It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Winter Fire

For Stephen King fans, It: Welcome to Derry has been leading up to an action-packed finale, even if its had hick-ups along the way. Although the previous episodes have somewhat struggled to handle its intertwining storylines, this episode is able to finally create a cohesive conclusion.

The previous episode, “The Black Spot”, did leave much to consider given how dangerous the stakes have gotten. With Shaw’s turn, Rich’s untimely death, and Pennywise kidnapping Will, there’s only so much that can be resolved with one last episode. Fortunately, “Winter Fire” takes a cautious approach when it comes to tying everything together.

The way that it does so is through what happens with Lilly, Ronnie, and Marge, who are still trying to cope with Rich’s death. Specifically, Marge is taking it way more harder, given the little romantic tidbits we’ve gotten so far.

The fact that Rich has played such an integral role, even in death, says something about his character that is not just narratively moving, but emotional as well. Clearly, Rich’s presence has been keeping the Losers Club together and without him, their chances of defeating Pennywise are slim to none.

The Losers Club has hit their lowest point, but they’re still guided on when they discover that Pennywise took all their classmates. While it does go to show the perseverance they still have, the things that they do before they unite with the adults play on does provide a much needed test for them.

For most of It: Welcome to Derry Season 1, Lilly, Ronnie, and Marge have been on edge constantly, though it was mostly through emotional means. Here, their shared pent-up anger gets extremely fueled by the mystic dagger, whose abilities were only brought to life when Hallorann sensed them.

What comes out of the Losers Club’s outburst is a genuinely intense fight that sees Ronnie and Marge trying to save Lilly from the dagger’s power. There’s a lot of tugging and pulling back and forth between the girls, but it genuinely feels nerve-wracking to watch.

Even though you know that the episode won’t make a twist until the climax, the physicality will make you believe that at least one of them is going to get it. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen to be the case here.

Speaking on Hallorann, he’s also still dealing with the many spirits calling out to him to the point of suicide, only to be saved by Leroy at the last minute. Much like the build-up with the Losers Club here, Hallorann and Leroy’s interaction are kept short. However, the payoff has still felt somewhat weird.

From what I can understand, between what Episode 7 and Episode 8 have tried to do with Hallorann is use his abilities to connect with the spirit world to hold Pennywise. Even though that’s what we get with what he does in the climax, in a way, it feels like Hallorann’s only still at a moderate level with what he can do.

Of course, this changes when Hallorann and Leroy reconnect with Charlotte, Rose, and Taniel. After Rose suggests to “connect” Hallorann to the spiritual world, Hallorann is essentially turned into a beacon to track down the dagger.

However, when Hallorann manages to trap Pennywise in his mindscape by manipulating it into the past life, it makes you want to root for Hallorann. No longer does it feel like he’s just the psychic outcast of the Season 1 roster; Hallorann finally regains the full confidence he’s lost, even if Pennywise discovers what’s going on.

However, when Shaw comes back into the picture with his gang, it just feels somewhat frustrating to see the episode permeating this twist. Even though there were hints that Shaw had his own plan for Pennywise, I was holding out hope that Shaw wouldn’t have been corrupt like Bowers.

Unfortunately, that isn’t the case as Shaw orders his goons to stop the Losers Club, only to take down Taniel and Leroy in the process. Taniel’s death does provide that needed pain as he’s already gone through a lot of trouble with Shaw, but to see him shot dead is incredibly sad as well.

For some well provided karma, Shaw gets his dues when he tries to tame the freed Pennywise, to which he gets rightfully mutilated. As for the Losers Club, they do happily reunite with Will, but the path to stop Pennywise is still long and hard.

Pushing through the snow and winds, the buildup to the Club trying to implant the dagger into the tree is ever so operatic. It’s got this whole grandiose winding that’s enhanced by the encroaching terror of Pennywise even when Leroy tries, and fails, to shoot “IT” down.

Fortunately, on some perfectly timed pacing, Rich’s spirit comes back to make one last big move that makes him the MVP of It: Welcome to Derry Season 1.

Running to the aid of the Losers Club with a middle finger to Pennywise, like the angel he is, Rich helps plant the dagger into the tree in an explosive moment that rivals It: Chapter Two‘s climax. It’s confidently presented as a glorious turning as Pennywise desperately makes his last attempt, only to fail.

With Derry saved, Rich finally gets the respect he deserves as a character, both in-universe and in general. Hallorann being that center to connecting Rich’s spirit with his parents, who we haven’t seen up until now, is just sweet to watch.

Marge’s heartfelt speech also makes the moment even brighter (and perhaps is the reason why she names her son Richie in the first place!) This also counterbalances Pennywise’s prophetic warning about his demise at the hands of the films’ Losers Club in a sensibly gratifying way.

The final tidbits with Leroy and Charlotte deciding to stay in Derry, with Rose’s word, also puts the cherry on top. While Will and Ronnie’s relationship was cemented here, this still feels somewhat underdeveloped. Still, it gives us a hopeful conclusion as we already know what’s coming soon, given those fun movie teases.

It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 Episode 8 is a satisfying ending that confidently wraps up its intertwining storylines through its final fiery confrontation with Pennywise. While it does leave room to explore Derry’s past and Pennywise’s time-travelling, this chapter closes on a high note despite its shaky run.

Stray Thoughts:

• I had a feeling that Marge was going to be revealed as Richie’s mother, but I’m also a bit surprised that they’re incorporating into It with that ending card. It does make it seem like Season 2 is in the cards.
• It was also pretty funny to see Marge trying to commandeer the ice cream truck while Lilly and Ronnie were arguing.
• They actually brought back Sophia Lillis as Beverly when it’s revealed that Ingrid is still alive? Now that was a bigger surprise for me!
• The visual aesthetics at the end of the episode really did feel like the show’s transitioning into the It film world.
• You mean to tell me that Hallorann also dropped a reference to The Shining? Just like that?! 

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All episodes of It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 are now streaming on HBO Max.

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