Welcome to Derry Makes Pennywise Terrifying Again
Nerdy Up North Podcast
The setup
Years before the Losers' Club confronts Pennywise, another generation of Derry residents begins experiencing the horror buried beneath the town. As children investigate disappearances and strange events, military personnel become increasingly interested in the power connected to Derry, while the series also explores the history surrounding Pennywise, the Black Spot and Dick Hallorann.
Welcome to Derry has much going on that I think that's both its strength and its biggest weakness. When it works it is some of the best Stephen King television we have had in a long time. The opening episode wastes no time. The final two episodes are fantastic. There are moments towards the end that feel like everything the show has been building towards locks into place. The world-building is probably what I enjoyed most. Giving us another group of children running away from Pennywise we get more history around Derry itself, the people who lived there before and connections to the wider Stephen King universe.
Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann is one of the biggest highlights. Every time the series focuses on him it feels like there is another show sitting there waiting to be made. Then there is Pennywise. Holding Bill Skarsgård back was absolutely the decision. Throwing him into episode one would have killed the anticipation. When Pennywise finally arrives the payoff is worth it. This might actually be my favourite version of Skarsgårds Pennywise. The movements, the eyes and the way the show uses him make him more intimidating than he felt in parts of the films.
The Black Spot sequence is particularly brutal. Proves the series can create horror without recycling scenes from IT. My main issue is the length. Eight episodes feels longer than this story needed to be. The first episode is great the ending is great. There is a stretch in the middle where things slow down more than they should. The military storyline is where I felt that the most. The idea of the army trying to control or weaponise something like Pennywise is interesting on paper. Much time is spent around the base and some of the logic becomes more complicated than it needs to be.
There are also questions, about how remembering and forgetting Derry works. The mythology has always had some ambiguity. Introducing characters and generations makes those rules harder to ignore.Tthere is more here that I loved than disliked. If this is the beginning of exploring more of Derrys history I'm absolutely interested.
Positives
Fantastic first episode and final stretch. Bill Skarsgård's best Pennywise material. Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann. Deeper Derry mythology. Black Spot sequence. connections to the wider Stephen King universe. Mrs. Kersh backstory. Genuinely disturbing horror Strong world building.
Negatives
Eight episodes feels too long. Middle section drags. Too much time spent on the military base. The attempt to weaponise Pennywise feels overcomplicated. Some of Derry's remembering/forgetting rules become confusing.
Verdict
Welcome to Derry isn't perfect, but when it hits, it really hits. It expands the mythology instead of simply remaking IT again, gives us an incredible Dick Hallorann and somehow manages to make Pennywise frightening again. Cut some of the middle away and this could have been exceptional, but there is still a lot here worth coming back for.
