Fans of horror consider Stephen King one of the best to ever do it. And within reason. He's had a writing career that can only be described as legendary. One of the projects that made him a legend is IT.
IT (like most Stephen King projects) thrilled us all as a book first before it was adapted into a TV mini-series starring the incomparable Tim Curry. Decades later, IT became two movies with an all-star cast featuring Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain, Finn Wolfhard, and, of course, Bill Skarsgård . This year, prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry debuted on both HBO and HBO Max and has been getting very good reviews. In fact, this writer will go as far as to say it will be better received as time goes on.
The danger of prequels is that sometimes they can retroactively change the lore or simply stray too far away from what made the franchise beloved in the first place. But that's not an issue here. Since episode 1, the creative team of Welcome to Derry has stayed close to what made IT great. Among those things are surprise deaths, great characters, and, of course, idiotic, power-hungry adults who believe they know better than everyone.
WARNING! Spoilers for episode 7 of IT: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max.
In episode 7 of IT: Welcome to Derry, the military finally accomplished their goal of getting one of the alien rocks that keeps Pennywise (or the Galloo) trapped within a specific area of Derry. Initially, the idea was to study the physical properties of the rock to use as a weapon. Later, General Francis Shaw reveals that the idea was to destroy it so Pennywise could run free. And (I kid you not), use the fear and death to keep America safe. The general flat out said, "And the one thing that makes people really listen is fear." A quote that's spoken like a true horror project idiot.
Now, if you’re like this writer, you laughed or facepalmed after the reveal of what happened. It’s like the line from Jurassic Park. "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” We won’t know until next week, but (judging by the trailer above) we can guess they shouldn’t have.
The characters here certainly acted stupid but it was a work of brilliance from the creative team, who continue to up the ante each and every week.
Everything about the scene with Leroy Hanlon and Shaw in the penultimate episode of IT: Welcome to Derry makes sense for the characters and the storyline. It was also a brilliant lead-in to the final scene with Will and Pennywise. Now, the military gets to see what fear really is. Fun fact, likely won't be what they wanted.
The final episode of IT: Welcome to Derry is scheduled to be released on Sunday December 15.
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