IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 8 Review

Upsettingly, we’ve reached the end of the first season of IT: Welcome to Derry. It’s been quite a ride in the 8 weeks since the death of Matty Clements kicked off all of this chaos, and now, the time has come for this series to stick the landing – so did it succeed? Last week’s episode of Welcome to Derry was masterful, an intense, emotionally-devastating rollercoaster that set this season up for an incredible finale. Now, with Welcome to Derry Episode 8, we get to see goodbye to Pennywise’s 1962 feeding cycle, and boy, does this show go out with a bang!

Today, we’re reviewing IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 8, the conclusive hour of the first chapter of HBO’s take on Pennywise’s rampages over the small town of Derry. This is your official spoiler warning! We’ll not only be discussing the events of previous episodes in this series, but also the events of this newly-released eighth episode, so be sure to watch for yourself before reading ahead! Now, let’s dive into the review!

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IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 8 Review

Image by HBO

If anything needs to be said about Welcome to Derry Episode 8 off the bat, it’s that the visuals this week were absolutely stunning. It’s no secret that in earlier episodes, the VFX of this series could be a little less than appealing, but thankfully, this season finale went all-out with the budget, and is filled to the brim with iconic shots and scene compositions. I will never forget the shock and awe of seeing Pennywise use the school principal as a ventriloquist dummy, the shot of him skating across the misty ice with only his glowing yellow eyes as a giveaway to his location, or the insane transformation he undergoes right before our 1962 Losers Club sends him back to hibernation. All of these shots were not only creative, but looked gorgeous, allowing us to fall headfirst into the world of Welcome to Derry Episode 8 – a far cry from the unsightly CGI-ghost children back in the show’s early days!

With all of these shots in mind, we can certainly praise Welcome to Derry Episode 8 for making up for any feeling of Pennywise’s absence in this show’s early days. He gets so much screentime this week, that I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of him here than we did back in the first IT movie in 2017. In fact, we get so much of Pennywise in Welcome to Derry Episode 8, that it feels like certain characters, who felt like the show’s focus in its early days, have fallen behind a little here. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the fall from grace that Ronnie experienced in this show, going from a potential lead in the series’ early days, to a complete background character, getting even less to do in this show than Marge, who only became a member of the Losers Club over halfway through the season! I’m sure plenty of people will love how much time Pennywise gets to shine in Welcome to Derry Episode 8, but I wish it wasn’t at the expense of the characters we’ve come to love throughout the season.

With that being said, Pennywise’s appearances aren’t all razzle and dazzle in Welcome to Derry Episode 8, as we do get some very interesting information this week as to how Pennywise views time, and importantly, the true nature of Welcome to Derry as a show. Not only does Pennywise not see time in chronological order, but we also discover that Welcome to Derry is not only a prequel to the IT movies, but also, a sequel. I couldn’t believe it when Pennywise revealed that he was aware of his death at the hands of the Losers Club in 2016, thus revealing that Welcome to Derry is actually Pennywise going back through his feeding cycles, trying to prevent his killers from ever being born. This is all a little dangerous, as Welcome to Derry Episode 8 runs the risk of turning the series into something much more ambitious than I think it needs to be. However, it does pose a very interesting future for the show, and removes almost all sense of predictability from future seasons. It also solves the problem of Pennywise not appearing in later seasons due to them preceding the death of Bob Gray, as clearly, Pennywise will always be able to pull out his clown form, considering time doesn’t flow chronologically for him. What a way of solving that problem!

Image by HBO

Yes, in some ways Welcome to Derry Episode 8 is incredibly ambitious, and poses some very interesting questions regarding the nature of Pennywise, and his relationship with Welcome to Derry as a show. However, I think in some ways, this finale played it a little safe. I’m almost shocked to say that practically no major characters die this week, in a move that feels pretty bizarre. Sure, General Shaw meets his end, but who didn’t see that coming? The only other major death is Taniel, who isn’t really that much of a major character at all. He contributes quite a lot to the story in his own way, but he was pretty underdeveloped, and I can’t say we ever got to know his personality all that well. I was almost sure we’d lose at least one of the major adults in Welcome to Derry Episode 8, if not another one of the children who make up the Losers Club. I’m not even sure how many of the kids that were trapped in Pennywise’s ‘Deadlights’ were killed. For a show so shrouded in death and doom, this finale had surprisingly little of it.

However, this was an amazing episode for Dick Hallorann, a character that I’ve had a strained relationship with throughout the series. This week, he really comes into his own, which was great to see. I was getting a little tired of his constant distress, regardless of how much narrative sense it made. Seeing him take ownership of his abilities, and even use them for good at Rich’s funeral, was heartwarming, and really made me take to the character. This only makes it even more upsetting, considering we know what fate awaits Hallorann in The Shining. Luckily, he makes his mark on Welcome to Derry Episode 8 in more ways than one, even managing to get inside Pennywise’s head, and trap him in an illusion of his own – I never would have seen that coming! Welcome to Derry Episode 8 was easily Dick Hallorann’s best episode, and the set-up for his presence in The Shining gave me chills. I really hope we can, somehow, see Chris Chalk return as the character in the future.

After all of the chaos out on the ice, Welcome to Derry Episode 8 wraps up almost all of the show’s major storylines quite nicely, the only dangling thread being the military storyline, but I guess Shaw’s death is meant to represent an end to all of the plans to free Pennywise. However, we haven’t talked about the star of this week’s episode, a character so charismatic that he steals the show even after his death. I loved each and every appearance of Rich in this episode. His defiance against Pennywise was amazing at the height of the action, but it was his consolation of his friends and family at his own funeral that really made me love this appearance. I was worried that his death would be used against the Losers Club by Pennywise, but thankfully, Welcome to Derry Episode 8 honours the character in the most tasteful, and character-accurate way possible. Arian S. Cartaya is the breakout star of Welcome to Derry for me – what an incredibly talented young actor.

Image by HBO

So, was Welcome to Derry Episode 8 the perfect finale? Well, not really. I think Episode 7 being so insanely good set this finale up for failure in some ways, so perhaps its ability to stand as a solid episode at all ought to be praised. However, I was hoping for a few more surprises, and perhaps a less optimistic ending, as awful as that may make me sound. For our remaining cast of characters, everything is really looking up at the end of Welcome to Derry Episode 8, which feels disarmingly hopeful for this series. I wouldn’t say the finale was underwhelming, more so it was just, whelming. I expected a solid conclusion to the story, and I got that, with a few time-bending reveals thrown into the mix. However, I think that Episode 7 is still easily the best episode of Welcome to Derry, so though this finale was very solid, it didn’t outdo what it brought to the table last week.

There is, however, a lot to think about when it comes to the very last scene of Welcome to Derry Episode 8. We see Ingrid Kersh, now a resident of Juniper Hill, and then jump forward 26 years, where she now looks exactly how she did in IT: Chapter Two. As she rushes down the hall and sees Beverly Marsh mourning the loss of her mother, who has committed suicide, a rush of ideas flood my head. Has the timeline changed? Surely given their interaction in the second IT movie, Beverly is not supposed to see Ingrid when she’s this young? I’m also convinced that Beverly’s mother is Lilly Bainbridge, despite her name being completely different. Everything lines up too well for that to be the case, but unfortunately, Welcome to Derry Episode 8 doesn’t answer these questions, and simply cuts to black. I’d like to hope we’ll get some answers in the next season, but we’re likely jumping back in time next, so who knows?

Overall, Welcome to Derry Episode 8 was a great season finale for a show that certainly proved its worth across the past couple of months. There are still plenty of questions lingering in my brain, but who knows? Perhaps the next season of this show will reveal all. What did you think of this week’s episode and Welcome to Derry as a whole? Be sure to let us know, and thanks for reading!

See also: All Alien Movies, Ranked

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Where to Watch IT: Welcome to Derry?

Image by HBO

IT: Welcome to Derry aired weekly on HBO, 9pm E.T., or if you’re reading from the UK, 1am GMT on Monday mornings. You can now stream all 8 episodes of the series on HBO Max, or Sky in the UK. Season 2 has not yet been announced, but we’re almost sure it’ll be coming!

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