r/welcomeToDerry

So I just finished watching it, and I'm lowkey dissapointed. I don't necessarily hate it, but it could've been done differently

As a horror fanatic and original fan of first movie It (2017), I went in expecting more so eldritch horror. Tbh I thought it was going to be an anthological series.

It just seems like the theme is all over the place. Like the director was trying to fulfil their dream movie production in a production that isn't the genre they'd prefer to be in.

I can count at least 4 themes in this movie:

• The first is the Old Timey/History fiction. Specifically about civilan life in pre war times (with the whole millitary base near the town and all). I ddin't hate the theme but it was out of ordinary for what I expected.

• The second I noticed is dissapointingly just a tang of the original It theme. Him visiting unsuspectong victims and terrorizing them. Which I loved relishing in the first episode, but the series got so diluted in the theme inconsistency that the scares barely if ever, did anything for me.

• Another is the, millitary finds biological weapon then tries to control it, trope. This just feels wrong for what genre the show is supposed to be in. Introducing another antagonistic but human agent that attempts to control the supernatural agent just diluted any scare factor.

• Social injustice undertones. This isn't a problem as I'd consider it part of the old timey theme, but it's often lingering long enough to be noticed but not addressed enough to gratify the audience with any justice or meaningful acknowledgment and it's frustrating. I guess you would say it's a realistic take on what it would be like in those times, but again among the other themes in this show at least this one could've been rectified.

• Alien/superntural slasher. Though it's been addressed Pennywise is an alien of sorts they still treat him as sort of a supernatural being who is susceptible to human rationalization with their own cultural beliefes (the thing with the whole native community) I mean I guess it did make sense that they used the stones to ward him off, but it seemed like he, an alien, somehow was susceptible to their rituals. And also with this power Dick has. And the scares and kills feel more like slasher than terrifying and moderately ambiguous like it used to be.

TLDR; I'm not quite sure what it wants to be. It's okay when shows have a collection of themes as it would be a reality. But this seems like each theme is scuffling with each other to be the dominant one, where as horror is supposed to take the win (it doesn't) I don't even mind not being 'jumpscare' scared, but I just did not feel any horror element in it's entirety. Would do well if presented as the second theme though.

It's a nice little article and interview in Indie Wire, check it out here

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Hey y’all I just finished watching Welcome to Derry

Now I’ll give the important context that I haven’t read the books and I’m aware that the years/timeline of the book is shifted forward about 30 years or one cycle in the movies and TV show

That being said…..

Am I crazy or did they seriously screw up the timeline for specifically Mike Hanlon?

Without even citing specific years or cycles, if Mike is a young teen in Welcome to Derry, how is he still around the same age as Richie Tozier for example

Mike and Marge are teens so by the time Richie is born Mike should be his dad’s age.

Am I missing something or did the Movie/TV universe just decide to completely overlook that in order to make the new timelines work.

I think the main criticisms towards the monster designs for Welcome to Derry just showcase how much people don’t give a shit about the source material. One of the most common complaints outside of some bad CGI in some scenes for example is that the monster designs for the show such as the Pickle monsters and the giant mutant baby are too over the top and too corny where they’re almost like Goosebumps monsters.

Alot of people seem to argue that they want the monsters to be subtle and ambiguous to make them scary. They felt like showing the monsters too much made the show less grounded and less serious than it should be. Like do people realize that the source material that the show is based on literally had Pennywise turning into a damn werewolf wearing a Letterman’s jacket, a talking moon, a giant eagle and a Lepper offering a blowjob to one of the main characters right? None of the monster forms from the book are even remotely “subtle” or "ambiguous" because Pennywise as a character was never supposed to be a grounded and realistic character. Pennywise was always supposed to be a fantastical, campy, zanny and horrifying character which Welcome to Derry perfectly captured. If you remove any of those premise then Pennywise ends up being a completely different character all together. His pickle dad form and the mutant baby form literally captures the overall vibe of Pennywise in the novel.

When some people brought up the Goosebumps comparison just pissed me off because I’m pretty sure IT as a story has alot more commonality with Goosebumps than it does for more grounded horror such as Hereditary or the Jordan Peele movies. Let alone the fact that IT chapter 1 and 2 completely left out the fantastical and sci fi elements of the original novel in favour of a more grounded approach. Like IT as a novel wasn't just a coming of age horror story ,but it had a much larger emphasis on the fantastical elements of the Stephen King's universe which is why the idea of a shining in the show comes off as a surprise to non book readers. IT was always supposed to be fantastical and I hope the next season leans on that even further. Improve the CGI and do more practical sets next time. Pennywise turning into a goofy aah monsters while being scary is something they should double down on regardless of what some critics think.

I realised when Halloran mind attacked Pennywise transporting him into some random Bob Grey memory, it’s the most “human” like and normal Pennywise has ever been.

From his interactions with the other people, his very confused and dazed look and the real “dropped the act non goofy clown voice” this is the most normal we’ve ever seen Pennywise act.

It’s also the first time we’ve ever seen him not in control of his surroundings and genuinely had no idea what was happening to him.

Plus the absolute genuine anger he felt when he front kicked Halloran when he realised what was going on as he kept referring to him as Bob.

I absolutely loved Dick Hallorann being part of WTD and thought it made the story so much more interesting

So I want to ask everyone if there were to be a character from another Stephen king book to be in season 2, who would you pick and why

(this is just for fun so the setting and timeline don’t have to match up)

PS: I know Dick was in the books interlude and that’s why he was in the show. I’m just curious as to what other King character would work in upcoming seasons of WTD

I just seen the recent penultimate episode of The Boys and for fuck sake they literally made the same mistakes the Stranger Things writers made when they made that penultimate episode for the last season where they decided to do even more setup instead of resolving the majority of the major plot beats to set up the conclusion of the story.

The whole point of a penultimate episode isn't to keep adding in more major sub plots for the finale. It's whole purpose is to raise the stakes and be the climax for the finale. The penultimate episode for WTD is perfect because it was literally the climax of the story. The major sub plot of setting up Pennywise's last rampage before his sleep was resolved in the penultimate episode. The episode was intensed and gave a conclusion to many of the major characters like Rich, Ingrid and Pennywise before we go to the finale. The penultimate episode then ends with the major stakes being raised way higher than before when Pennywise became even more of a major threat after he was finally set loosed by the US military. The Boys kind of did a similar thing to one of their main characters ,but the showrunners decided to add even more characters from one of their spin off shows which ends up becoming alot more distracting and probably made the finale even more convoluted than it should be. Stranger Things literally the dropped the ball on their penultimate episode because nothing major happened at all ,but they decided to do even more boring set ups.

I seriously hope season 2 doesn't repeat the same mistakes that the other shows have made and continue what they have been doing from season 1 of the show.

Why does Pennywise take the form of this family? They must have been killed sometime in the 60s, but we never heard of any missing family.

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