Previously on IT: Welcome to Derry, General Francis Shaw (James Remar) recalled his first childhood encounter with Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård). Rose (Kimberly Guerrero) and her nephew Taniel (Joshua Odjick) met with their tribe about Derry’s disturbances, revealing that Rose was the girl who once saved Shaw from Pennywise. Dick Halloran (Chris Chalk) had a psychic run-in with Pennywise while scouting a new dig site. Meanwhile, Ronnie Grogan (Amanda Christine) and Lily Bainbridge (Clara Stack) updated Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) and Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) before heading to the graveyard, where they captured visual proof of Pennywise’s presence.
The episode opens with the kids biking to the police station to show Sheriff Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) the graveyard photos. Unfortunately, most of the proof disappeared —except for the image of Pennywise. Bowers dismisses their claims and warns Lily that if she keeps digging, he’ll send her back to the asylum.
Will comes back home, looking for the pictures, and his mother, Charlotte (Taylour Paige), confronts him about them. Will tells Charlotte everything about Ronnie and her dad Hank (Stephen Rider), and how someone chased them in the graveyard.
The next day, Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) takes Will fishing. Leroy leaves the river to grab something out of the car, leaving Will alone. Will sees a big fish, and as he crouches down, something grabs and dunks him underwater. He sees his dad’s face, and it says, “You’ll burn too.” Will screams, and Leroy hears, running towards him. Leroy pulls him out of the water, and he notices blood on Will’s arms. Will tells his dad that there’s “something bad” in Derry. They then see a red balloon floating across the river.
Charlotte goes to meet with Bowers. She tells him about Will’s encounter at the graveyard. m. She tries to speak with Hank, but Bowers doesn’t let her. Later, Charlotte visits the Grogan residence to speak with Ronnie’s grandmother. Ronnie eavsdrops, standing in the hallway. Charlotte knows that Hank is innocent and wants to find a way to prove it.
Dick and his friends set up a small hideout on General Shaw’s recommendation, stocking it with food and supplies. While taking out the trash, Dick has a flashback of his grandmother’s death and briefly sees her in the field, warning him to stay alert. He snaps out of it as Leroy arrives, telling him about the fishing incident and what Will told him about Derry. When Leroy asks what’s really going on, Dick admits he doesn’t know.
At school, the kids deduce that whatever is after them wants to scare them enough before it kills them. Lily steals pills from her mother, giving one each to Ronnie, Will, and Rich. She says her mother takes them to help calm her fears. The pills are only for when they notice something’s about to happen, that way they aren’t scared.
Charlotte returns to the police department with a letter in hand, getting approval from Hank’s mother to visit him. After threatening the officer with civic unrest, she gets her way and visits Hank. She tells him that the best-case scenario for him is to go on house arrest until trial. Hank admits that he was having an affair with a white woman the night of the incident.
At school during lunch, Marge seeks to make up with Lily. But it’s all part of a prank by the Pattycakes. Marge decides to come clean and warn Lily, but her eyes suddenly bulge like a snail’s, and she loses control. Lily drops her pill in the panic as Marge stumbles through the school, screaming, stabbing at her eyes, and grabbing a saw in the carpentry room. Lily stops her just in time—but when classmates rush in, they find Lily on top of Marge, holding the bloody knife.
At night, Will can’t sleep, so he looks through his telescope. He looks around the yard and screams as he sees Pennywise’s silhouette. Leroy hears and bursts into the room. He then exits the house, confronting whoever it was that Will had seen, but no one is there. As he’s walking back, a tree rustles. He looks up to see a red balloon.
The next morning, Leroy confronts General Shaw, who brings him to observe Taniel’s interrogation. Taniel was caught near the dig site, and because he knows the location they need, Dick questions him. After Taniel spits in his face, Dick uses his powers to force his way into Taniel’s memories. There, he sees Taniel as a child learning from Rose about “The Galloo,” a monster that takes the shape of someone’s deepest fear. Taniel explains how a powerful star connected to the creature was discovered and later used by Native Americans to trap it, breaking the star into pieces and burying them throughout the woods. Afterwards, Taniel tells Dick to follow the tunnels, and it’ll lead to the pillars. When he tells him that, the famous house of Pennywise is shown.
Overall, this was an incredible episode. Taylour Paige does a great job as Charlotte in this episode. We’ve gotten to learn more about her as she decides to help Hank and find out what’s really happening in Derry. This episode was filled with tense scenes, from Will seeing the dark shadow of Pennywise to the story of “The Galloo.” It’s a nice touch added, showing representation for the Native Americans and the deep-rooted history with Pennywise. What will happen now that Dick knows where to go to find the pillars?
Rating: 10/10