It’s been a long week for those who tuned into the premiere of IT: Welcome to Derry, with fans desperate to find out what’s next after that shocking final scene. The prequel series, which takes place in 1962 Derry, introduces us to several school kids in the first episode, only to kill multiple off before the credits start to roll. Viewers on social media could not get over the massacre in the movie theater, and no, it is not a dream.
The second episode of IT: Welcome to Derry, which was released early on HBO Max in time for Halloween, opens with Lilly having a nightmare of the murders. But when she wakes up, we get confirmation that it wasn’t just a dream. Her friends were really killed in front of her. And now, Ronnie’s dad Hank, who runs the theater, is a prime suspect.
The Hanlons are back together
Elsewhere in Derry, Leroy moves into his new home, and his wife, Charlotte (Taylour Paige), and their son, Will (Blake Cameron James), finally arrive. They’re excited for their future in their new home, though there are understandable concerns that they might not be welcome in the neighborhood by their new white neighbors.
Ronnie and Lilly reunite at school, while Marge is concerned that the popular girls won’t want to speak with Lilly if she keeps spending time with Ronnie. Lilly doesn’t care about that kind of stuff anymore, not after what happened in the movie theater. Will is the new kid in class, and he gets bullied.
At base, Leroy learns that a man named Masters, the same airman who disrespected him in the first episode, actually planned the attack on him. Colonel Fuller promises that justice will be served, but Leroy isn’t convinced that’s the whole story.
Charlotte explores downtown Derry, which includes a Paul Bunyan statue going up—a nod to the book It—and is disturbed when seeing a group of boys beating up another. She tries to break it up, but ends up drawing more attention to herself than she intended.
At dinner that night, she tells Leroy and Will what happened, but Leroy suggests laying low. He references an incident that happened in Shreveport, something she doesn’t want to talk about.
Ronnie reunites with her late mother… sort of
Over at Ronnie’s house, she’s losing sleep over her father and grandmother fighting. Her dad is sure he’s going to be framed for the murders. Suddenly, Ronnie’s bed starts pounding, like a pulse, and she finds herself inside someone’s body. As she tries to claw her way out, her surroundings fill up with water. Close to drowning, she’s able to punch her way out, and she’s covered in blood.
On her bed, she sees her late mom, realizing she was in her pregnant stomach. Her mom cries, telling her that she “tore [her] apart.” She also says her dad is going to die. Ronnie tries to run away, but she’s attached to an umbilical cord, which pulls her in closer. Her mom’s stomach has teeth, and as it opens, Ronnie sees Pennywise’s glowing eyes—not that she knows who he is.
Ronnie successfully bites through the umbilical cord and is free, but her mom begins lunging forward, trying to get her. At the perfect time, Ronnie’s dad barges into the room, and her mom is gone.
Dick’s special job
We get a little more from Dick this episode, including teases at his “shining” power. But first, we see him at a bar at night with some of the guys from base. Derry’s Chief of Police, who we later find out is Chief Bowers—a relative of It’s Henry and Butch Bowers, of course—drinks at the bar, where he’s threatened by locals to arrest Hank for the murders.
Dick and his friends get kicked out, for seemingly no reason other than the fact that they’re Black, and after indulging in some moonshine, they head back to base. Despite the fact that they’re not supposed to be out, Dick gets special treatment, proving he’s an important person for the military.
The next day at a construction site, we see a little bit of what Dick is doing for the Air Force, assuring the men that they’re close to what they’re looking for.
Ronnie and Lilly fight
At school, Ronnie tells Lilly what happened to her, and she grows upset when she finds out that Lilly didn’t tell the police that Hank was definitely not at the theater the night of the murders. Ronnie doesn’t understand why Lilly wouldn’t tell the truth—that a monster killed their friends—but Lilly knows if she does, the adults won’t believe her. And she might be sent back to Juniper Hill Asylum over it.
Ronnie yells at Lilly and causes a scene, which sends her to detention. Meanwhile, Will eats lunch in the hallway and befriends a kid named Rich (Arian S. Cartaya). Their conversation is cut short when a student sets off a stink bomb, and Will isn’t able to get away in time to avoid being blamed. He’s also sent to detention.
Lilly speaks with Chief Bowers and tells him that Hank wasn’t at the theater, but Bowers is determined to blame him for the murders. He uses mind games to confuse her and trick her, scaring her into thinking she’ll be sent to Juniper Hill. She realizes that if she says Hank definitely wasn’t there, she’ll be back in the hospital. So she tells Bowers that she’s actually not sure.
Cut to Hank being arrested. It’s a heartbreaking moment for Ronnie and her grandmother as he’s ripped away from his home and taken to jail for something he didn’t do.
Leroy learns what he’s really doing in Derry
Over at base, Leroy gets to the bottom of the attack, confronting Masters, who’s being held in a cell. He proves that Masters couldn’t have handled the gun that was used, and eventually, Shaw confesses that he was the one who staged the whole thing. He explains that it was a test, because he’s been looking for a man who has no fear. He has a job he needs help with, and he now knows Leroy is the right person for it.
Leroy is understandably upset, but agrees to let Shaw explain.
Lilly is revisited by her late father
Our final horror sequence of the second episode is another strong one, seeing Lilly, unfortunately, targeted again. While shopping alone at the grocery store, she begins to hear voices. When she turns down an aisle, she’s disturbed to see cereal boxes with her dead friends’ faces—rotting—plastered on the front. She suddenly gets cornered in an aisle of pickle jars, a reference to her late dad, and her dad’s head appears in one.
As the jars begin to fall to the floor and break, her dad’s body parts begin appearing and coming back together. One tentacle-like limb begins to choke Lilly. Before she’s killed, she snaps out of the trance-like situation to find a store employee standing above her, yelling at her. Her dad, and his limbs, are gone. Lilly is later taken to Juniper Hill against her will.
The episode ends with Leroy learning a bit about what’s really going on at base, and what he’s really there for. Shaw explains that he’s heading an operation that would end the war, threatening armies with something that causes fear. Of course, this has to be something related to the entity of “It.”
While Shaw is explaining his plan to Leroy, Fuller and Dick come in to deliver the news: they’ve found something. The men head outside to find a car being lifted out of the ground, with multiple skeletons hanging out of it.
As a huge fan of It, I’m really interested in where this military storyline is going now. The horror sequences of the show are still really great, and I’m pretty invested in the characters at this point. Welcome to Derry isn’t perfect, but it’s entertaining enough to keep watching.
IT: Welcome to Derry episode 2 is now streaming on HBO Max, and will premiere on the channel HBO on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Next week’s episode will be released at its usual Sunday time. Check back with us at Show Snob for our coverage of the rest of the season!