‘It: Welcome to Derry’ season 1 finale review: “Winter Fire”

It’s a new day in the town of Derry, Maine. A chilly yet hopeful calm as Pennywise slumbers until its next attack. The Season 1 finale of HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry wraps up its story through death and destruction. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the time when Pennywise makes its big move against the world.

“Winter Fire” is everything we want and more! An electrifying season finale that ends It: Welcome to Derry on a thrilling high note.

Call of the deadlights.

An unrestrained Pennywise is a chaotic Pennywise. Sure, the killer clown has been a terrifying Big Bad throughout It: Welcome to Derry Season 1, but his post-pillar era was completely unhinged. Between killing random adults (the principal, the milkman) and giving all the kids the deadlights, the entity went for the big finish.

Even during the It movies, we’ve never seen the entity make this big a strike. “Winter Fire” does an amazing job of showing how chaotic Pennywise can be when left unchecked, as well as how powerful it is. Seriously, did anyone expect the fog and the ice storm?!

Interestingly, “Winter Fire” emphasizes more of Pennywise’s ‘Pied Piper” motif. The clown persona has been the entity’s way of easily luring victims to their deaths. But for the Season 1 finale, the use of music and the line of floating hypnotized children is the perfect visual to express this theme.

The entity found a way to claim the children of Derry, creating an endless buffet for its next attacks. The scene goes to show that the entity had the power within it all along; that if it wanted to capture the town, it could’ve easily done so at any turn. The entity is more powerful than any of us realized.

Karma comes calling.

“Winter Fire” can best be described in two factions: the kids and adults vs. Pennywise and the military. Look, I will never truly understand General Shaw’s blind confidence in believing that he could control the entity. Nothing in its many years trapped in Derry should be proof that the entity is to be trusted … or could be controlled. The second that Pennywise crosses the tree’s border, it would be pure carnage and massacres across the country. And all those deaths would be on General Shaw’s shoulders, regardless of whether he cared or not.

Thankfully, Dick Hallorann and Rose were two huge MVPs in the battle against Pennywise. The adults and kids wouldn’t have saved the day without them, thanks to the tea and the powers. Someone needed to have the ability to fight the entity, and Hallorann needed to get his powers back eventually. It: Welcome to Derry does a great job of dropping clues to the wider Stephen King universe of stories. In this case, it’s Hallorann closing the mind box again and eventually getting a job at The Overlook in The Shining. Without Hallorann’s influence, Pennywise would’ve done more damage.

It’s a shame that Taniel died in the crossfire – all he wanted to do was stop the entity. He and the other adults were on the right side of history; the ones with the common sense to fight Pennywise. Sure, he was a minor part in the grand scheme, but he’s a lot smarter than General Shaw ever was. Seriously, how could a military general think it was a smart decision to support a multi-dimensional alien? Surprisingly, Pennywise didn’t just kill him right then and there when it was freed from Hallorann’s control. His death is so satisfying, a treat we can all enjoy in horror TV shows to come.

Sealing the cage.

The Losers Club, on the other hand, has a better course of action in stopping Pennywise. Without their teamwork, the dagger wouldn’t have placed at the tree, trapping the entity back into Derry. One of the strongest themes of It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 is friendship, and the bonds built together toward a shared goal. Even through the fighting over the dagger or the fear of dying, The Losers Club always finds its way back to each other, highlighting the importance of teamwork and their friendships.

The most heartwarming moment? When Rich’s spirit comes out of the fog to help the group force the dagger into its resting place. It’s a powerful moment for the climax, not just with Rich flipping off Pennywise, but his reunion with his friends to help them in their time of need. No matter if they die or move to Canada away from Derry, the group will stay connected. Completing the cage as a group wrapped up their journey with plenty of strong growth, setting all of them up for a brighter future. (At least, if they don’t forget due to Pennywise’s magic.)

A scheme in time.

The big theories coming out of “Winter Fire” stem from Pennywise’s speech to Marge. Does this mean Pennywise always knew how they were going to die, or are they trying to stop their death? Marge being Richie’s mother (i.e., Richie from the It movies) shows a direct connection to how Pennywise influences the future – if Marge were to die, Richie wouldn’t be born. The same can be said of Will; if he were to die, his son Mike (i.e., Mike from It) would never exist either. Both Richie and Mike are in The Losers Club that kills Pennywise.

This reveal blows the world of It: Welcome to Derry wide open. Now, the stories of Pennywise’s different feeding periods could be their chance at changing the future, to stop their death. We’ve witnessed Richie’s and Mike’s connections, but could the previous periods connect to other Losers Club members? Or maybe to Marge, Will, Ronnie, Lilly, or Rich? The entity being a multi-dimensional being opens up plenty of questions that we need answered in future seasons.

A chilling smile.

The post-battle epilogue may get a side-eye here or there. Beyond the one really shocking twist, the other decisions left things a bit open-ended or confusing. For example, Charlotte convinces Leroy and Will to stay in Derry. Who would willingly choose this after EVERYTHING that happened? Hank and Ronnie running off to Canada makes a lot of sense, especially since he was a murder suspect. But the Hanlons’ staying made no logical sense. Sure, it had to be done for the great It story, but it still didn’t feel realistic.

On the other hand, the big twist of how Beverly Marsh (from It) first encountered Ingrid Kersh was so brilliant. Ingrid’s creepy smile and speech from adult Beverly’s haunting had to come from somewhere. Now, we have the answer to where Beverly developed those nightmares. The scene was shocking and fit perfectly into the timeline. The tragedy at Juniper Hill ended Season 1 on an exciting note, one that sticks with you for all the right reasons.

Overall.

“Winter Fire” was a bone-chilling and electrifying finish to a strong first season. The battle on the frozen lake kicked It: Welcome to Derry’s momentum into overdrive, pushing the season into a grand finish.

Between the floating kids, the glowing trap to the end twist, “Winter Fire” packs plenty of memorable moments into a thrilling season finale. And brace yourselves for all the emotions; they’ll hit you like a ton of bricks!

It: Welcome to Derry Season 1 is available to stream now on HBO.