The finale to IT: Welcome to Derry has hit, and what a way to end an incredible season at that. The episode brought heart-pounding suspense and kept up the high intensity through to the end. Let’s sink our teeth into what we just saw.
Spoilers Ahead
The episode kicked off with a mysterious smoke filling the town of Derry and Pennywise capturing all of the kids at the school. Ronnie, Lily, and Marge arrived to find their principal headless and all of the kids missing, along with missing posters plastered everywhere. After seeing a poster for Will, they come up with the plan to use the dagger and go save him. Marge delivers the line of the season by saying, “I’m going to kill that fucking clown,” and as they set off, find the milk man dead, but his truck is left behind. Marge takes the wheel and they set off following the trail of blood to hunt down Pennywise and save the kids.
Meanwhile, Leroy finds Hallorann moments from shooting himself due to the voices he is hearing and convinces him to help save Will. They arrive at Rose’s house, where she tells them there is an ancient tree that, if Pennywise passes it, they will no longer be able to stop him. They deduce that, by using the dagger the girls have, they can plant it and close the barrier, trapping Pennywise once more. Rose gives Hallorann a tea to quiet the voices in his head and allows him to see where the girls are headed, and the group takes off to go find them.
It All Ties Together
The girls crash the milk truck after hitting a pothole and realize the dagger is corrupting Lily as it is fighting back, and after a brief struggle, decide to take turns carrying it. They find Pennywise and the trail of kids and try to grab Will, but Pennywise torments them and grabs Marge, pulling her into the fog. Pennywise taunts Marge by calling her Margaret Tozier her name in the future and telling her that her son Richie will kill him. Things get interesting because he goes on to explain that it could also be his birth as the past, present, and future all intertwine for him. As he is about to eat her and save his future, he becomes frozen due to Hallorann being able to enter his mind, making him think he is back at the circus.
Leroy and the group find the girls, and Taniel and Leroy attempt to bury the dagger, but the military arrives, shooting them both and killing Taniel. Leroy and Will share a sweet moment as Leroy gives him the dagger, and Will and the girls go to attempt to bury it. General Shaw sees Pennywise in the distance and goes up to him, coming face to face with his childhood nightmare. However, as the military pulls everyone out of the van, Pennywise sees that Hallorann is playing tricks and breaks free, coming unfrozen. Shaw tells Pennywise he is free, as he begins to leave, Pennywise smells Shaw, realizing who he is, and eats him.
Pennywise is running free, and Hallorann, Rose, Hank, and Leroy get the jump on the troops taking their guns. The kids are attempting to fight to get the dagger to the tree as it fights back against them, as things come to a head. Leroy shoots Pennywise in the head, causing his head to explode to slow him down; however, he runs out of ammo, and Pennywise, with a half-regenerated head, hits him with the deadlights. All seems lost but, but Hallorann sees Rich’s ghost run after the kids and gives them the boost they need to plant the dagger as Pennywise is about to attack them, sending Pennywise back to sleep.
In the aftermath, Ronnie and Hank leave Derry, knowing that once they do, they will forget, so Will plans to write her often to hopefully remind her of him. Marge tells Lily what Pennywise told her, and they wonder if he will go back in time to try to kill their parents to stop them from being born. Hallorann tells Leroy he is going to London to work as a chef at a hotel, stating it can’t be that much trouble. Leroy and Charlotte decide to stay in Derry and buy Rose’s house. The credits reveal that this was only chapter one, and in a post-credit tease, we see Ingrid at Juniper Hill and flash forward to her as an old woman. She hears screaming up the hall and walks into the room, seeing a woman hanging from the ceiling and two people in the room in grief. The girl turns around, revealing herself as Beverly, tying everything together into IT: Chapter One.
Final Thoughts
As we know, for poor Hallorann, the hotel he is going to work at is The Shining Hotel, where it is going to be much more trouble than he realizes. It is confirmed that Marge is indeed Richie’s mom, settling an internet-wide debate once and for all. There is a lot teased setting up the next two seasons that we know were planned out, as Lily and Marge mention Pennywise going back in time to kill their parents. And we get to see Sophia Lillis return as Beverly, tying everything together.
IT: Welcome to Derry is, without a doubt, my favorite show of 2025, as it had everything I could have wanted. The horror was ramped up to an eleven, and it maintained momentum and suspense from the very first episode. The story was masterfully laid out, intertwining the films with the rich lore of Pennywise. The finale stuck the landing as it struck fear and suspense, keeping it there until the end of the episode. I need to go rewatch the films now as I cannot wait for the next installment!
Overall season grade: 5/5 dancing clowns.
For more from Matt at the Hops “Geek” News podcast!
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Leave a Reply