There's a reason IT: Welcome To Derry's surprise episode slipped under the radar
Welcome To Derry's surprise episode sets up expectations that it can’t deliver on—despite all the cannibalism, zombies, death, creepy visions, and Pennywise on display.
HBO's IT: Welcome To Derry surprised viewers on Halloween with a 30-minute flashback episode titled A Story Of Derry. Co-written by Cherie Dimaline and Jasmyne Flournoy, the episode ties into the fourth season one episode, "The Great Swirling Apparatus Of Our Planet's Function." This episode provides backstory about the entity known as Pennywise, who was trapped in Derry, ME by its ancestors.
Pennywise, or The Kollu, was banished to Earth by Maturin The Turtle during a cosmic war. The episode follows three Native American teenage girls who venture into a forbidden forest to find food, only to be hunted by Pennywise. Mitig, a quirky and unpredictable character who worships Pennywise and sacrifices his tribe members to it, helps the girls but is killed off early in the episode.
The story delves into the history of Pennywise and Maturin, but the execution is lacking due to poor CGI, a weak structure, and dangling plotlines. The episode feels shapeless and doesn't deliver on its promise of a new backstory for Pennywise, leaving viewers disappointed.
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