It: Welcome to Derry Season 1, Episode 8
"Winter Fire"
Writer: Jason Fuchs
Director: Andy Muschietti
Cast: Clara Stack, Amanda Christine, Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Blake Cameron James, Chris Chalk, Stephen Rider, Matilda Lawler, Arian S. Cartaya, Peter Outerbridge, Lazelle Gelias, Madeleine Stowe, Bill Skarsgård, Kimberly Guerrero, Dorian Grey, Tyner Rushing, Richard Walters, Shane Marriott, Larry Day, Joshua Odjick, Emma-Leigh Cullum, Morningstar Angeline
We’ve arrived at the season one finale, which bills itself as just that: the end of the first chapter. There’s more to this story, and not just the It duology of films depicting the entity’s demise. Throughout this episode, Muschietti and co. hint at an ongoing, multi-season story which may actually take us backward in time.
Pennywise reveals that he experiences time differently than the people of Derry, meaning he remembers his death at the hands of the Losers at the end of It: Chapter Two. In the epilogue, Marge and Lilly posit that he may try and rewrite history if he carries this knowledge deeper into the past. They concede there’s really nothing they can do about such a heady possibility, teeing up a battle for someone else to fight. Folks, I think we’re looking at an anthology series. Will we get to see what Derry was like in feudal Japan?
Something to ponder later. For now, let’s recap this finale.
Why Not Send the Eagles to Destroy Pennywise?
A sentient fog descends on Derry, winding through the streets. It envelops the school, where the children are drawn to the auditorium for a special assembly. There on stage, still up to his eyeballs in blood from his hibernation pool, Pennywise decapitates their principal. Though a captive audience already, a glimpse of the deadlights really knocks the kids out. They float and trail after him as he heads out of town in a rickety circus wagon. Will and his classmates will serve as trail mix for a dancing clown eager to take his act global. Pied Piper, eat your heart out.
Ronnie, Marge, and Lilly stumble on the aftermath at the school. A trail of gore leads through the fog to the tail end of this horrific, unauthorized field trip. Realizing one Schwinn can hardly support them on a high speed chase to rescue their classmates, Marge commandeers a milk truck. This only gets them so far, though for a first time driver still acclimating to the loss of an eye, Marge navigates the fog of war quite handily before crashing into a tree.
We’ve established that the ritual dagger is ostensibly Tolkien’s One Ring, and that’s very much a factor here. When it tumbles out of the truck, Lilly is extremely reluctant for anyone else to handle it. Not only does this thing instill an aggressive hold on those in contact with it, it also exhibits a pull toward its place of origin, in this case the cistern. Luckily, Ronnie is a chip off the ol’ Samwise and convinces Lilly to share the burden of the dagger so they can save Will.
Shining in the Dark
Meanwhile, Leroy finds Dick back at the base in a very bad way. Beset by heckling ghosts, Dick is ready to end things. Before he can discharge his sidearm, Leroy pleads for Dick to help save Will. Whether it’s the plight of a child or his friend’s vulnerability, Dick realizes he has to try. Leroy smuggles him off the base to Rose’s farm.
Charlotte lashes out over Leroy’s role in their son’s kidnapping. Looking over maps of the pillars, Rose fears there’s no hope in rescuing the children or halting the entity’s escape. Then she remembers the dagger is still in play. If Dick can use his abilities to locate it in time, they can use it to close the loop and keep the monster in its cage. She brews a special tea of Maturin root to calm Dick’s mind. They load him into the back of a van and head for the frozen Penobscot River, where Pennywise makes his crossing out of Derry.
Beep Beep, You’re Richie’s Mom!
When the girls attempt to pull Will from his stupor, Pennywise isolates Marge. He refers to her by her future surname. Whether he’s actually confused about the timeline or simply lording over her with his knowledge of future events, Marge understands. She’ll one day have a son named Richie Tozier and he’ll help defeat Pennywise once and for all! Villains! You can’t be toying with your food like this! It gives people time to storm your mind palace! Just as Pennywise unhinges his jaws, ready to devour Marge, he freezes.
As the adults in the van near Pennywise on the river, Dick is able to invade the entity’s mind, taking on the form of the carnival barker from 1908. Pennywise finds himself in the back of the wagon, stirring from sleep. The inference here is that, if only in this dream, he really is Bob Gray and that everything after the man’s abduction was a fantasy. The other carnies found him out in the woods and nursed him back to health. It doesn’t take long for Pennywise to see through the ruse and reveal Dick’s face under the barker’s. But it stalls him long enough for Marge to escape and Will to shake free from the grip of the deadlights. That’s about when the van pulls up, reuniting kids and parents.
The plan is to get the dagger to a dead tree on the far side of the river and bury it there, closing the cage. Unfortunately, General Shaw and his men have arrived to keep Leroy from doing that. They fire on Leroy and Taniel as they make a mad dash from the van. Taniel is mortally wounded and Leroy has to convince Will that he has what it takes to finish this thing. The kids make the final push to the dead oak, though the dagger nearly succeeds in drawing Will away.
Pennywise regains consciousness in time to eat General Shaw’s face. One last moment between him and Rose might’ve been nice, but there’s a lot going on! The dancing clown charges the gap in a bid to escape.
“So long, losers!”
This is one of those third acts where time and geography are a little murky. Even with those long, long legs, Pennywise sure is taking his time getting across the river. Leroy pleads with Colonel Fuller to stop him, to no avail. Leroy finally decides to buck authority and leads the others in subduing the soldiers, taking their rifles, and firing on Pennywise.
Dick witnesses a “miracle” only he can see, as the spirit of Rich Santos races across the ice, flips off Pennywise, and helps his friends force the dagger down into the earth. It’s an awesome visual, and I love the idea of Rich doing his part to save the day. Pennywise makes one last ditch effort to escape, transforming into a huge batlike creature to descend on the kids.
The closing of the circuit creates a shockwave, blasting Pennywise backward onto the ice. He cycles through various past forms, including Pickle Daddy and the mutant baby from the first episode, before diminishing into raw deadlight and retreating back into the dark.
Children of Maturin
With Pennywise back in the ground, it’s time to set the table for the events of It. Marge champions the power of friendship in her graveside eulogy for Rich. There, Dick comforts the boy’s parents, promising that their son will always be present. It feels like he’s well on his way to becoming the mentor character we know from The Shining and Doctor Sleep. He tells Leroy he’s taken up an offer in a hotel kitchen. No surprise there.
Will and Ronnie share a kiss, believing they won’t see each other again. Ronnie and her dad are headed across the border to Canada with the help of Rose’s friends there. Will and his parents are leaving Derry, too. Except, Charlotte is swayed by Rose’s offer to take her place at her farm and, more importantly, in the Children of Maturin. The family agree to stay, emboldened by the notion of a crusade they can join in together.
Ingrid Kersh finds herself restrained at Juniper Hill, and we flash forward to the late '80s where she remains as an elderly woman. This is indeed the same Mrs. Kersh from It: Chapter Two. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when she wanders down the hall and sees Sophia Lillis back in the role of young Beverly Marsh. Bev’s mother, Elfrida, has just hanged herself. Ingrid’s presence here at such a traumatic event explains why the entity takes her form to haunt an adult Bev in 2016.
And that’s It!
As for what’s next? They really seem to be teasing a second season set in an even earlier point in the entity’s past. We know It surfaced in the 30s. That’s certainly on the table. Though the origins of Pennywise as an avatar are established in 1908, this new wrinkle of the entity experiencing time out of sequence technically means the dancing clown could appear…whenever. It gets tricky because we’re confined to this little patch of Maine. The American Civil War? Counting on my fingers here…the War of 1812?
We’ll just have to wait and see.
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