‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Episode 4 review: “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function”

Before HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry can move forward, we needed to head to the past. “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function” isn’t only an origin story episode – it’s the connective tissue that ties everything together. The reason why Derry, Maine, is the place for all our fears and horrors come alive.

Between the prequel TV series and the movies, we finally got an answer for how the entity (aka Pennywise the Clown) came to be. It’s an essential episode for the greater story, albeit with filler moments wedged in for measure.

Star light, star fright.

“The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function” focused a considerable amount of Act 3 on the entity’s origin story. Regardless of The Losers Club or the military plot, this flashback was emphasized as the most important. It: Welcome to Derry was not subtle about this plot point. We needed to hear Taniel’s story and understand how everything transpired for the town of Derry. Without it, we’d be missing key details for the second half of the season.

As a standalone story, the flashback is concise, straight to the point, and builds plenty of tension. The pacing doesn’t drag on or leave any ambiguity; it’s easy to understand how the entity came to Derry from the asteroid. But more importantly, why and how it became trapped within the town’s borders. It’s shocking that, even after all the deaths, the settlers would still expand their colony into the western woods. They may not have known about the entity’s true nature, but the Indigenous tribe warned them plenty to avoid that area.

So, the big question: did Rose, Taniel, and the community know all along that the creature was at the Neibolt house? Hallorann has been looking for the “weapon” and how to control it, but this is direct information. And it’s not like the house is far away from the town; it’s right there for anyone to see. If the military goes searching for the entity, this could end terribly for the soldiers.

First monster I peer at tonight.

Speaking of the military plot, is anyone else happy that Major Hanlon believed his son, Will? In horror plots, it’s a common trope for adults to doubt the kids’ concerns. It’s so refreshing for Will’s parents to take him seriously and want the best for him. They jumped into action immediately after his trip to the police station. Sure, they were skeptical at first, but they realized quickly that something was up. We need more parents like them in spooky movies and TV shows.

Major Hanlon seeing the red balloon was one thing, but the burns on Will’s arms sealed the deal. Sometimes a character can’t talk their way out of the truth, especially when it’s staring them in the face. Will’s arms were burned – something truly tried to drag him into the water. The entity stepped up its game; thankfully, It: Welcome to Derry has the Hanlons ready to dig into the truth and ask the right questions.

For example, Will came up with the theory that the entity wants his victims afraid. He was right on the money! A fear demon like Pennywise the Clown can only toy and torment its victims so long before people notice a pattern. Hopefully, the kids and the adults can use that information to their advantage. They know it’s something to do with fear – they just can’t be afraid to fight back.

I run away, I’m out of sight.

Marge needs to stop being a pushover and a bad friend. The “Pattycakes” clique is just a bunch of mean girls, with one bossy leader in charge. Lilly is her best friend, and she has never done a single thing to betray or harm Marge. Sure, we can blame this on Marge being a pre-teen and dealing with the popular clique, but she knew she was doing wrong. It’s a shocking world when the entity/Pennywise was the one to stop Lilly from potentially doing a cruel prank.

The most interesting aspect of Marge’s fear attack was that it didn’t stem from the popular clique. I theorized a few weeks prior that she would deal with a horrible vision of the clique going after her. However, the insect was the first trigger point?! It’s creepy and horrifying, I’ll give it that, but I couldn’t have predicted it.

Marge’s bug eyes looked so unnerving! The way they tore through her eye sockets exuded an uncomfortable feeling, the same one you get from watching body horror. We don’t all need bugs to crawl from our eyes to understand how painful that would be. Thankfully, Lilly stopped her before she tore out her real eyes, but this victory might land her back in Juniper Hill. Come on, how is she supposed to explain holding a bloody weapon over a screaming Marge?! She can’t, that’s how.

Hide this fear I hold so tight.

Could “The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function” be foreshadowing a terrible fate for Charlotte? Hear me out, she acknowledged that she likes to protest and fight injustices. She’s made it her mission to help Ronnie’s dad, and she believes Will about the creepy “clown”/water attack. Plus, she became friends with Rose to talk about all things Derry.

Charlotte has quickly become the person most open to questioning the strange happenings in Derry. Chief Bowers wants to keep the case closed; there’s no way he’ll like Charlotte fighting back against it. And the corrupt cops will do his bidding to keep the peace. Charlotte needs to be careful. If anyone else finds out about Hank’s affair, the town may try to silence her, too, as revenge for keeping that secret.

Overall.

“The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet’s Function” was a packed episode with four integral moving parts. At times, the episode strengthened thanks to the work put into pushing the entity’s story, both in the mystery and in the action. While other times, it continued to drag on the pace to tease a new layer, power, or Pennywise hint.

This episode is essential to the overall arc of It: Welcome to Derry Season 1. Hopefully, the momentum kicks into gear to push forward faster. We have enough easter eggs; it’s time for the plot arc to ignite.

It: Welcome to Derry airs new episodes on Sundays at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.