It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Now You See It

As It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 has finally actualized who’s important to the overall story from Episode 2, Season 1 Episode 3 continues to get the ball rolling as every storyline begins to investigate the mystery of what “IT” actually is.

Season 1 Episode 2 saw Lilly being readmitted to Juniper for a short while following her outburst with Ronnie and false confession about Ronnie’s dad. All the meanwhile, the Hanlons are trying to make themselves comfortable despite the awkward vibes the rest of the town gives them.

Though Season 1 Episode 2 was more character-focused on establishing who will actually be involved, It: Welcome to Derry pushes itself forward to start unravelling the mystery behind what makes Derry scary.

It shows this in the most King-like expository way: through a flashback to Derry’s past. Here, young Francis Shaw grows terrified of this carnival’s “attractions”, especially an old decrepit man who taunts him. However, in his troubles, Shaw meets a young Rose and the two become friends that summer.

It felt clear that It: Welcome to Derry was going to incorporate some cultural undertones, especially with Shaw secretly going all “manifest destiny” on Derry’s sacred grounds. However, this connection that Shaw and Rose share, and rekindle, does provide some needed context to Shaw’s operation and how Leroy plays a role into it.

We already know that Shaw wants to control “IT”, but doesn’t have the full means to do so. As perhaps a move of genuine need, or his unknowing manipulation, he needs Rose’s assistance despite her reservations for both herself and Derry’s Native American community.

It’s a moral and emotional dilemma that presents itself early on in order to see if Shaw and Rose can truly work together. It’s first shown through those memories with their younger selves, realizing that they have some level of trust in each other.

The conversation they have in the store later on proves that both of them do indeed know that secret and its risks. Yet, it’s that distance between both of them that pushes away from that common ground caused by that separation all those years ago.

This emotional separation is what drove Shaw to try and find “IT” in the first place, with all the military power that he’s got. However, he also realizes that, with Leroy and Hallorann under his watch, he can do it himself. Of course, the search flight operation goes nearly as bad as you’d expect, but fortunately, no one dies.

It really tries to play up the substantial threat that “IT” poses, by having Hallorann recount his feelings in a way that hits those very familiar beats of worry. The dialogue really shows this as well as the conversation that Hallorann and Shaw share later is supposed to emphasize the dangerous awakening of “IT”. 

However, in a conversation shared by Leroy and Hallorann later on, It: Welcome to Derry leaves more crumbs for the key in stopping “IT”: a person of will, which Leroy fulfills. While it did feel like it was clear that Leroy’s mental strength was proven, the reveal of Hallorann’s involvement may have been a bit forced.

Though it does provide that context of Leroy being extremely analytical, something that “IT” can’t feast upon, the notion that Leroy is the catalyst for defeating this monster was already made.

Although, there is the interesting question of what was the thing that Leroy previously faced that made him this way. Whatever that may be could certainly make Leroy a more rounded character than what he already is now.

As for what the Losers Club goes through here, It: Welcome to Derry never lets up on their struggles to prove that “IT” is real. However, it also really wants to establish that relationship between Will and Ronnie, which was continually teased through Will and the ever-charismatic Richie.

Given how Episode 2 played out, the pieces are definitely there to make Will and Ronnie (and whatever Richie’s interested in) a thing, but it also feels a little forced. However, the rekindling friendship between Lilly and Ronnie does really make you feel empathetic for both of them, given the doubts placed on both of them.

Though, when all of them finally get into the cemetery to try out Richie’s plan, it tries to also ramp up the threatening aura that “IT” has with this messy chase sequence. It’s about as crazy as it is somewhat disorienting to look at, but it does maintain a strong focus on certain moments to keep you present.

At the end of this entire wild third act, there is some hope to keep you invested as Lilly, Ronnie, Will, and Richie have the proof they need to free Ronnie’s father. Although, there’s this consistent feeling that not everything is as it seems, which might be tested when this is eventually presented.

This episode of It: Welcome to Derry is a satisfying watch thanks to Leroy and Hallorann’s operation and Shaw’s hesitancy, but makes the Losers Club’s situation too narratively-focused. Still though, by shining a brighter light on that connection between Shaw and Rose, it can make for a compelling element to drive the military plotline forward.

Stray Thoughts:

• The visual effects of the forms of “IT” in some of those chase sequences might have needed more polish as some of the movements felt stilted.
• Some of beginning scenes, like in the prison with Hank and Bowers, were also brief and could have used a bit more time to sizzle. I do think the show might allow this to happen later on.
• It also feels like the racial undertones of It: Welcome to Derry are definitely being integrated more, first with Hallorann’s group and then with the looks Leroy is given later on.

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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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