It’s another week in Derry and as the show inches towards the halfway point, it’s still mostly unclear where the narrative is heading.
Obviously the most telling development from writer Helen Shang‘s teleplay occurs at the end of the episode, as Dick Halloran (Chris Chalke) forces himself into Taniel (Joshua Odjick)’s mind in order to learn the story of the Galloo. It’s an interesting alternative to the version we have previously seen in the movies, but for storytelling purposes, the key take-away is that Halloran and General Shaw (James Remar) are searching for the location of the protective pillars that have encased the monster in the Western woods.
Presumably the (re)introduction of IT’s scary, derelict house as the gateway will bring them one step closer, though the Army’s plans to somehow use this “weapon” remains maddeningly obscure (to what end? And how?) We’ll just have to wait and see.
Meanwhile, Charlotte (Taylour Paige) is back in the mix. After hearing son Will (Blake Cameron James)’s account of what went down at the cemetery in episode 3, she first asks Rose (Kimberly Norris Guerrero) if Derry is safe (A: no), then tries to advocate for Ronnie (Amanda Christine)’s father, Hank (Stephen Rider).
Charlotte’s strategic approach to getting in to see Hank is satisfying because she initially tries to go through the proper channels. When that fails, she leans on her activism roots to threaten a dumb-dumb white Deputy. It proves how capable Charlotte is when she’s driven to act, which also makes it so frustrating that Leroy (Jovan Adepo) comes down on her again (see also: episode 2). It’s understandable that her husband doesn’t want her making waves, but nothing about his work with Halloran or Shaw so far has seemed like “important work.”
I dunno, this feels like false conflict, even if the series’ exploration of race (both Black and Indigenous) remains exceedingly welcome.
Other Observations:
- Substantial runtime is dedicated to Halloran and the other Black soldiers cleaning up a decommissioned space to use as a hang-out. Meanwhile, Will gets dunked by a burnt incarnation of his father while fly fishing. Both of these incidents seem to be anticipating the Black Spot fire from King’s novel, which was alluded to IT: Chapter One but has never actually been depicted.
- During this time, Dick has a vision of an older woman (possibly his mom?) in the woods, who advises him to “Keep that lid on tight.” This is effectively creepy.
- Marge (Matilda Lawler) and Lilly (Clara Stack) watch two videos in class: the first is on Duck & Cover; the second is on a unique feature of snails: their protruding eyes. This leads into the episode’s best horror set piece as Marge’s eyes take on the same characteristics, prompting her to self-mutilate in the classroom. Naturally this ends with Lilly straddling her bloody body in front of everyone, but hypothetically it should be an easy mistake to clear up unless Marge fails to fess up?
- Of course, the likelihood that she does is high considering Marge was preparing to help prank Lilly at the behest of the Patticakes. Not gonna lie: I was kinda hoping that Marge was gonna get hers here since she suuuuucks.
- Final point: I’m curious to see if Lilly’s mom’s pills, nicknamed “Mommy’s Little Helper”, will aid the kids to control their fear. It’s inching a little close to A Nightmare on Elm Street territory for my liking, but we’ll see what the series does with it.
IT: Welcome to Derry airs Sundays on HBO
Leave a Reply