It: Welcome to Derry - Winter Fire - Review: YOU'LL FLOAT TOO

Back when Welcome to Derry premiered, after that shocking cinema scene, the show made its dark intentions clear. The adults seemed powerless when it comes to fighting the town's dark forces, the kids took half the season to form a whole group — and even after they formed it, they were constantly at odds with each other —, and there was more dread, mental torture, bullying, racism, and violence (coming both from the Creature and the Derry citizens) here than the movies had time to convey. Suffice it to say, we start with a whole group of children brutally murdered by a mutant, flying baby; this time, the Creature is not playing around, and the power of friendship and love could not be enough to save Derry.

And this was true for the whole season — until the finale. If everyone faced a massive loss after the Creature successfully had its Augury moment at the Black Spot burning, the show twists its lore after the Army burns one of the stakes that keeps the Creature trapped in Derry, waking IT way before its sleep of 27 years. Now, the Creature is at large, putting into practice a plan to escape Derry. The stakes are higher than ever, as it's the first time (that we know of) IT threatens to become a worldwide menace. But Welcome to Derry is also funnier than ever here: there's a feeling of adventure in the air as the kids and the adults look for Will, and yes, there's also a suspenseful tone, disturbing images, and blood, but the show stops having "scare the audience" as its priority, the feeling of dread is gone, and fun becomes the primary goal. It's glorious to watch: the finale is an explosive event, filled with tension, lots of action, and strong emotional moments, all with a vast, twisted, darkly humorous heart.

I'm talking about Pennywise, of course. If its introduction in episode 5 twists the show into something new, the way the character is used in the finale is unique, as we see the Clown outside its usual 27-year cycle. Winter Fire shows ITs funniest iteration yet, with lots of silly little dances, a beautiful, bloody new costume, and even wings so IT can fly. Pennywise here is so charming, so silly, so fun; IT's a performer who sings on the school stage and plays a tuba as the children of Derry float lined up towards the edge of town. Bill Skarsgård is an absolute joy to watch, and in the end, this episode proves once again that despite the many forms IT can take, the Dancing Clown is unbeatable.

Now let's recap Winter Fire! The episode starts with the white fog taking over Derry; then, Pennywise invades Derry High School and exposes all the children there to the deadlights after murdering the principal. No adult is safe; not the principal, not the milkman, no one.

While they are at the tower, Lilly, Ronnie, and Marge notice the fog. Once they come down, they see posters announcing the disappearance of all the children from the school — including Will. Desperate, they go to the school to discover what happened, and there they find the corpse of the principal and the remains of a massacre. They follow the trail of blood to find the Creature and kill it with the dagger, taking the milkman van for this.

Meanwhile, Leroy receives a call from Pennywise, taunting him and revealing Will's whereabouts: his son is floating with the other children as Pennywise guides them across the river. After that, Leroy enlists Dick's help to save Will, and Hanlon finds Hallorann at his lowest, losing his mind over all the spirits he's dealing with and about to kill himself. Leroy convinces Hallorann to help by telling him Will is in danger. Shaw and the military notice they are both gone and decide to keep their eyes on them.

Leroy takes Hallorann to Rose's house, where Charlotte and Hank are. Rose comes up with a plan to stop Pennywise and save Will; for this, Hallorann will have to use his abilities to locate the dagger, so they can bury it under the great pine on the southern bank of the river, replacing the unearthed pillar and re-locking the cage. That's the furthest point that the dagger's energy can still connect with the other pillars and restore the cage.

To help Hallorann quiet the voices in his head, Rose gives him a tea made from Maturin root, which allows him to connect to all things in the realm the Creature came from — including the dagger. In one inventive scene, Dick goes through a psychedelic trip in which he sees the girls following the trail of blood in their vehicle. They are involved in a car accident after bumping into a pothole. In the accident, the dagger falls out of the van, much to Lilly's dismay, who is feeling its effects on her mind, in a state comparable to The Lord of the Rings' Gollum.

After Dick tells everyone where the girls are with the dagger and how close Pennywise is to the great pine, the adults move to meet the girls. However, before they get there, they realize they won't arrive in time, so Leroy has an idea: Dick has to enter Pennywise's mind, as he did before, to distract IT. Meanwhile, Lilly fights off Marge and Ronnie, who manage to take the dagger from her. The effect wears off after Ronnie tells Lilly that she is a lifeboat, valued by them as a friend, and not crazy.

The girls confront Pennywise on their own, but even with the dagger, IT manages to grab Marge by the ankles and isolate her. Just as IT's about to devour her, IT reveals that in the future she will be called Margaret Tozier, the mother of Richie Tozier.

Pennywise tells Marge that Richie and his friends will bring IT to death in the future… "Or is it birth? I get confused. Tomorrow? Yesterday? It's all the same for little Pennywise." When Pennywise's about to kill Marge, Hallorann succeeds in entering its mind and paralysing the Clown.

Marge joins their friends, relieved and confused she's alive. Meanwhile, Will and the other children stop floating, and the adults finally arrive at the frozen river. Ronnie reunites with Hank, and Will reunites with his parents. Leroy then prepares to go with Taniel to bury the dagger under the tree. But the military has been following the group, and before they get close to the tree, they shoot both of the men; Taniel is fatally wounded, while Leroy is hit in the leg. Then, Leroy hands the dagger to Will as the soldiers approach. Will, Lilly, Marge, and Ronnie advance, hidden by the fog, while the soldiers close in on the adults. As the children get closer to the tree, the dagger becomes more resistant, requiring greater strength to advance with the artifact.

Meanwhile, the military thwarts Dick's mind manipulation, which had trapped Pennywise in Bob Gray's circus past. After Pennywise escapes this illusion, IT encounters Shaw, who tells it that IT is free to cross the tree and move on. Just as IT is about to turn and leave Derry behind, the Creature remembers chasing Shaw as a child and devours him. Leroy, Dick, Hank, Rose, and Charlotte turn against the military, seizing their weapons.

The Clown dances as IT gets closer to the boundaries that will set IT free ("So long, losers"), but IT is stopped as Leroy begins shooting at the Creature, buying time for the children to bury the dagger while IT regenerates. As Leroy tries to recharge the gun to shoot IT again, the Creature shows him the deadlights, putting him into a trance. After that, Hank and Rose are the ones to shoot the Creature and delay its advance. Dick sees the mysterious Native American spirit again—this time with Rich's ghost, who goes to meet his friends (not without first giving the middle finger to the Clown crawling towards the tree). It's a motherfucking miracle, as Hallorann says.

With Rich's hands on theirs, the children are more united than ever. Pennywise creates leather wings (one of its coolest looks) to fly towards the tree. Just as IT's about to succeed, the children manage to break through the dagger's resistance, burying it and restoring the Creature's prison… As IT once again recognizes its defeat, Pennywise bids farewell to its "lively crowd."

The kids get emotional as they realize Rich helped them. Days later, they all gather at Rich's funeral, and Dick sees Rich's ghosts and knows he's at peace, making sure to tell his parents—that's how Hallorann finds a purpose for himself. In the tower, Marge tells Lilly about her conversation with Pennywise about the future. She's worried the Creature might try something against their ancestors. Lilly is not worried, believing this is someone else's fight — the girl is at peace now.

Ronnie and Hank prepare to leave Derry, and so do the Hanlons. Before they leave, Will and Ronnie share an emotional moment and kiss, worried about losing their memories, and Rose tries to recruit Leroy and Charlotte to work with her and protect the pillars so nobody else succeeds in liberating the Creature. Charlotte convinces Leroy they should work on this together and stay. As Ronnie joyfully leaves Derry with her family, Will writes her a letter, telling her he won't forget anything, as his family is staying in town.

The credits roll. It's a happy ending for most of the main cast. After that, a quick scene shows Ingrid mentally ill in the asylum. But music calms her. Years pass. Now she is the older version of Mrs. Kersh, played by the late Joan Gregson. She hears a noise in the hallway. After going out to see what happened, she discovers that a patient has committed suicide. Crying over her mother's death is the one and only Bev Marsh, played by Sophia Lillis in a cameo. Ingrid smiles at her and utters her iconic line:

What a ride, everyone! What a ride… This finale has so much in it. The school scene, the funny Clown moments, Hallorann tripping with the tea, the mental fight between Pennywise and Hallorann (the Creature trapped in that Circus reality was such a good moment), the adults coming together to help the children and stop both the Army and the Creature... And of course, the moment that stood out: Rich's ghost coming at the darkest hour, giving his middle finger to Pennywise while sliding across the ice, and then joining his friends to save Derry and the world. Such a good, emotional sequence. 

As a prequel to the movies, this episode also works perfectly, connecting multiple generations and showing that the 1989 Losers were not the only ones to defeat the Creature. The episode has some interesting thing to say about the monster's nature as well: IT has the power to be in multiple places at once, as we've seen in episode 5 (the Creature was disguised as Matty to the kids for hours, meanwhile it was also tormenting the soldiers and torturing Hallorann's mind in the sewers), but now we also know it is living in multiple times at once. In the conversation with Marge, Pennywise implies that time is not linear for it, so the Creature knows it will be defeated by the Losers Club 54 years in the future and wants to prevent it.

There is a teaser here for future seasons, I'd say. This is not only a show about how the first generations of Derry battled the Creature, because it's also about how IT is using its timeless nature to try to exterminate the lineages meant to destroy IT. And while Pennywise failed this time, we know there are two other seasons planned… What happens if the Creature wins one day and gets to change everything we know about Derry? Winter Fire is bigger and funnier than anything in the IT universe, but it also suggests a future that could get us to even crazier places.

Overall, the first season of Welcome to Derry wasn't perfect. Not every arc landed perfectly (Ingrid's development is poorly handled at times), and the first half of the season, while having many enjoyable moments, is easily overshadowed by the Pennywise-fest in the final episodes. There are also some tonal shifts towards the end that leave the impression this is an amalgam of two different shows, one more dreadful and serious, the other more adventurous and fun.

But you know what? Despite its flaws, Welcome to Derry works. Just like the Dancing Clown, it's charming, compelling, charismatic, and a joy to watch. The kids are impressive, their chemistry as a group making it hard to root against them, not to mention the heartbreaking love story between Rich and Marge, beautifully played by Arian S. Cartaya and Matilda Lawler. Dick Hallorann elevates the show, with Chris Chalk giving week after week the best, most multi-layered iteration of this character we've seen. Kimberly Guerrero's Rose was also a great addition to the cast, giving life to one of the characters I want to discover more about in future seasons. And even if not given much to do in the ending, Taylour Paige's Charlotte has been one of my favorites since her first appearance, so I'm praising her too. But the ending really does wonders for Jovan Adepo's Leroy, who grows as a character in his quest against the Army while he looks for his son.

So we have a great cast, some compelling social questions raised alongside the expansion of the monster's mythology, a group of friends who are complex and well-developed, a tragic love story, Pennywise at its best, and a remarkable, unforgettable finale that probably tops everything done in this universe before. Well done, Jason Fuchs, Brad Caleb Kane, and Andy and Barbara Muschietti. All in all, it's safe to say: once again, against all the odds, love and friendship score another one.