IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 1 Spoiler Recap and Review: Who Dies in the Pilot?

We are back in Derry, because of course we are. 'Welcome to Derry' rewinds the clock to the 1960s and digs into how the town was already broken long before the Losers Club came along. It is a prequel to Andy Muschietti's IT movies, with a fresh set of kids, a few familiar names, and a nasty streak that makes it very clear this show is not here to play nice.

The setup

The pilot wastes no time reminding you what kind of town Derry is. A jittery kid named Matty Clements (Miles Ekhardt) bolts from home, catches a lift with a friendly-looking family, and then things get aggressively not-friendly. A nightmare birth in the car turns lethal, and Matty becomes the first sacrifice of a new cycle. If you are mapping this to the films: he is this season's Georgie.

Meet the Hanlons (yes, those Hanlons)

A few months later, the Hanlon family rolls into town. Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), a decorated Korean War vet, arrives with his wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and their son, Will (Blake Cameron James). If your IT lore antenna just pinged, you are right: Will grows up to be the father of Mike Hanlon, the future Losers Club historian. Translation: Leroy and Charlotte are Mike's grandparents. Leroy is stationed at Derry Air Force Base alongside his pal Captain Pauly Russo (Rudy Mancuso) to help manage Cold War tensions. It is the 60s, so the racism is loud; after a disrespectful welcome, General Shaw (James Remar) has to step in and remind people who outranks whom.

The kids we think we are following

Derry always assembles its misfits. Lilly Bainbridge (Clara Stack) is mercilessly nicknamed 'Loony Lilly' after her dad dies in a pickle factory accident. Her only friend is Marge (Matilda Lawler). They cross paths with Theodore 'Teddy' (Mikkal Karim-Fidler) and Phillip 'Phil' (Jack Malloy Legault), who slide neatly into the leader/wisecracker dynamic you are expecting if you have seen the movies. The town will do what it always does: ignore a missing child. The boys argue about how everyone forgot Matty four months after he vanished. Lilly, who was close to him, hears his voice whispering up through her bathtub drain. Marge shrugs it off, so Lilly taps Teddy and Phil to help dig.

What happens in the pilot (spoilers)

• Cold open: Matty flees, hitches a ride, and is killed when the mother in the car gives birth to a demonic thing. Derry is clocking back in.
• The Hanlons arrive: Major Leroy and Captain Pauly transfer to Derry AFB. General Shaw backs Leroy after an ugly, racist slight.
• New crew forms: Lilly and Marge link up with Teddy and Phil. Lilly hears Matty's voice from the drain and refuses to let it go.
• Adult dangers mirror the supernatural ones: Leroy and Pauly are attacked by masked intruders at the base, and fight them off. Derry's human rot runs parallel to the other kind.
• Teddy's personal haunt: While studying for his bar mitzvah, his Orthodox father mocks the idea that Matty could be alive. Later, a lampshade in Teddy's room comes to life and terrorizes him before snapping back to normal when his brother enters. Classic Derry gaslighting.
• Clue-hunting: The kids (plus Phil's little sister) hit the library and learn Matty's last conversations included one with Ronnie (Amanda Christine), the daughter of Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider).
• Movie night goes to hell: Ronnie steers them to a screening of 'The Music Man,' Matty's last film. When Lilly recognizes the song 'Ya Got Trouble,' the projector stutters, and Matty appears on-screen to scold them for not being there for him.
• Then comes the hammer: On that screen, Matty unleashes the same demon from the opener into the theater. It crosses over and savages Teddy, Phil, and Phil's little sister. Lilly and Ronnie are left screaming in the aisle.

So... is it any good?

As a horror delivery system, the show lands the punch. Muschietti directs the pilot with the same mean streak he used in the films: setups that feel familiar, payoffs that are nasty, and imagery that sticks. It is also very much a pilot, which means a lot of laying track. The episode has to establish 1960s Derry, the Hanlon family on the military side, and a separate group of kids on the other side, so there is plenty of exposition.

Killing the kids the episode positions as our leads is a gutsy swing that sells the danger, even if it risks feeling like a gotcha.

That twist is the show's biggest flex and its potential problem. On one hand, it immediately tells you no one is safe. On the other, Teddy in particular is framed like a foundational character, so writing him off this fast can read as shock for shock's sake. Effective? Yes. Cheap? A little.

The uneven parts

There is also a split focus that might become a headache. Half the show is a remix of the films' greatest hits: grief, visions, a killer projector gag. The other half is a military storyline that, at least so far, plays like a separate show cutting in. Genre TV does not have a great batting average on military subplots, and this one is already tugging attention away from the kids.

The 1960s racism thread matters, but right now it feels like a required checkbox instead of a fully integrated part of the story. Also odd: Taylour Paige's Charlotte Hanlon is introduced as important, then essentially vanishes from the pilot.

The bottom line

It is not as glossy as the movies, but it is cleanly shot, coherent, and unafraid to be cruel. 'Welcome to Derry' opens with confidence, a few wobbles, and a clear promise: the past was always a nightmare here, long before red balloons.

'Welcome to Derry' premiered Sunday, October 26 on HBO. The pilot episode, fittingly titled 'The Pilot,' aired October 26.