We've reached the penultimate episode of It: Welcome to Derry, "The Black Spot," and it opens by taking us back to 1908. The real Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Bob Gray, performs before a group of delighted children, doing the trademark dance as he's surrounded by red balloons.
A creepy young boy watches from afar, and Bob is later surprised by his daughter, Ingrid, dressed as a clown. They're clearly close, but that marks the last time they see each other. Later, enjoying a quiet drink, Bob is approached by the boy, who notes that children seem drawn to him. A scream is heard in the distance, and the child—"It" in disguise—lures the real Pennywise into the woods, where he kills him.
It seems "It" had been taking on the form of another child to lure kids to him, but after seeing Pennywise, it realises that posing as a clown is a much better option, similar to what we saw at the start of It: Chapter 1, when it killed Georgie.
In the present, the locals attack The Black Spot, locking its patrons inside before throwing Molotov cocktails in the hope of killing the fugitive Hank Grogan. Tragically, young Rich dies after professing his love to Marge. Hank, meanwhile, escapes but is believed dead.
The biggest moment of the episode comes when Ingrid shows up at the bar dressed as Pennywise and encounters the real deal. The entity slices her husband's head in half and chews on it as she watches on. Bizarrely, Pennywise plays along and pretends to be her father before announcing that he plans to go to sleep. Ingrid soon realises all is not as it seems, prompting a terrifying Pennywise to tell her, "He still lives inside of me. I can feel him right now. He’s reaching out for his baby girl." With that, It shows her the deadlights, leaving her unresponsive.
Derry returns to normal, and Leroy Hanlon figures out that the military still plans to free It. When he confronts General Shaw, it's revealed that the Army's real plan is to allow Pennywise to torment the whole of America every 27 years, thereby keeping the country peaceful in between and avoiding a Civil War that the General seems convinced is inevitable.
With one of the shards destroyed, Pennywise, submerged up to his eyes in blood, wakes up and goes after William, showing him the deadlights as the episode ends. The monster is awake and back on a killing spree as we head into the finale!
Set in the world of Stephen King's It universe, It: Welcome to Derry is based on King's It novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films It and It Chapter Two.
The cast is led by Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, and Bill Skarsgård.
The series, from Warner Bros. Television and developed for television by filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (It, The Flash) and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman), will debut on HBO and also be available to stream on HBO Max. Muschietti will direct four episodes of the nine-episode series.
Seven episodes of It: Welcome to Derry are now streaming on HBO Max, with the remaining episodes releasing weekly leading up to the season finale on December 14.