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Hitting the wayback machine, It: Welcome to Derry finds us in the year 1908 following a nameless child as he traverses a carnival. Moving from attraction to attraction, the young boy finds himself in a freak show tent of sorts. Frightened, the boy runs from the tent and into his father, who presents him with the prize that he had won: a slingshot. As they leave the carnival, their car breaks down, bringing the young boy into contact with this episode’s other primary focus, a young indigenous girl, who is selling water on the side of the road.
Francis, the young boy, strikes up a friendship with the young indigenous girl, Rose, playing with her and other children. Whilst playing with the children, Francis walks into the woods and directly into danger. A terrifying, old man like creature begins chasing Francis as he frantically flees the woods. Saved by Rose wielding the slingshot, both children make their escape from the creature, but, undoubtedly, leaving a mark on both children.
Episode 3 serves as a natural successor to the previous episodes. With each episode being so intense, it only makes sense that this episode is more story driven. Simply put, it connects the dots that need connecting so that the plot can progress smoothly in subsequent episodes.
Upon leaving the long past 1908, we find ourselves with Lilly at the institution she so desperately wanted to keep from returning to, she turned in Ronnie’s father, Hank, to the Derry Police for the murder of Phil, Teddy, and Susie. Lilly and Ronnie begin to formulate a plan to get picture evidence that everything isn’t as it seems in Derry and to prove the innocence of Ronnie’s father. To do this, they enlist Will and Rich. The plan revolves around summoning a spirit in the graveyard to achieve their goal.
More time this episode is spent expanding on just what the military could possibly want with Derry. General Shaw orders Major Hanlon to fly Hallorann up for an unspecified mission with the only order being to use Hallorann as a compass of sorts. The military’s presence in Derry has not gone unnoticed by the local indigenous. The local tribes are concerned that the military will disturbed local burial grounds searching for whatever it is they’re looking for. While in the air on their flight, Hallorann begins calling out directions before going into a trance imposed upon him by an object in a cigar box: the slingshot from 1908. The situation turns immediately sour and before Hallorann can stop himself, he’s attempting to escape the monster in his mind while attempting to escape the flying helicopter back in reality.
While trapped in his dreamlike state, Hallorann finds himself back in 1908 with Francis and Rose as they escape the monster in the woods. Rose tells Francis oncethey’ve exited the forest that they are now safe because the creature never leaves the woods. The same cannot be said for Hallorann, who find himself in a location that is all to familiar to us: the lair of Pennywise. Fighting to escape the lair, Hallorann is ripped back to the present by Hanlon, who has stopped his charge from opening the back of the helicopter and jumping out.
Hallorann’s vision that had taken him back to 1908 fades back into the modern time fading Rose’s face into an older woman, who is clearly an older Rose. The indigenous need to find out exactly what the military is doing and Rose sets out to find that very answer. Working in her shop, Rose receives a visit from General Shaw, who she recognizes immediately as Francis, the young friend that she had escaped from the monster inthe forest with. After catching up and exchanging pleasantries, Shaw makes a committment to use her guidance so that they do not disturb any indigenous land. These two are going to have big roles coming in the near future.
The final act of episode 3 finds us with the young heroes performing their seance in the Derry Graveyard. Having seemingly no luck, the children return to their bikes and begin the ride home. What happens next is one of the more intense sequences from Welcome to Derry thus far. The children are chased by the ghoulish figures of their dead friends. As they make their escape, the children frantically fight to get a picture of the specters. Will having fallen from his bike and camera in hand, snaps one final picture before escaping to his friends. Having survived the torment of the graveyard, the children rush to develop their film. The pictures were a resounding successes as they had achieved their goal of snapping pictures of the children killed in episode 1. That is until they get to the last picture. Developing slowly, an image begins to become clear. The final picture snapped by Will in the crypt isn’t of a child, but a clown. Roll credits. The episode ends there on a mini cliffhanger having filled in an immense amount of story.
