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| Image Credit: HBO |
The Muschietti brothers' show confirms itself as one of the best television horror series of the last twenty years and a worthy rival to Stranger Things: how will the upcoming epilogue of the Duffer brothers' cult series manage to surpass it? Warning: spoilers ahead!
The first season of It – Welcome to Derry has just concluded on Sky, confirming itself as one of the scariest horror series to appear on the small screen in the new millennium. The similarities between Derry and Stranger Things, both derived from Stephen King's works in a more or less direct way, are evident, and after watching the first season of Andy and Barbara Muschietti's show (a second season has not yet been confirmed, but the story is structured as a trilogy set in 1962, 1935, and 1908), one seriously wonders how the final chapter of the Duffer brothers' cult series will manage to win the comparison.
In the final episode, entitled "Winter Fire," the military intervention led to the disruption of the magical barrier that contained Pennywise's power, who immediately sensed his renewed freedom, awakening from hibernation and spreading a noxious fog over the town of Derry. All the groups of characters we had followed so far in separate narrative lines reunite against the evil entity, trying to seal the circle formed by the cosmic fragments with the dagger. Hallorann uses his Shining to slow down the clown; the Hanlons, Taniel, and the others clash with General Shaw's army, while the girls (Marge, Ronnie, Lilly) help Will carry the sacred dagger to the edge of the woods.
The eighth and final episode is a television masterpiece. One could criticise the resolution as being too "simple" or chaotic, or that the narrative elements introduced by the Muschietti siblings are too radical and deviate too much from Stephen King's novel It (but the author himself reviewed the scripts and gave his blessing, so everything is fine). However, these are ultimately negligible flaws compared to what the show managed to deliver in its final moments. It - Welcome to Derry is a great horror series, with special effects of immense visual impact, decidedly more frightening and evocative than its television counterparts.
Pennywise's transformations are terrifying, and we can't imagine how children (or even adults) wouldn't be paralysed with fear in reality when faced with the clown's gaping maw or seeing him fluttering on bat wings. Bill Skarsgård poured all his naturally unsettling personality and disturbing mannerisms into a memorable performance, confirming himself as the worthy successor to Tim Curry from the 1990 IT miniseries, and renewing Pennywise's role as an icon of horror and pop culture.
The true stars of this finale, however, and the real architects of the monster's defeat, are the young precursors of the Losers' Club, who are also at the centre of the most emotionally engaging moments. There isn't a moment when Lilly's loneliness, Rich's sweetness, or Marge's insecurities don't seem to belong to real children. Much of the credit goes to the writing, but even more to the actors' performances. The female trio is the heart of the narrative, embodying inner strength not only against adversity but also against their own fears. Terrified, Ronnie, Lilly, and Marge still move forward; they get angry, they rebel, they decide to face an immense enemy with only their own strength. In the end, like protective guardian spirits, like inspiring nymphs, they help the weaker Will to complete his mission.
Rich's intervention is truly moving, but above all, it's symbolically essential to reunite the original group of young outsiders and allow them to defeat together the monster that has cruelly fed on their fears. With Marge, a new television icon is born, an irresistible figure of an outcast and ridiculed girl who reveals herself to be a force of nature: the character played by Matilda Lawler is a true fighter, an inspiring role model for her peers in real life. Moreover, thanks to her, who turns out to be the future mother of Richie Tozier (just as Will is Mike's father and Teddy is Stan's uncle), Pennywise reveals his most extraordinary power: the malevolent entity can perceive time not linearly but simultaneously. For him, past, present, and future coexist on the same plane.
Like Skynet from Terminator, it tries to avoid defeat by attempting to kill the mother of its mortal enemy. The implications of this revelation are immense and suggest the possibility that the events that occurred during the waking periods between hibernation cycles may be influenced by its interventions to escape death, making the narrative subject to infinite retcons. From this perspective, Beverly Marsh's cameo in 1988 takes on new perspectives, during which Pennywise's responsibility for her mother's death is suggested, and it is shown that Marge & co.'s efforts did not stop its actions in the future.
Hopefully, Pennywise, even if defeated in 2016 (the events relating to that year and 1989 are described in Muschietti's two films), will continue to exist forever in the periods corresponding to its previous awakenings, and in those moments, it will attempt to eliminate the other ancestors of its killers to prevent its own death. Finally, it's not a cameo but an intriguing easter egg that reveals Hallorann's decision to leave the army and go to work in a London hotel, thus anticipating his arrival, eight years later, at the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. Perhaps we will see him in a spin-off? For now, the ending works both as an epilogue to Welcome to Derry and as a bridge to future seasons.
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