IT: Welcome to Derry – Episode 4: “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function” Review

We drop straight back in with the kids, who show the cops their photos, only to discover Pennywise, the massive joker, has wiped himself clean off them. Ha-ha, Mr. Wise. You got them. The police immediately kick the kids out and scold them for wasting time, leaving them to realise they're completely on their own.

Shawshank gets a lovely mention - another beloved King adaptation, and I can't help but chuckle thinking about Morgan Freeman's Ellis Redding dealing with the biggest drama of his life while, just down the road, Pennywise the space-clown god is massacring an entire town.

Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) and Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), the fearless soldier, go fishing to bond. Leroy leaves Will by the water, and Pennywise, in a genuinely hilarious moment - attacks Will as a koi fish. Not sure it was meant to be funny, but it got a proper laugh out of me. A red balloon then floats across the river as father and son stare on in confusion and fear. This scene just didn't work. The build-up was off, and the scare felt like a deleted scene from Midsommar (2019). Blake Cameron James gives it everything - he really looks terrified, but the whole thing lands flat.

We cut back to the kids brainstorming how to overcome whatever is hunting them. Will (James) somehow figures out it's attracted to adrenaline and then goes full PhD on the group. Lilly (Stack) steals her mother's medication to stop them feeling fear. It's a jarring moment that spoon-feeds the audience the "rules," but we never see how Will came to this conclusion. It feels rushed, sloppy, and frankly undeserved, an eye-roll of a revelation.

Surprisingly, the Cold War subplot (previously the weakest part of the show) turns out to be the most compelling this week. The General (James Remar) mentions that "the Cycle" will be over soon, revealing the higher-ups have been hiding their knowledge of Pennywise from the team. Suspicions grow, trust evaporates, and Leroy (Adepo) starts questioning his superior, who also knows nothing. I haven't seen a group this fragile since One Direction in 2015.

We return to Lilly (Stack), whom Pennywise seems to despise. Not only does he attack her friend, he makes it look like she did it. I have never seen such petty hatred toward a child in cinema history. Pennywise hates this girl so much he isn't even trying to kill her, he's just sabotaging her entire life. What did she do to him? It feels personal, and while cartoonish, it's very fun to watch unfold.

We then get an incredible flashback showing Pennywise's arrival on Earth and how he became trapped in Derry. The scene holds nothing back. A primitive iteration of Pennywise massacres a Native American tribe as they try to scare him off. Blood and guts fly everywhere, and the clown gets nastier with every kill.

What doesn't work is how we get this flashback: Hallorann (Chris Chalk) is suddenly revealed to be straight-up psychic. Now, you might say, "A shapeshifting god-clown is fine, but a psychic is where you draw the line?" But it's jarring because this has never existed anywhere in the IT franchise until now. The loose connections to The Shining (1980) and Doctor Sleep (2019) make it slightly easier to swallow, but IT doesn't need more complications. Killer clown is freaky enough.

The show remains creepy, and the horror is sublime at times. There is real care in this project, the cinematography is gorgeous, the colours pop, and the bright palette contrasts wonderfully with the dark narrative.

But the main issue emerging is that it's all becoming too complicated. Much like how Prometheus (2012) added unnecessary lore to the Alien franchise, making it confusing and frustrating, I fear the same thing might be happening to IT. The series feels bloated and occasionally nonsensical within its own established rules.

There are still a few episodes left, though, so hopefully these issues will be ironed out by the end.

Episode 1 review

Episode 2 review

Episode 3 review

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Blake Reilly