Alright, everyone, you know the drill. If you’ve been following along here on Horror Movie Blog and came from episode four, you know how it goes. For your newbies who are jumping in cold to the IT: Welcome to Derry recaps, it’s all about the spoilers. So here goes, onto episode five.
Dick pulls out of Taniel’s mind after learning the locations of the 13 pillars containing IT. He sees Taniel suffering a seizure brought on by the psychic intrusion. General Shaw finally agrees to give Major Hanlon a full update on what they all witnessed.
After IT convinced Marge she had slug eyes and nearly drove her to cut them out, Lilly visits her in the hospital. Marge assures Lilly she never blamed her. She also says she finally believes everything Lilly has been saying.
Lilly heads to the standpipe with Ronnie, Rich, and Will. Ronnie asks her to convince Marge to go to the police, but they all know the police won’t believe her any more than they believed them before. When they reach the observation deck, they find a tent and prepare for danger. Instead, they discover Matty inside, somehow alive after IT’s attack.
Better safe than sorry
Elsewhere, after learning the true nature of the “weapon” the Air Force wants to use to control fear and deploy against the Soviets, Leroy Hanlon moves his family onto the base for safety. Leroy and Dick Halloran lead a small team into the Neibolt Street house and down into the damp, dismal sewers. Using Taniel as their guide, Rose gives him the weapon, a shard of the meteorite that brought IT to Earth millions of years ago. It’s meant to keep IT at bay if they are attacked.
Matty tells the kids he survived by hiding and running. He confirms Teddy and Susie are dead, but Phil, while catatonic, is still alive. The kids want the police to help free Ronnie’s father, who is being transported to Shawshank before his trial. Matty refuses to involve them, saying he’d rather return to IT’s lair than go back to his parents. The group decides to enter the sewers to rescue Phil. Though Matty resists, they convince him with help from Marge. Will, who had been taken onto the base for protection, manages to reach the clubhouse just before they leave.
Guided by Dick’s visions from Taniel, the military team moves deeper into the sewers. After a sudden drop that panics the group, Dick falls and becomes separated. He enters a vision of his grandmother and abusive grandfather, who demands to know where Dick’s secrets are. When Dick refuses to open a locked box of his memories, his grandfather forces it open, exposing Dick’s deepest secrets.
Meanwhile, the rest of the team is attacked by a demonic Uncle Sam who shouts, “I want you!” before killing two members. Realizing the team has split up, Taniel panics and runs, losing the shard in the flowing water before fleeing on foot. Hanlon and Russo try to catch up, but Hanlon hears Charlotte’s voice. As she approaches and their lights flicker, Charlotte transforms into a demonic version of herself and attacks Leroy. He shoots her, apparently killing her, though Russo never sees her at all.
The kids enter the sewers from the Barrens outflow. After taking three of Lilly’s “mommy’s little helpers,” they begin experiencing hallucinations as they descend toward IT’s nest. Marge becomes unstable and clings to Rich’s hand, thrilling him because of his crush on her. They find the bodies of their dead friends, including a decomposing Matty. A demonic version of Matty appears, singing an eerie song about being led to “the clown.” He transforms into Pennywise. The kids flee, but Lilly becomes separated and trapped in a dead end. Pennywise corners her, thanking her for bringing the others, then morphs into her father to shame her. As he prepares to attack, he spots the meteorite shard Taniel dropped. He recoils and vanishes into the depths.
Will guides the remaining kids toward an exit and runs into his father. Leroy, believing it’s another of IT’s tricks, raises his weapon. When he fires at Will, Russo leaps in front of the shot and is mortally wounded, dying in front of Leroy and the children. Leroy orders the kids to run and escape the tunnels.
Secrets
Charlotte later watches a news report stating that the bus transporting Hank to Shawshank has overturned and that he escaped. Ingrid leaves her home and, upon getting into her car, is startled by Hank, who orders her to drive without revealing he is there. She takes him into the forest outside town. When they get out, they embrace, revealing she is the woman Hank has been having an affair with. Hank tells her to speak with Charlotte, believing she can help him find a safe place to hide.
The episode ends with Dick emerging wearily from the sewers into the Barrens and glimpsing what appears to be Pauly Russo wandering through the woods. The camera lingers on the fully opened box of Dick’s memories lying on the bathroom floor.
