It, Welcome to Derry Ep. 1
So, the first episode of It, Welcome to Derry was released. I have history with the novel, It, having been the first horror book I ever read, quickly followed by Dean Koontz’s Watchers (also, amazing by the way) when I was in middle school. It is also only one of a few books I revisited as an adult and still loved, but for different reasons. After moving to Maine in 2015, the book was even better, finally understanding certain nuances. Regardless, to me, It is a masterpiece of storytelling, albeit, that one scene could go away, all readers know which scene near the end that I’m referring to.
SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
So, the Tim Curry miniseries was great years ago. But I’m going to focus on the recent developments. It, Part I was great. Yes, they changed the timeline and certain key events, and I will never agree with the elimination of the Ritual of Chüd as far as the psychic battle is concerned - really wanted to see the Turtle with its glowing shell. However, for a theatrical film tackling a monster of a novel, the first one was really good. It, Chapter II, eh, tried it twice and found it very lacking. The last battle against Pennywise was a huge letdown.
When the series was announced, I was excited, and after watching the first episode, still am. Intended to cover much of the lore from the Interludes in the novel, they’ve definitely expanded on what Stephen King wrote. Whether or not the expansion delivers remains to be seen. The Interludes were brief glimpses into Pennywise’s history with Derry, dating back to prehistoric times when “she” crashes onto this physical world from the macro verse via an asteroid in what would become Derry, Maine. I mean, the lore of King’s cosmoverse is amazing all in itself, I could write tons of Ramblings on it alone!
Anyway - I do call these Ramblings for a reason! C’mon! - the addition of certain characters, like the Uris’ - was interesting, especially when Stanley never mentioned a dying uncle or relative, slaughtered in a movie theater in the book. This season appears to be focused on Mike Hanlon’s dad, the air force base, and the white supremacists in the area. Sadly, Pennywise only appeared as a crazy mutant baby in this episode, lol, taking advantage of its shapeshifting form. Bill Skarsgård has yet to make an appearance in the clown form, excited for that, he did a great job as Pennywise. I do think they made the town of Derry too shiny, especially when the aura of the spider was poisoning it for centuries, but perhaps it’s a creative choice to display the notion of evil beneath the surface.
Or, perhaps it’s Augustine’s privation theory, which would explain how some people in the town are good, able to ward off the dark influence where others choose not to. Tangent done…
When all is said and done, as this wasn’t meant to be a review, but a Rambling of thoughts, I’m interested in where they’ll go with the stories. Mainly, I really want to see how they portray the lore of the spider itself and whether or not they’ll show It in its true form.