derry.\u201d But in each episode, I\u2019m constantly impressed by the performances. The cast is led by Jovan Adepo, who you may know from another incredible HBO series, \u201cWatchmen.\u201d Adepo portrays Leroy Hanlon, an Air Force major who moves to Derry with his wife, Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and son, Will (Blake Cameron James). Chris Chalk has a remarkable turn as the sentient Dick Hallorann, and any time he appears on screen, I get the chills because he\u2019s just that good at playing this haunting role. Will and his friends, Marge (Matilda Lawler), Rich (Arian S. Cartaya), Lilly (Clara Stark) and Ronnie (Amanda Christine), are the central kids to the story and are an impressive set of young actors. Marge\u2019s evolution over this seven-episode arc has been so fun to watch, and seeing her build a closeness to Rich was one of those plotlines that was satisfying to watch even though it ended devastatingly. I broke out a whole section for us to chat about Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd\u2019s menacing performance as Pennywise. \u2014 <\/span>Erin<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n My favorite actor\/character on the show is, hands down, Chalk\u2019s Hallorann. He portrays him with such mystique, but he\u2019s also one of the few experts in Derry who has some sense of what\u2019s wreaking havoc on everyone, including himself. To me, he\u2019s one of the most powerful characters on the show, both mentally and performance-wise. Adepo\u2019s Leroy is up there, too, as one of the few willing to shake things up. He\u2019s slowly but surely realizing the military\u2019s corruption, and you can almost feel the intensity of his spiral. Ronnie, Will, Marge, Rich and Lilly are all portrayed excellently as well \u2014 I\u2019ve been a fan of Cameron James\u2019 acting ever since I saw him in \u201cWe Grown Now.\u201d I appreciate that the kids\u2019 innocence adds some levity to the show\u2019s heaviest moments, especially Marge and Rich\u2019s (short-lived) bond, which I\u2019m definitely going to miss. Despite this ensemble cast shrinking by the episode (I really wonder who\u2019s going to be alive by the end of the finale), they all help make \u201cWelcome to Derry\u201d such an interesting watch. \u2014 <\/span>Njera<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are plenty of obvious Easter eggs in this adaptation \u2014 the Hanlon and Uris surnames as part of the Losers\u2019 Club in \u201cIt\u201d; Chalk\u2019s Hallorann is the same name from King\u2019s \u201cThe Shining\u201d; Hallorann teaches Danny (Danny Lloyd) to use his psychic powers. But my favorite Easter eggs are in relation to King\u2019s \u201cThe Shawshank Redemption\u201d: Clint Bowers threatens Ronnie\u2019s dad, Hank, with a prison sentence in Shawshank, and then later, Hank is ushered onto a bus to Shawshank Prison right before all hell breaks loose. \u2014 <\/span>Erin<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hallorann\u2019s \u201cShining\u201d powers might be the best and most effective Easter egg in the whole show, since he\u2019s such a crucial component of the military\u2019s mission to track down Pennywise\u2019s lair. He also mentions his grandma in one scene where a woman is seen floating above him. In King\u2019s \u201cIt,\u201d it\u2019s known that Hallorann\u2019s grandma has the Shining power as well and taught him how to use it. There are also a ton of foreshadowed characters hinted at in the show, like Alvin Marsh, the abusive father of the Losers\u2019 Club\u2019s Beverly. In Episode 1, his name is written inside a heart on the wall when Lilly and Marge are in the school bathroom. There\u2019s also Derry police chief Clint Bowers, who shares a last name with \u201cIt\u201d bully Henry Bowers. And, of course, there\u2019s the Black Spot fire from King\u2019s novel, which becomes another central and upsetting plot point in Episode 7. \u2014 <\/span>Njera<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n First off, my mouth was agape for half the episode because I could not believe this absolutely wild series of events. After last week\u2019s cliffhanger, I had already braced myself for the worst to happen at the Black Spot, but my God, \u201cWelcome to Derry\u201d literally went scorched earth. I know the scariest part of the show is supposed to be It\/Pennywise, but as a Black viewer, the racial terror spooks me way more. Watching the club go up in flames as the white mob hurled bullets inside was heartbreaking enough, but the fact that they also locked everyone inside to ensure they wouldn\u2019t escape filled me with such rage and sorrow. It was bad enough watching the Black soldiers and clubgoers get picked off one by one or die in the fire, but seeing how Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) sacrificed himself so Marge could hide in the trunk just broke my heart. He didn\u2019t deserve to go out like that. The scene of him playing along with the club\u2019s band was really his last moment of bliss. His death will, no doubt, leave a huge mark on the kids, along with the rest of their friends that they\u2019ve lost to Pennywise\u2019s cruelty. I\u2019m glad Will (Blake Cameron James), Ronnie (Amanda Christine), Hank (Stephen Rider) and Hallorann (Chris Chalk) were able to make it out, though far from unscathed. That night will probably haunt them for a very long time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On the other side, Episode 7 opened with another sad scene, too, finally showing us how It got ahold of Pennywise to begin with. Seems a little silly that all it took was a random child popping up to lure him into the dark woods, but that\u2019s exactly how Ingrid (Madeleine Stowe) lost her father, and she\u2019s been looking for him ever since \u2014 hence, her own clown costume. It\u2019s a little bonkers that she thought the bloodshed of the fire and fear from everyone there would draw out Pennywise (who she still thinks is wholeheartedly her father) and they\u2019d have a nice little family reunion. But, boy, did she get a rude awakening. I get that she desperately wants to find him, but I don\u2019t think she thought about what this stunt could unleash. And unfortunately for us, we\u2019re going to find out in the finale. \u2014 <\/span>Njera<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I never read the \u201cIt\u201d novel, so I didn\u2019t know how deep its racial themes went. However, \u201cWelcome to Derry\u201d has, in my opinion, done a good job of flushing out this storyline of everyday racist terror alongside It\u2019s supernatural assault on the people of Derry. Which also makes this show a lot darker when you think about how characters like Hallorann, Will and Ronnie have to deal with both of these terrors daily. Not to mention the racism that Major Leroy also deals with on the military base from his fellow service members. They all help shape the consensus that, no matter what is terrorizing this town (or any place in America), people need something to place blame for the evils of the world. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n As a civil rights activist, Taylour Paige\u2019s character, Charlotte Hanlon (wife of Leroy and mother to Will), has the most overt connection to how \u201cWelcome to Derry\u201d tackles racism, which is arguably the show\u2019s biggest, most haunting monster of all. We see that most in how she tries to help Hank, who\u2019s become the scapegoat for all the kids\u2019 disappearances in town (as if that\u2019s not enough, he\u2019s also having an affair with Ingrid, another surefire way to get him killed by the local racists). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Paige expounded on her character\u2019s role in this complex narrative in an interview with Variety<\/a>, saying, \u201cWhat could be more insidious than racism and people being killed for the color of their skin?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She continued: \u201cEven when I met [co-creators] Barbara and Andy [Muschietti], I thought it was an interesting, complex way to go about depicting 1962 America Cold War racism. You\u2019ve got so much more to do than just figure out who\u2019s killing these kids, and the show considers scapegoatism, how society needs an enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The racist backdrop of \u201cWelcome to Derry,\u201d indeed, makes it a more intense watch. But it also elevates the series from being just another scary iteration of \u201cIt\u201d to something with a lot more substance. \u2014 Njera<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nAll About The Cast And The Best Performances<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The Best \u2018It\u2019 Easter Eggs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Why Episode 7 Was So Good And Heartbreaking<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\nHow The Show Tackles Race<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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