IT: Welcome To Derry's Big Death Made A High-Level Crew Member Sob

This article contains spoilers for "It: Welcome to Derry."

"It: Welcome to Derry" has been full of painful, tragic moments, and not all of them have been the result of the titular entity's machinations. The death of Arian S. Cartaya's Rich Santos in episode 7, for example, was one of the most heart-rending developments in the show yet, and even left an Assistant Director in tears during shooting.

If there's one thing the surprisingly scary and gruesome "It: Welcome to Derry" has made clear from the outset, it's that the kids simply aren't safe. You may think that goes without saying for an "It" prequel series, but this show has absolutely eviscerated several young Derry residents in unexpected ways. The most notable example came with the shocking twist ending of the pilot episode, in which Phil Malkin (Jack Molloy Legault), Teddy Uris (Mikkal Karim-Fidler), and Susie (Hunter Storm Baker) are torn apart by a nightmarish baby monster in a movie theater.

Now, however, with its seventh episode, the show has hit us with what might be an even more impactful child death. Viewers have been waiting for "Welcome to Derry" to finally adapt the scariest part of the original Stephen King Book, and now it's happened with the big Black Spot fire set-piece, during which Rich perishes to protect Matilda Lawler's Marge Truman. In retrospect, we probably should have seen such a thing coming, as Rich and Marge's burgeoning love was one of the few bright spots in a show that has otherwise proved relentlessly gloomy and downbeat. Still, Rich's sacrifice was a gut-punch for viewers, and it seems even those who knew it was coming still struggled to compose themselves on-set.

In the "It" novel, a flashback sequence refers to a fire at the Black Spot — a speakeasy for Derry's Black military officers — which was started by white supremacists from the Maine Legion of White Decency. Now, we've seen it play out in live action. But creator/director Andy Muschietti and his co-creators Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs added many new elements so that the horrific sequence in "Welcome to Derry" episode 7 is even more upsetting than in the novel.

For one thing, we see Rich Santos sacrifice himself to save Marge Truman, both of whom were created for the series and don't appear in any novels. The episode sees Chris Chalk's Dick Hallorann (who very much did appear in other King books) attempt to shepherd the trapped Black Spot patrons out of a secret passage, but Rich and Marge are prevented from following after the roof collapses. With no other option, Rich encourages Marge to hide inside a metal locker, where she would presumably be safe from the smoke (though nobody seems to have thought about the heat). Unfortunately, the locker isn't capacious enough for the two of them, and Rich lies on top to prevent Marge from getting out, thereby ensuring she survives while he dies of smoke inhalation.

It's the "Welcome to Derry" equivalent of the door at the end of "Titanic," and it choked everyone up, including Assistant Director Emmanuel "Manny" Whitney-Alexander. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Arian S. Cartaya, who plays Rich, remembered Whitney-Alexander crying on-set during the death scene. "When they yelled cut, and I was wrapped, he just went over and gave me a hug for like five minutes straight," Cartaya said. "Shout out to Manny! I love you."