It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 2 Review: The Thing In The Dark

It: Welcome to Derry‘s first episode was probably one of the most brutal and gory openings that an HBO show could ever have, not just subverting expectations, but turning them upside-down.

While most of us still remember that climactic ending, Season 1 Episode 1 did lay the groundwork for the mystery to behold through two different perspectives. Now, Season 1 Episode 2 “The Thing In The Dark”, continues establishing more storylines that might finally connect this narrative together.

These two introductory storylines introduced us to school outcast Lilly Bainbridge, who’s constantly being bullied for her “involvement”, and Leroy Hanlon, a military man who seemingly knows no fear. Now, with this episode, we get a character who might be tying all the ties between these stories together: Leroy’s wife, Charlotte.

What we get from Charlotte is a charming and sweet character mixed up in some subtle, if heavy-handed, racial hate of 1960s Americana as she tries to make herself as comfortable as she can in this town. This is already felt from her arrival, which is made very clear by some of the off-putting glares that the neighborhood gives her.

There’s clearly something that It: Welcome to Derry wants to tell from Charlotte’s perspective as she goes about her day, recognizing some of the troubles Derry holds. For example, when no other adult seems to notice a group of older boys bullying a younger guy, she decides to take things into her own hands and step in. However, everyone else around Charlotte seems to look down upon what she’s doing.

It’s this noticeable status quo that plays into that overarching narrative of fear and worry in the first place. This version of Derry has been incredibly accustomed to the troubles that have plagued the town and, because of that, turn the other cheek. It certainly feels like the show knows that it can mix those basic and complex undertones of uncomfortability.

Yet, “The Thing In The Dark” is also able to find a more lighthearted side of this as we also get close interactions with the Hanlon family overall. Charlotte, Leroy, and their son Will, are able to create this bond through the more focused scenes on them and watching them talk about getting used to these new circumstances really resonated with me.

By having that physical and emotional fear factor, It: Welcome to Derry is able to explore those struggles in a way that makes these characters feel grounded in what feels like a “fake” reality of Derry’s own doing. It’s a test of emotional strength that these characters carry on their shoulders that the Creature has influenced for so long.

This even continues to show in the school storyline, which involves Veronica Grogan being treated worse than Lilly because of the blame being put on her father, Hank.

While most of what happens at the school can be played up for the dramatics, the bullying towards both Veronica and Will speaks very loudly to play into that type of tension even more. From a big student tripping Will’s chair out of the way on his first day to Veronica confronting Lilly about her father’s potential arrest, these hard-boiled moments continually show that wickedness, both intentional and unintentional, to capture their emotional fear nicely.

Although, that’s also to say that the shenanigans that also happens at the school feels somewhat chaotic, especially when Rich introduces himself to Will.

This entire scene is heavily over-emphasized in the melodramatic category as Rich swoons over Susie and then finds himself escaping with Will after some smoke bomb is rolled into the halls. It’s some playfully over-emphasized sequence that plays out just to infuse some humor into the story.

However, what we do get between Will and Veronica afterwards plays into It: Welcome to Derry‘s idea of unity quite nicely as they find some common ground. They both know that they’re not the same like everyone else at school and the episode makes this clear, but that “takes one, to know one” bit sticks to the episode’s theme of living differently in its own cute way.

Meanwhile, the military storyline still feels like its setting up for something much more grander than itself. Given what happened in Season 1 with Leroy, when it turns out that the “motivated” attack was actually a test of his physical resilience, it puts a unique, if somewhat unusual, twist on the situation.

Still, I can’t help but feel that, in some way, the attackers did have some motivation to go all out on Leroy in that moment. Of course, there’s still some time to explore that motivation, as well as how General Shaw intends to “build” Leroy into the capable man for the job. Although, the job being to tame the Creature for the United States’ own use still perplexes me.

Overall, It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 2 firmly re-establishes new dynamics through Lilly and Leroy’s perspectives while letting Charlotte’s actions shine in the face of Derry’s own worries. Though it feels like this episode could potentially lead to more copouts, given how Episode 1 ended with that bang, I’m very intrigued to see how these characters carry over and continue on.

Stray Thoughts:

• The way that we saw Season 1 Episode 1’s ending from Lilly’s perspective was a unique choice to start Episode 2; it was definitely terrifying!
• The grocery scene with Lilly trying to get groceries and seeing the flesh pieces of her dad reforming nearly outdoes Episode 1’s ending, but just barely.
• I can definitely say that that bar scene with Hallorann and his peers was definitely racially motivated and the execution of its idea still feels like it needs more depth.
• I actually felt a bit claustrophobic watching Veronica’s nightmare of being trapped in that blood bath being played out. It was extremely grotesque, but it worked in its intentions!

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New episodes of It: Welcome to Derry release on Sundays, 9:00 PM EST, on HBO and HBO Max.

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