It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 5 Review: 29 Neibolt Street

As It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 has been gradually ramping up the fear factor with each new episode, it finally reaches that much-needed turning point with It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 5, “29 Neibolt Street.”

Previously, It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 4 gave us an incredible amount of information about the origins of the Creature, something that we’ve been waiting quite a while for. However, that’s not to say that it didn’t retain those character-centric narratives that allowed us to get closer to the Hanlon family and the Losers Club.

While the previous episode highlighted the social struggle that Ronnie’s father, Hank, faces despite Charlotte’s help and Lilly dealing with trying to prove herself, “29 Neibolt Street” begins to really tie every storyline together.

As a result, what we get from this episode is not just a good emotional binding of all the characters, but also a tension-fueled venture that holds much more weight for It: Welcome to Derry‘s future. This already proves itself with its surprising opening scene.

After Lilly has a brief heart-to-heart with Susie about the attack on her from “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function,” the Club heads back to their hideout, only to discover that Matty is somehow hiding out in their little tent.

Even though the circumstances surrounding Matty were supposed to be more of a shocker on It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 1, his return here makes you a bit suspicious. Out of all places, Matty decided to hide here after, somehow, escaping the Creature, and is still alive.

Though we get a bit more details about why he’s hiding here, notably to escape from his abusive dad, his hesitation to fully accept the Losers Club’s help is unusual. However, given Lilly’s situation with her time at Juniper Hill and Ronnie’s infamous reputation at school, they’d have no shot at finding good help.

This potentially changes, however, when the military storyline comes into the fold. With Shaw telling Leroy showing the truth and Hallorann’s role in Shaw’s plan, the pieces for expunging the Creature start falling into place. Unfortunately, Rose knows that “IT” can’t be tamed.

The conversation that Shaw and Rose have about those memories from It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 3 feels a bit short for my own liking.

Sure, we know about Shaw and Rose’s personal motivations, but it definitely could’ve used more time to let those emotions settle in. At least Rose and Taniel’s reunion provides that “feel-good” moment.

Back with Charlotte and Leroy, because of the many eerie teases that the Creature’s been giving to them, they decide to move to Leroy’s base. Even though this action mostly serves to drive that psychological divide between husband and wife forward, it doesn’t necessarily have that much of an impact until later.

What we do get later, when Shaw finally decides to deploy at the Neibolt house, is an extremely haunting expedition with both Leroy and Hallorann. Though we don’t get to see what happens with Leroy later, what we do get with Hallorann is very surprising.

The Creature decides to feed off Hallorann’s psyche by bringing him into this mindscape with his grandmother, who happens to share the same abilities as him. It’s not necessarily made clear whether or not it’s the Creature toying with Hallorann, but it does appear in the form of his grandfather with a locked box.

Given the psychological powers that Hallorann has, it’s very likely that this is a mixture of both the Creature and Hallorann’s own personal demons, with his own confidence manifesting as his grandmother. It’s an unusual sight as Hallorann’s grandfather continually taunts him about “opening the box.”

This entire sequence is where it really feels heavily King-inspired, as Hallorann’s grandmother tries to encourage him despite the demonic pushback. It even ramps up the insanity by physically representing Hallorann’s mental fortitude being shot down by “IT.”

Of course, the entire conundrum with the box ties back to The Shining as it plays a role in the plot there. However, in this episode, it does put a unique spin on it with the Creature. As one of the more bizarre, yet fitting, moments that spiral out, it works in keeping that intrigue about Hallorann’s past.

However, what really takes up the rest of the episode’s final section is just pure terror as the Losers Club and Leroy and Pauly finally cross paths in the sewers. Plus, we finally get Pennywise in all his glory after it’s revealed that it took Matty’s body and the bodies of Lilly’s friends rose up.

The Losers Club nearly makes their escape, but not at a cost: when Leroy believes he’s hallucinating his son, Pauly saves the group at the last minute. The “last” moment between Leroy and Pauly really seeps into those little tidbits of brotherhood that have been shown.

However, this feeling temporarily comes and goes when it’s revealed that whatever Hallorann was keeping in his mind has made its way into Pauly’s body. It does make you wonder what Hallorann was keeping locked inside his mind this whole time: was that “IT” at its full potential or something worse?

It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 5 is a true welcome for Pennywise’s grand return all while finally connecting the storylines together in a satisfying, if stuffed, way. With its conclusion presenting huge questions about Hallorann’s powers and the MacGuffin to stop “IT,” these last three episodes hold much more potential now. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Shaw taking a drug that gave him all the memories he had with Rose at Derry is probably the most blatantly explanatory part of this episode.
• The racial undertones are still in play here as seen when Rose reunites with Taniel. This element is truly a definitive part of It: Welcome to Derry Season 1, even if it can be brash at times.
  • On this note, it’s even more apparent when Hank’s taken into the prison bus, which is a crazy scene of its own!
• There’s a LOT of floating stuff that happens this episode, from Lilly’s little line about life boats to “IT” turning into Charlotte, it feels playfully on the nose.
• “IT” turning into Uncle Sam was honestly pretty hilarious, even though it was supposed to be a jumpscare.
• The twist that Hank was actually getting it on with Ingrid was probably the most surprising one twist of this episode.

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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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