Episode one got us off to a good start. How can we follow up that ending? IT: Welcome to Derry doesn’t pull any punches. Once again, we’re just going to dive right in. Settle in for another in-depth recap. Do I really need to say it? Okay, I will. Beware the spoilers.
After the massacre of their friends in the Capitol Theater, Lilly and Ronnie are struggling to figure out what actually happened. The police start looking into Ronnie’s father as the murderer, as he is the projectionist at the theater. Hank has to console Ronnie that he won’t be arrested for the children’s disappearances.
Major Leroy Hanlon is finally moved into his off-base housing, and his wife, Charlotte, and son, Will, arrive. They also get their first taste of the prevalent racism in Derry. Will is greeted with a surprise telescope in his room, which he absolutely loves.
The Pattycakes
At school, a group of popular girls is asking one of the girls who they have a crush on. Marge stands on the outside, trying to figure out what they are talking about. The girl admits it’s a boy named Scottie, which prompts a massive laugh from the other girls. Marge joins in as she desperately wants to be part of the group.
Major Hanlon goes to speak with his Lieutenant Colonel and sees Airman Masters leaving the office under armed guard. It appears that Masters (who had previously refused to salute him) confessed to the beating and harassment that the Major had taken in the barracks.
Charlotte goes into the local butcher shop. She sees a group of boys beating up another boy on the street. She runs out to intervene, but is viewed with apparent contempt by the town. Once back at home, eating their dinner, Charlotte explains what occurred. After Will leaves the table, Leroy and Charlotte discuss prior events in Shreveport. Leroy insinuates that it was because Charlotte stood up for her family against the evident racism there.
In the Grogan house, Ronnie is terrified by her sheets turning into her dead mother’s womb. At the local bar, the Chief of Police walks in and is immediately hounded by local patrons about whether Hank Grogan has been arrested. The chief then states that the investigation is ongoing, which leads two men to threaten his next bid for re-election.
Dick Halloran
Later that evening, Dick Halloran, who was introduced in the first episode, and two airmen are walking back onto base. When asked why they were off base, Dick speaks up. He states he has special privileges because of who he is. The guard calls his superior for clarification. The guard is told to release him immediately.
Dick is seen at a dig site the next day, overlooking what is happening below. Dick is questioned about why he isn’t feeling well, and that he’d better not get too used to his special privileges. He’s warned that if the dig doesn’t move faster toward finding what they’re looking for, he’ll be released to be a regular airman again.
At school, Lilly sits alone in the cafeteria when Ronnie joins her and asks what she told the police about the incident at the theater. Lilly admits she didn’t tell the truth. They’ll think she’s crazy and send her back to the institution she was in after her father passed. This infuriates Ronnie, who ends up calling it “Total bullshit” how her father is being treated. This gets her into trouble with the cafeteria monitor.
Will is then seen sitting in the hallway reading a book. Rich Santo, a band nerd eating lunch in his locker, tells him he’s sitting in a spot reserved for someone else. Rich jokes he was kidding, as no one can reserve a spot in the hallway. He is immediately distracted by Marge walking by, revealing that he has a crush on her. As he snaps back to reality, he spots a boy in the hallway about to throw a stink bomb. Will reacts a bit too late and is hit with the stink bomb. He then runs directly into a teacher.
Guilty as hell
Will is in detention with Ronnie, who reacts to the horrible smell left by the stink bomb. Will tells Ronnie that he is wrongfully accused of throwing the stink bomb and asks Ronnie if she is innocent as well. After formally giving their introductions, Ronnie remarks on the book Will is reading and realizes he is “learning for fun”. They then see Lilly being escorted out of the school by the police chief.
At the police station, Lilly is questioned again about the night of the attack at the theater. Lilly states that Mr. Grogan was not at the theater that night. The police chief threatens that if she doesn’t come forward about Mr. Grogan being at the theater, then he would have no other option but to send Lilly back to Juniper Hill asylum. He says that she might be accused of killing the other children.
Hank is brought into the police station in handcuffs, which sends Ronnie visibly upset to Lilly’s house. Banging on Lilly’s door, Ronnie confronts Lilly about her father being taken away in handcuffs. She knows that whatever Lilly said has set the wheels in motion for what happened to her father.
Major Hanlon visits General Shaw. He tells him that Masters couldn’t possibly be guilty of the assault, even though he has a signed confession. The general explains that the assault in his room was a test to make sure that Hanlon does not have a fear reflex due to a brain injury he received while in combat.
At the grocery store, Lilly starts to see and hear things. She starts seeing all the faces on the cereal boxes (funny enough, called “Pennywise’s Corn Flakes”) are those of her dead friends. She runs and is cornered in the pickle aisle, where one of the jars has the face of her mutilated father. Suddenly, one jar falls, followed by the rest, which releases a pickle monster of her dead father’s body parts, causing her to anguish in fear. Things go dark, and she is confronted by the store’s manager over throwing a jar of pickles on the floor. This leads to her being sent to Juniper Hill by her mother.
Major Hanlon and General Shaw go to a top secret hangar on the base. General Shaw describes the events that would later become the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. General Shaw then briefs the major on what they are doing to hopefully prevent the Russians from launching nuclear weapons onto American soil. He describes that the weapon is buried in the woods around Derry, but that it causes debilitating fear to anyone who is near it. They want Major Hanlon to be there once they find it as he is incapable of feeling fear. Just then, the Lieutenant Colonel walks in and says that reports say they have found something at the dig site. All leave for the dig site, where an old car with dead bodies is pulled from the ground.
