This was somehow both really sweet and really disturbing at the same time. It also might be my favorite episode in a while, even if I continue to get annoyed by weird editing and general stupidity. At some point, though, you just have to accept a show for what it is.
On the sweet side of things, this is the first time I've ever really cared about Marge and Rich's budding romance. It always felt very one-sided to me, but they have very good chemistry together! Rich's reaction to her eye was very sweet too, as was Marge later using it to gross out the Pattycakes.
Okay, maybe sweet isn't the right word there, but it did make me smile. I'm sure at least one of the pair is going to die horribly before the end of the series, but at least they managed to have one date together... even if there's no way that they would be allowed to just casually hang out at the bar and get served "Air Force Cokes."
They aren't the only pair of the proto-Losers' Club that had some romantic moments either. Will and Ronnie's scenes weren't quite as sweet, but watching Hank interrogate Will was a good scene. How it happened was silly and contrived, but that's most of my feelings when it comes to the Black Spot.
With four of our group paired up, that left Lilly to navigate things by herself. The poor girl is really going through it. Her relationship with Ronnie has always felt very tenuous, but their fight on the rooftop was just brutal. It's hard to fault Ronnie's position. She just went too far when she brought up Juniper Hill.
Lilly has had a different experience than everyone else, though. She's the only survivor of the movie theatre. Like she told Ronnie, the other girl wasn't there. She didn't see her friends get ripped apart in front of her. Lilly has also been the most consistently haunted character too. Pennywise won't leave the poor girl alone. It's no wonder that she refuses to let go of the shard.
It's very obviously affecting her, though, and I'm not quite sure why. It's not like it changed Rose's personality, nor was that part of the story that Taniel told. Maybe because they weren't in direct contact with it for as long as Lilly? Either way, her behavior this time around was a little disturbing. I wouldn't be surprised if she wound up killing someone.
Maybe Ingrid Kersh? Which... wow. Her last name really should have been a red flag, but I didn't expect her to actually be Bob Gray's daughter. I also didn't expect her to be completely insane. She really believes that her dad is still alive somehow. Pennywise's shocked giggle when she called him "father" matched my own.
Really, that whole flashback scene was great. I'm a sucker for pops for color in black and white footage, and the red of the balloon was a great visual. I also really loved how Pennywise's eyes glowed too. Very well done.
Lilly finding everything was slightly contrived, and Ingrid's fervent monologue was a bit cheesy, but hey, credit where it's due. Madeleine Stowe did her best to sell it. It also tied back to previous episodes.
I had thought that it was weird and inconsistent that there was still a clown in the pictures that the kids took, but it turns out that that was intentional. It wasn’t Pennywise lurking in a pitch black crypt, but Periwinkle, Ingrid's clown persona. In hindsight, the wig shape didn’t match Pennywise at all either.
Welcome to Derry is relatively sloppy at times, but I will always give a show credit for effective clue dropping and foreshadowing. And maybe I shouldn’t, but I’ll also give them credit for actually explaining what the big deal with Dick’s mental box was. It made it feel less like an inside joke that I had been left out of and more like an actual plot development that will be critical moving forward.
I don’t think there’s any question now that Dick is my favorite character on the show. Chris Chalk is doing excellent work. His little “Hmmm” in response to Leroy insisting that they need to continue the mission didn’t get a subtitle, but it was still my favorite moment in that very excellent scene. Really, any conversation between Dick and Leroy has been gold all season. They're very different people, and we got to fully see that here.
Dick is done. He's drowning himself in booze and liquor so that he can ignore the ghosts that are both literally and figuratively haunting him. He doesn't want to get involved with anything. Not with Pennywise. Not with Leroy. And certainly not with the plan to hide Hank in the Black Spot. Pennywise won. He broke him.
Leroy, on the other hand, is clinging to rigid control and normality. Orders. He's a solider. He has a mission. He follows the mission. He's a Major, so when he gives orders, he expects them to be followed. His argument with Will was harrowing, to say the least. Will absolutely should not have thrown Pauly's death in his father's face, but that still didn't give Leroy the right to hit him.
I'm glad that Charlotte immediately recognized that it crossed the line and took steps to remove both Will and herself from the situtation. It won't be quick enough, but she still acted. She didn't just brush it off. That means something.
It's too bad that it won't matter. We've been building to it all season, but we finally got our riot. There were some major Sinners vibes as everyone drank and danced and had a good time, only for it to be ruined by a racist mob in clown masks rode up, led by Chief Bowers. Or Ex-Chief Bowers, since he was fired off-screen for a rather nonsensical reason. I'm not sure why there's a lack of faith in his abilities when he caught the "murderer." It's not like it's his fault that Hank escaped.
But hey, we needed a reason why this had to be a mob and not a police raid, and so we got one. Off-screen. For some reason.
I'm assuming that Ingrid is the one who tipped them off in the hopes of seeing her father again. Basically all of our major characters are there. I'm expecting a significant body count next episode.
Random Thoughts
The opening credits looked degraded this time around. Right? It’s not just me?
$500, the price on Hank’s head, would be over $5,000 today.
But seriously, who do I need to talk to for a genuine Shining prequel with Chris Chalk?
Still no Taniel.
The bloody handprint on Lilly’s back was very visually striking. Loved that moment.
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An Honest Fangirl loves video games, horror movies, and superheroes, and occasionally manages to put words together in a coherent and pleasing manner.
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