Welcome To Derry Episode 2 Sets Up One Of It's Most Tragic Events

This article contains spoilers for "It: Welcome to Derry" season 1, episode 2, "The Thing in the Dark."

Based on its first two episodes, "It: Welcome to Derry" seems intent on filling a self-imposed quota of at least two soul-scarringly innovative scare sequences per episode. However, the show has more to it than just horror. Since "Welcome to Derry" is an "It" prequel series that's based on the loose timeline of awful events in Derry's history and aims to tell Pennywise the clown's (Bill Skarsgård) real origin story straight from Stephen King, it dumps plenty of deep-cut lore on the viewer. The presence of young Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk), for instance, links "Welcome to Derry" to King's "The Shining" while still remaining faithful to the show's source material — after all, Hallorann is a minor character in "It" the novel.

Speaking of Hallorann, his role in "Welcome to Derry" season 1 seems to be quite crucial. In "The Thing in the Dark," we learn that he's working with the military to search for a potential super-weapon, and the old car they discover at the end of the episode — the car of the Bradley Gang, who were gunned down at the climactic moments of It's last awakening in 1935 — gives us a pretty chilling idea of things to come. Since Hallorann is here, the year is 1962, and It has awakened once again, the car discovery effectively confirms that we're heading toward a very particular climax for this particular Pennywise cycle: A local racist cult burning down the Black Spot bar.

Andy and Barbara Muschietti haven't shied away from spoilers when it comes to the climactic event of "It: Welcome to Derry" season 1. In fact, they've already confirmed that the Black Spot fire is the big event of the season. "We needed an anchor for our first season. Andy decided it was going to be the Black Spot," Barbara Muschietti explained in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "It's a reflection of a terrible time in history." 

The burning of the crowded Black Spot — a prominent nightclub mainly frequented by Black customers — is one of the most awful events in Derry's pockmarked history, and this heinous hate crime fits in with the Civil Rights Movement-era tensions "Welcome to Derry" covers quite extensively. It also serves as a roadmap for future seasons, because it helps fans to surmise what the climaxes of the planned but as-yet unconfirmed seasons 2 and 3 would be. 

Since the Muschiettis have also confirmed that the show plans to focus on earlier versions of It's 27-year hibernation-awakening cycles with every season, the potential season 2 is set to take place in 1935. Because the people of Derry gun down the Bradley Gang this very year and their skeleton-filled car is already in play, it's fair to assume that the shootout will serve as the sophomore season's climax. Meanwhile, the third season would take place in 1908, and likely end with the terrible explosion of an iron works factory at an unfortunate moment when it's filled with young Easter egg hunters. If the show gets to tell that story, expect nothing less than absolute carnage. 

"It: Welcome to Derry" season 1 is streaming on HBO Max.