“IT: Welcome to Derry” delivers the most disturbing sequence I’ve seen on television this year
By Aaron Pruner | Published: 2025-10-31 16:00:00 | Source: CNET
ET: Welcome to Derry The second episode premiered on HBO Max Today, two days before the scheduled date, you make your Halloween Even sweeter.
The prequel, co-created by Andy and Barbara Muschietti (the duo behind 2017’s It and its 2019 sequel), takes audiences back into the world of Stephen King A cinematic universe where Pennywise, an extra-dimensional being who eventually takes the form of an evil clown, terrorizes the fictional town of Derry, Maine every 27 years.
Episode 2, titled The Thing in the Dark, stays in the year 1962 and follows the small town community as it deals with a horrific act of violence that wipes out a group of children who were thought to be the main players in the show.
The episode focuses on Lily Bainbridge, the girl at the heart of the story, and, unexpectedly, delivers one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve seen in a TV show this year.
Needless to say there is Main story spoilers About the second episode of IT: Welcome to Derry Below. If you haven’t watched it yet (HBO won’t air the episode until Sunday, November 2), I suggest being cautious.
Thematically, IT: Welcome to Derry explores the erosion of the American Dream — the sinister side lurking beneath Norman Rockwell’s attractive veneer. A brilliant opening credit sequence makes this message clear, and it’s on full display during a short trip to the supermarket.
Lily, like almost every child in Pennywise’s orbit, is dealing with some semblance of trauma. Hers relates to the death of her father, who died in a factory accident. It is 1962, and no one mentioned seeking treatment. Instead, there are threats to have her shipped to Juniper Hill Asylum, which, if you’re familiar with King’s work, appears frequently in his literary world.
From the moment I entered the store, it was clear that something was off. The more I wandered through the rows of canned goods and cereal boxes, the clearer it became that Pennywise was pulling the strings. Behind her, the corridors move, and soon her journey to the market develops into a nightmarish maze.
Clara Stack stars in IT: Welcome to Derry.
My mind, Admiral Ackbar, told me it was a trap before the show even started. As someone who once got lost in the supermarket, a terrifying childhood memory came up and slapped me in the face.
There are two important events that happen in this scene: First, the children who were killed at the end of the first episode appear on cereal boxes, and Pennywise’s name appears prominently in large letters. Second, the evil entity appears in the pickle jars in the form of her dead father.
Let’s go with the grain thing first.
The mascot first appeared on cereal boxes in the 1950s, and the mascot that always caught my attention was Crinkles the Clown. He appeared on the Post’s Sugar Rice Krinkles program. Like Pozo the Clown, this character proved popular with children of the era. All you have to do is look at his face to see the resemblance to the dancing clown form that Pennywise will eventually take.
For me, and for many of my generation, breakfast cereal is a gateway to nostalgia. Memories of Saturday morning cartoons over bowls of Frosted Flakes are clear in my mind. This was my safe space.
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It’s like Pennywise is taking a page out of Freddy Krueger’s playbook. This blade-gauntlet nightmare first entered my world when I was still popping pills in front of the TV, shattering that sense of security I mentioned earlier. The supermarket scene in this episode of IT: Welcome to Derry embodies exactly the same disturbing vibe.
Like Krueger, IT delights in the fear of its victims, and has wisdom and simple phrases to sprinkle over the torture. Freddy was a notorious child killer, and as seen in Muschietti’s updated version of the Stephen King classic, Pennywise’s massacre of children is now more profound, and no longer limited to off-camera moments.
All the bad stuff in the series has happened in the dark so far. However, the horrors that befell Lily unfold under the bright lights of the market, dismantling a place that usually represents safety and sustenance.
Now, about those pickle jars.
Lily’s father breaks the glass, cuts himself into the shape of a slithering thing with claws, and attacks the girl. It’s rude, disgusting and feels so (how should I put this?) 2025.
I left her crying on a floor full of broken glass. Then, in the blink of an eye, it is not so at all. Everything goes back to normal, with a crowd of adults judging the girl. Once again, Lily’s state of mind was called into question.
Through every iteration of Pennywise I’ve seen on screen, the ones that work best take place in the past. ET: Welcome to Derry is an example of this, and somehow, the terrifying energy of our current real world is there too, lurking in the shadows. No one is safe in this city, and there is no punishment in this show. All it takes is an innocent trip to the grocery store to drive this message home.
The rest of the season may be uneven in tone and pace, but this scene is exactly what I expect from any Pennywise story. Think of these five minutes very well spent.
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