As if the minds behind It: Welcome To Derry hadn’t already done enough to let us know that TV wouldn’t be taking the kid-eating antics of Pennywise the Clown, the time has come to see just what happens when the shape-shifter’s eating cycle reaches its most frenzied peak. It’s time for The Black Spot.
Possibly one of the most rewarding things about the show is how it’s dedicated so much of its efforts getting me utterly locked into the tangled and brutal history of Stephen King’s most beleaguered town. While I’m no historian on the matter, tracking all the heinous actions and reactions caused by this fear hoovering cosmic entity and stringing them together has become almost as engrossing as the freakish, crazy fear sequences the show has generously thrown our way multiple times an episode. However, one of the most infamous events from Derry’s twisted history (twistory?) is finally about to occur – can the tragic fire at The Black Spot live up to the hype, or will it end up as a mere footnote in a series that’s repeatedly delivered?
The board is set and the racial tensions that have washed over Derry like a fever have finally popped its top when a gun totting mob arrive at the thrown together nightclub known as The Black Spot. They’re here to find accused child killer Hank Grogan who, thanks to an anonymous tip, has been spotted hiding on the premise, and they’re not going to take no for an answer – however, things get even more tense when the main clientele (eg. black soldiers from the nearby army base) show that they’re also armed. While the racist gang back up after realising that they’re outgunned, they put in motion a terrible plan B that soon leads to a fiery disaster.
After chaining up the entrances and exits, the mob lights the place on fire with everyone inside and then opens fire just for good measure with the intention to murder everyone within. However, not only is the place full of terrified adults, who rapidly succumb to the flames and bullets, but we also find Will, Ronnie, Marge and Rich present who scramble to avoid getting consumed by the rising flames. With all this carnage and fear in the air, it’s like ringing a dinner bell for a certain cosmic, shape changer; and while an angry mob and imminent immolation is bad enough, an inhuman, clown-shaped, fear-monster showing is the final piece of the puzzle.
But throughout the chaos, we discover something rather shocking. While Pennywise’s influence has poisoned the minds of the residents of Derry, he’s not actually the one who called the tip in about the whereabouts of Hank Grogan. Nope, it seems that that the deranged Ingrid Kersh genuinely still believes that the jovial form Pennywise wears is her father, washed up clown performer Bob Grey, who mysteriously disappeared when she was a child. Strap in folks, Pennywise has a lot of death to sew before he goes back into hibernation.
Even though I’m fully aware about Welcome To Derry’s prequel status, I have to say, I keep finding myself lapsing into a false sense of security when it comes to the amount of damage the cackling Pennywise can actually cause. Trawling back (forward) through the events of both It movies and linking the connective tissue and fan theories together means that certain characters are essentially clown-proof. Will’s essentially safe because he’s due to father Mike Hanlon who goes on to finally topple It thanks to the combined efforts of the Losers Club, rumours are abound that Marge will eventually go on to get married and eventually give birth to Richie Tozier and, of course, Dick Hanlon still has that fateful date with the Overlook Hotel to look forward too – but despite that unforgettable first episode that brutally announced that no one is safe, I find myself keep hoping that some of these people will manage to avoid a horrendous fate. Well, Episode seven proves to be a timely reminder that both is true. That’s right, while we’ve all known that the fire at The Black Spot would be the focal point for the entire season, the episode manages to string together so much of the continuing plot threads throughout its runtime, you’d be mistaken for thinking that this us actually the finale.
Before we dig into the huge, central set piece, we first have to address that we finally get to see Bill Skarsgård as Bob Grey’s original version of Pennywise in action (way less murder, way more booze and self loathing as he yearns for past glories) and in incredibly satisfying origin for why It took the form of his prat-falling alter-ego in the first place. It’s practically perfect and it’s a nice touch that Bob is led to his end by the form of a child knowing full well that the new Pennywise will pull a full uno reverse card and lure in children his his form in return. We also get more insight into Ingrid’s obsession with the being she believes is still her father and while It isn’t renowned for his kindness, It’s obvious amusement that this woman is so far gone that she’d dress in her Periwinkle costume to entice him to come home is beyond spiteful. However, in an interesting twist, director Andy Muschietti manages to side-step a potentially iffy plot point by making it Ingrid who actually called the tip in to the lynch mob without Pennywise actually being involved. While we’d want our arch villain to have all of his gloved fingers in all of the evil pies, to have him “controling” or “manifesting” racism in the 1960s would have been something of a tone deaf disservice. After all, lynch mobs and racism are tragically prevalent in our society without giggling clowns to pull the strings, so it’s interesting to see the arch string puller itself get manipulated into showing up at The Black Spot while someone else let bigotry do the work.
As for the fire at The Black Spot itself, it’s as savage and brutal as you’d expect it to be and it even claims the life of little Rich Santos who bravely gives his young life in order that a horrified Marge can live. While some of the aspects of the scene distract from this heart breaking act of heroism (wouldn’t Marge either cook alive or sufocate in a drinks freezer in the middle of a raging inferno?), it doesn’t stop the death of yet another one of Derry’s child cast raising those stakes even if we’d all figured out he would probably buy the farm weeks ago. But still, watching a blood-drunk Pennywise gleefully stalk through the flames proves to be the It imagery we’ve all been dying for and it’s been well worth the wait even if a lot of the adult characters have nothing much to do.
In fact, the only real issue I have (other than the structural integrity of a flame roasted drinks freezer), is that I wonder if the episode has actually left any real material for the actual finale. With the Black Spot disaster done and a whole town in shock, a lot of the threads have been pretty much tied off. Halloran’s Shining abilities are now operating off the scale and the outraged, recent dead won’t stop bothering him; Ingrid seems to have been rendered catatonic by Pennywise’s deadlights and the clown himself has returned back to his lair, seemingly sated by gorging himself and really to head into the hibernation part of his feeding cycle. But with everyone’s guard down, trust the military to fuck things up as we discover that General Shaw’s real plan for It isn’t to drop the cosmic troublemaker on the Russians, but to allow it free reign to cross out of Derry into the rest of America to use fear to quell the civil upheaval the country is going though.
With Pennywise calling off his snooze to take advantage of his freedom and having one more shot shot at getting hold of Will, time will tell if the season has misjudged not making The Black Spot its grand finale. However, even if the final episode ends up feeling a little tacked on, you can’t deny that the clown is having a remarkable run.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
We Have Issues 