No pun intended, but it has been quite the ride watching IT: Welcome to Derry. The eagerly-awaited, heavily-theorized, and thrillingly complex prequel to the movie adaptation of Stephen King's IT (and its sequel IT: Chapter Two) has compelled and gripped viewers since it first premiered back in October. And it has not stopped doing that throughout its run.
The series, which also features appearances from Bill Skarsgård's terrifying clown Pennywise, has been well-received by both critics and audiences, generating a lot of buzz since it first graced our screens. Even those who haven't been watching it know about some of the macabre things that have made their way into the show - with particular clips going viral each and every week (and let's just say that they aren't for everybody!).
But it all comes to a close (for now, at least) with the season finale of the prequel show. Here's when you can anticipate it.
When the IT: Welcome to Derry season finale comes out on both HBO and HBO Max
IT: Welcome to Derry episode 8 will air on HBO and stream on HBO Max on Sunday, December 14, at 9:00 p.m. ET, 6:00 p.m. PT, 7:00 p.m. CT, and 8:00 p.m. MT. As with previous episodes, it will air at the top of those hours in their respective time zones while also being instantly available to stream. But this one's an even more important one, of course. Titled "Winter Fire", this is the Welcome to Derry season finale, which will bring at least this chapter of the series to a close.
With all of the outlandish things that have happened already, how will the season end? Will Pennywise make another appearance? The show has tackled a similar approach to what Monarch: Legacy of Monsters accomplished with Godzilla, having the beloved movie icon appear sporadically throughout, building up this appearances and making them count.
With that in mind, the King of the Monsters did appear in the season finale. So can we expect Pennywise to do the same in Welcome to Derry's? Here's hoping!
What awaits Ingrid, Hank, and the rest of the characters in Derry? And will the deaths of the kids in the first episode - which is still resonating with the characters on the show - ever lead to any kind of justice for them and their families? All important questions that we feel the season finale needs to answer.
The good news is that, if it doesn't get all of them answered, there may be another opportunity to do so down the line. A second season of IT: Welcome to Derry is expected at this point. Although not officially renewed as of yet, HBO has plans for a three-season story - and given how successful the first season has been, it feels that a sophomore installment is inevitable.
In the meantime, how do you think the first season will end? After the previous episode, it's clear to see that the stakes will be high!