‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ episode 3 recap: now you see it

THE LORE DEEPENS as Hallorann and Shaw edge closer to what they plan to do with It. In this week’s episode of IT: Welcome to Derry, titled “Now You See It”, Hallorann managed to astral project into It’s deep, dark, wet lair beneath Derry. He makes mention of his grandmama, whom he said in The Shining he could have telepathic conversations with. Meanwhile, the kids are off on their bikes to perform a seance on this orixá and capture photographic evidence. If the series continues for two more seasons, going back further in time to explore the last two cycles in 1935 and 1908, we have a good idea of the town’s history and its characters in those seasons, too.

Below, we recap this week’s episode of IT: Welcome to Derry.

Spoilers abound! Read our recap on the previous episode here.

Two cycles ago in 1908

Four score and 54 years ago (not the right usage, but whatever), a young boy went to the circus. He wanders into the fun house filled with all manner of freaky acts: a pair of umbilical cord-connected twins, a mirror maze, a clown with an inverted pyramid of red balloons (sound familiar? Pennywise’s artistic reference, perhaps). But sectioned off in a dark room was this little boy’s fear: a gangly, sickly old man with a missing eye. He’s chased out of the tent and crashes into his strict father, who tells him not to be a sissy. It’s 1908.

They’re left stranded on the road when their car breaks down. The father gives his son some money to buy refreshments from the lemonade stand by the road, manned by three Native American children in their dress. He doesn’t have enough cash, but the girl asks if he’ll trade his new slingshot that his father won at the fair. An instant bond is struck, and they spend that summer running around town, until one day he ends up deep in the Western Wood, coming face to face with that gangly man again.

All grown up

When the little girl saves the boy, knocking out the monster’s other eye with a shot from the sling, she tells him not to look back as they’re running out of the woods. (Again, POC in the show are the only sensible people.) Safe from harm, he wants to know what that was. “Can you keep a secret?” she asks him.

By the end of the episode, we learn that the two children were General Shaw and Rose. Shaw gave his old slingshot to Hallorann when he went up in the bird to astral project into It’s lair – more on that soon. And director Andy Muschietti loves a younger-older character fade-away (like Jack Dylan Grazer and James Ransone’s Eddie in the films), which Rose gets the treatment here. (Kudos to casting director Rich Delia.)

As the Native American community starts asking questions about the excavation site, Shaw’s cover is that they’re conducting soil surveys to lay pipes from the Kenduskeag. Keeping his true motives hidden, he wants Rose to work with them as a guide on where and what to avoid. We get a second flashback of young Shaw breaking the news that his dad is being stationed somewhere else. He wants Rose not to forget about their summer of friendship, but she knows he will once he steps out of the town’s border.

Lilly’s back from Juniper Hill

Well, Lilly had a rather short stay at Juniper Hill. She’s been a few times now that she’s found a confidante in Ingrid, the head of the housekeeping staff. She tells her everything: about her encounters with It (which I suppose Ingrid dismisses at this stage) and how guilty she feels about sending Ronnie’s father, Hank, to jail. Ingrid advises that she mend things with Ronnie because it sounds like Lilly’s found a friend in her, giving an analogy about it’s who you take the journey with.

Ronnie’s time at school is being marred by graffiti on her locker saying, “Hatchet Hank’s gonna fry!” “This is America. You can’t just throw people in jail for nothing,” says Rich, who wonders if Hank is indeed a “psycho killer”. “Are we talking about the same country?” says Will. Period. Lilly follows her into the toilet with her big plan to rectify the situation: gather photographic evidence of It. This way, they can show Hank wasn’t responsible and prove that she isn’t crazy.

Going to Hank for a moment, who’s still held in custody, Chief Bowers isn’t buying the alibi that he was in bed watching a late show. But he has an eyewitness report saying Hank was spotted on Jackson Street at 11:30 pm that night. The proof? He left his favourite pack of ciggies, Embassy Gold, on the ground. What he was doing there will be revealed in due course.

“Mind control on goats”

Aside from the kids’ storyline, Hallorann’s involvement in the military is becoming a favourite plot line to follow. (I’m a sucker for the supernatural.) The excavation site from last week’s episode yielded a caddy covered in bullet holes; the skeletons and loot inside are linked to the Bradley Gang massacre of 1935. That year was also It’s last cycle, where reports at the time stated that the “entity” was on the scene in one of its forms. The stellar cartoon opening credits answer this: Pennywise is seen spraying bullets while hanging from the side of the building. Was he shit stirring the massacre? Anyway, Hallorann needs another object to amplify his abilities; Shaw lends his slingshot, something that “put its mark” in It.

He uses the slingshot like a dowsing rod when Leroy and Pauly take him up in the air. Watching Hallorann get in the zone, the airmen are convinced that Shaw’s real operation is “mind control on goats”. As they veer east, Hallorann breaks through the veil with some sort of astral projection. He finds himself in the deep, dark, wet lair where the Pennywise circus carriage is. It opens, revealing gold leering eyes within. “Who are you?” It says. Later, Shaw visits Hallorann in the hospital, who’s still shaken by the fact that It could see him when it wasn’t supposed to. He implores the General that they should let whatever It is be, or else something bad will happen.

The orixá

For Lilly’s photography plan to work, Ronnie enlists Rich and Will, a proven chemistry wiz, to develop the film in secret. Rich, meanwhile, thinks Ronnie is sweet on Will. He also theorises that It is an orixá, an evil spirit who takes the form of deceased loved ones who haunt you if you, say, owe them money. (He heard about it from his tio, who’s a babalao in Cuba, a Yoruba Ifá high santeria priest.)

Naturally, their seance to summon the orixá fails; Rich’s Santa Maria prayer was a dud. But a dark, misty cemetery is certainly the place for It to attack you. In this case, ghouls come after the kids, taking the form of Teddy, Phil and Susie. The kids play ball with the camera, snapping a shot of each ghoul. Will falls into a crypt where, as the developed film reveals, he came face to face with Pennywise the Clown. (More skeletal looking, Pennywise looks as though he’s shed a few pounds, which explains his appetite this cycle.)

Cajun cuisine

Later that night, Leroy invites Hallorann over for dinner to try Charlotte’s specialty in Cajun cuisine. The dinner table chit-chat revolves around how much she doesn’t like being in Derry; she exchanges knowing looks with Hallorran about often being the only Black person on the street, for instance. But she also had to give up being a history teacher in a coloured school down south; she misses the community around the civil rights movement, the protests, and giving up her activism. It was a great sacrifice for her to assume the role of the squeaky clean housewife for her Major husband.

Hallorann was there that night, too

As Charlotte prepares dessert, Leroy and Hallorann sit on the verandah and talk about the latter’s special abilities. Leroy reveals that where he’s from, someone knew someone who was like that – is the Shining big in the Black community? “My grandmama said it’s like seeing things without seeing things,” Hallorann said. Remember, in The Shining, Hallorann tells young Danny that he could have telepathic conversations with his grandmother.

During dinner, Hallorann slipped where Will was – Leroy never told him he had a son. The tell was this tickling feeling at the back of his head, where the only time he’s ever felt it was during that night at the barracks. Of course, Hallorann was part of the squad ordered by Shaw to test Leroy’s fear response: not only physically, but Hallorann was there to see it in his mind. In that moment, Hallorann didn’t see Leroy thinking about his family, as most men would when faced with death. Instead, Leroy was analysing and collecting information – making him the perfect candidate for whatever Shaw has planned with It.

---

Related:

It: Welcome to Derry episode 1 recap: who are our heroes?

The best Australian horror films to add to your watchlist this spooky season