IT: WELCOME TO DERRY EPISODE 5 RECAP: Neibolt Street

This Recap is made possible due to screeners from HBO. You can watch IT: Welcome to Derry Sundays at 9 pm EST on HBO and HBO Max. Check out more from Matt from the Hops “Geek” News podcast!

The episode starts with Hallorann, Leroy, and General Shaw on the heels of the previous episode, discussing how they know exactly where to find IT. Marge is revealed to have survived the attack from Pennywise and is recovering in the hospital as she and Lily share a tender moment where Marge apologizes and admits her faults, and the two make up.

Outside in the hallway, Lily tells the group how Marge is covering for her, and they head to their rooftop hideout, where it is revealed that Matty is still alive and has been living inside the tent on the roof! He explains to the kids how he has been held below Derry in the sewers and ate Suzie’s brains right in front of him, and that Phil is still alive but in a comatose state. He waited until the perfect moment to run away and escape. The kids want to save Phil and defeat IT but, Matty refuses to go and wants to return to his dad.

General Shaw explains to Leroy about the pillars and what it is they have been hunting for, and that he and Colonel Fuller are going to lead a team into the sewers to secure the pillars and trap IT. The Native Americans are discussing amongst themselves about the missing children and how IT is at the end of the cycle, after which they get another 27 years of peace, but first, there is one last big event that must happen.

Meanwhile, Hank is being taken to Shawshank as the town has come under civil unrest, and Leroy is explaining to Charlotte what is happening. Rose discovers that her nephew is going to be used to help the military find IT and confronts General Shaw, who unveils that he was drugged by the military, and that is when all of his memories about the event return from the day when they were kids. Rose pleads to him about how it cannot be controlled and tells him to remember what happened. She has a piece of the pillar that can help defeat IT and asks him to let her help. He agrees to let her give it over to her nephew as the two share a moment of understanding of what he must do to survive.

Lily shows up at the house of Ingrid, the housekeeper who has been helpful to her at Juniper Hill, and tells her everything that has been happening and promises her that Lily and her friends won’t go down to the sewers. Leroy has moved his family onto base when Will runs away to rejoin the gang, as Lily has brought Marge to join the group to find IT and Phil to help prove Ronnie’s dad’s innocence. The group theorizes that if they think happy thoughts, they cannot fall victim and agree to take 3 pills each to prevent any sad thoughts.

The military has cordoned off the house on Neibolt St as they are about to converge on the sewers at the same time, the children are as well. The military enters led by Hallorann and Leroy and quickly become separated and confused. Pennywise begins to pick them off one by one, and Pennywise begins playing mind games with Hallorann, who is transported to a memory with his family. Taniel takes the opportunity to escape and runs off from the group as soldiers fire after him.

Hallorann, who is trapped inside a memory, is being taunted with a box that is locked away as his Grandmother tells him to keep it closed, as his Grandfather tells him to open it. His father breaks the lock and opens the box, revealing a bright light and something we do not see inside. Meanwhile, the kids are drugged out, wandering the sewers, and find the place Matty was held, and discover they are not alone. As bodies float to the surface, revealing everyone who was taken down is dead, Matty begins singing and circling the pole.

As Matty is singing, the kids see Matty’s body floating, as Matty’s head splits open, Pennywise slowly exits, revealing he tricked them into coming to the sewers, making his grand reveal! Leroy and Fuller are chased by a zombie version of Charlotte, whom Leroy shoots, explaining they cannot trust anything they see in the sewers. Will, who is running from Pennywise, appears in front of them, and as Leroy is about to shoot him, Fuller realizes it is really Will. Fuller leaps in front of Will as Leroy pulls the trigger, causing him to get shot, and Leroy sees that the whole thing was real.

Fuller forgives Leroy, and the two have a moment together as Fuller dies in the sewers. Lily, however, is on her own and is about to fall victim to Pennywise until he slowly shrinks away as it is revealed that the shard of the pillar is next to her in the water. Hank had escaped the bus, hiding in the backseat of the Ingrid’s vehicle from Juniper Hill, as she was the one he was having an affair with the night that the children were killed at the theater. He tells her someone attacked the bus and tells her someone may be able to help. Ingrid appears at Charlotte’s door, asking her for help.

Leroy tells the whole story to General Shaw and asks him if Hallorann made it out alive, to which he has not made it back to base. The episode ends with Hallorann stumbling out of the sewers in a shocked state, seeing Fuller’s dead body walking in the woods. Cut to the box that has been opened, glowing orange as chaos is about to descend upon Derry.

Episode 5 of IT: Welcome to Derry episode 5 takes the show to 11, terrorizing everybody, and reveals that nobody in Derry is safe as something sinister has been unleashed, taking us down a chaotic path in the final few episodes.. You can watch every Sunday on HBO and HBO Max at 9 pm EST!