The third episode of It: Welcome to Derry is titled "Now You See It," not only because a creepy old man scares a young boy by saying those words near the beginning. This is the episode where Pennywise the Dancing Clown appears on-screen. Well, he's revealed in an almost fuzzy picture, and he's not dancing. But yes, the clown is slowly beginning to come into the picture (literally too), which will probably have some fans screaming in delight. I, however, have a few puzzling thoughts about...it. Why is Andy Muschietti using this antagonist as a tease when we have already seen him in the two It movies? I understand the intention behind creating suspense around a reveal, but we all know what Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise looks like. If Muschietti hasn't changed the character's costume or makeup, then the eventual full display of this evil clown would just end up feeling like fan service — something akin to what happens in superhero movies. There's another thing. In an interview, the makers of Welcome to Derry said no character would be safe in the series. This is why, in Episode 1, those kids became the victims of that ugly, creepy baby. But Episode 3 plays it safe: Ronnie, Lilly, Rich, and Will come face to face with flying ghosts in a cemetery, and everybody makes it out alive. Will that "everybody is unsafe" feeling return, or was it all merely a gimmick reserved for the premiere to suck the audience in?
In my review of Episode 1, I pointed out that despite being branded a supernatural horror show, Welcome to Derry dances more along the lines of comedy. That sentiment holds true once again as Rich cracks you up when he comments that some people, on the inside of their shoes, write poems. Rich is DEFINITELY not talking about him. Such quirky antics are reserved for those in love, who find the most unusual surfaces to spill their deepest emotional feelings. Rich, at the cemetery, amuses you again as he attempts a summoning ritual, which he may have learned from either his cousin or his uncle. He also believes that in America, the police can't imprison someone without solid evidence. How cute; how innocent. Pennywise can leave Rich alone. This naive boy will die anyway after getting exposed to the real America, after encountering the harsh realities of life beyond the veil of childhood. True horror, for him, is lurking just beyond the horizon. It also currently exists around him in the form of racism, but Rich, for now, is lost in a world of whimsical thoughts about writing poems in his shoes. Oh, wait! My mistake—he's NOT penning verses at all! He's NOT in love or anything, unlike Will, who clearly has a crush on Ronnie, which is why he agrees to help her develop photographs. "When she asked me [for help clicking and developing supernatural pictures], it's like my mind just went blank," Will confesses to his only friend. What do you know, it turns out that Ronnie has feelings for him, too! If this science nerd were to write poems, I imagine he wouldn't use shoes, but rather chemicals. After all, why should popular kids get all the girls? Why should studs have all the fun?
Final Score- [6/10]