It: Welcome To Derry's Biggest Problem Could Be Catastrophic For Pennywise

This article contains spoilers for the first six episodes of "It: Welcome to Derry."

How do you make the quintessential scary clown story less scary? The same way you make anything less scary: by bringing it out into the light. Horror thrives upon our collective fear of the unknown. It's the not knowing that makes something truly unsettling, and in that sense, the whole project of "It: Welcome to Derry" seems simultaneously fascinating and potentially disastrous to one of the most celebrated horror works of the last century.

You know what made "Skinamarink" the scariest movie of 2023? The fact that you never find out what the heck is going on. Sure, the film was dismissed by many as a dull montage of grainy nothing shots, but even those who couldn't sit through Kyle Edward Ball's experimental kinder trauma had to admit the film possessed an undeniably palpable sense of doom and despair. Much of that came from the fact that the movie refused to explain itself, both in terms of never explaining its overarching narrative and in terms of the literal look of the film, which featured oddly-framed shots that literally hid much of the action.

Take any scene from any movie that truly disturbed you, and there's almost certainly going to be an element of elision to it. The terrifying ghost woman scene in "Pulse," the harrowing "what's in the box?" climax of "Seven," or the way in which "True Detective" season 1 never confirms whether the Carcosa cult had a supernatural element or not: these indelible examples refuse to explain themselves, thereby ensuring you never forget. As such, a TV series exploring and explaining the minutiae of a horror franchise seems almost designed to sap that franchise of its power, and with "Welcome to Derry," there are already signs that this is exactly what's happening.

When it debuted, "It: Welcome to Derry" revealed itself as a surprisingly scary and gruesome show, shocking viewers with a brutal pilot episode that culminated in a group of kids being absolutely eviscerated. Things remained that way for the first few episodes, as It terrorized Derry residents with hellish actualizations of their deepest fears. But the real project of "Welcome to Derry" is not to scare you. It's to explain and explore not only the history of the "It" saga but wider Stephen King lore, making it crucial viewing for fans of the author.

Put simply, "Welcome to Derry" is designed to answer three major questions left unaddressed by Stephen King's "It" novel, all of which pertain to the titular entity. For King mega-fans, such a project will seem like a dream come true. For casuals or even moderate horror fans who like a good creepy clown story, however, it's the perfect way to rob Pennywise of his menace.

You can feel that process starting around episode five of the show. By this point, we've learned how It came to Earth and became contained by indigenous people who lived on the land that later became Derry. The "pillars" that keep the evil from expanding beyond the town's limits are also the only things capable of subduing its power, as evidenced by the moment in episode five when Clara Stack's Lilly Bainbridge is about to be devoured by Pennywise only for the clown to stop in its tracks at the last second due to a pillar glowing beneath the surface of the sewer water. The scene is great, but it's also a primary example of how "Welcome to Derry" itself might be the real-world equivalent of a pillar, sapping It of its influence.

Episode 5 of "It: Welcome to Derry" sees the Army and the show's version of the Loser's Club venture into the sewers to face Pennywise. The episode then showcases several characters witnessing their deep-seated fears manifesting as It preys on the helpless souls trapped in the sewer system. But at this point, we understand so much about the entity and its Pennywise form that the whole set-piece isn't quite as scary as it could have been. The harlequin's horrifying antics seem more like the desperate actions of a caged animal than anything else, and since we know what we're dealing with, the evil lurking in the shadows seems slightly less imposing.

It's actually quite interesting and definitely impressive to see how show creators Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs have managed to weave so much lore together in the show. But there's too much happening here to detract from the primary draw of an "It," i.e, the horror. "Welcome to Derry" is already undercutting its scares by repeating a major mistake from the movies, namely, overusing VFX for its most horrifying scenes. Then, there's this unshakable sense that every one of the kids in this show should have been traumatized into a catatonic state by their nightmarish, It-induced visions. But they very quickly overcome witnessing the gnarled, re-animated remains of their deceased relatives chase them through grocery stores.

When taken together, the show seems strangely torn between wanting to terrify us and needing to cater to the YouTube breakdown generation and easter-egg obsessed fans who value interconnectedness over storytelling. Time will tell whether it ultimately comes together, but so far, Pennywise has never felt less terrifying than he does right now.