HBO’s ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Episode 6 Review - A Pirate and a Knight

I have been suspicious of Ingrid Kersh since I first saw her in Welcome to Derry. My doubts originated mainly from Madeleine Stowe’s performance—there is something, um, loony about those eyes. The sixth episode of the series, In the Name of the Father, finally proved my suspicions right. Ingrid Kersh is—drum roll—the daughter of Bob Grey, the original Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and she believes that the evil entity, It, is her daddy. Can you blame her? The shapeshifter, as we learn through a black-and-white flashback, took the form of Bob Grey to manipulate Ingrid. She thinks her father suffers from some sort of condition that occasionally turns him into a monster.

It wouldn’t be preposterous to suggest that Ingrid could have fed children to Pennywise just to get a glimpse of her dad as a normal human being. This Juniper Hill employee should really be a patient at Juniper Hill. And people call Lilly crazy. Huh.

Oh, and there’s one more thing. That clown in the photograph that Lilly, Will, Ronnie, and Rich took at the cemetery—and the clown Leroy saw on the streets—was also Ingrid. During such moments, she should be referred to as Periwinkle.

Lilly, obviously, feels betrayed by her friend. She cuts Ingrid’s hand with the pillar she found in the sewer and runs. That pillar protected Lilly in Episode 5. Now that she knows that It is scared of… it, she wants to re-enter the sewer and kill Pennywise. Ronnie hates this idea; she doesn’t want to die. She also, in a fit of rage, calls Lilly “crazy.”

Will goes after Ronnie to cool her down, but turns almost speechless when she asks if she went too far by insulting Lilly. What can Will do? He’s so smitten with the girl in front of him that he just nods along and agrees with her. The kids might have kissed if Will’s mother hadn’t interrupted them while they were lost in each other’s eyes.

Rich, too, gets to be all romantic with Marge when he helps her dress her eyes. He uses his spit to remove her bandage because saliva apparently has antiseptic properties. Marge doesn’t think so, and neither do we. But hey, science is constantly changing and evolving. Maybe Rich is just way ahead of his time.

I won’t give Rich an A in science, but he definitely deserves an A in music. As a drummer, he impresses the dancers, the musicians, and Marge at a bar for Black folks. Rich, Marge, Ronnie, and Will are at this venue because Henry is hiding there. Will tries to rope Ronnie into Lilly’s plan—he even chats with Henry about it. But neither Henry nor Ronnie accepts the deal. I mean, no father willingly, consciously, deliberately puts their kid in danger. This is why Leroy orders Will not to leave the house for more of his “adventures,” but Will doesn’t listen. He finally has friends, and he will do anything to protect them. How sweet.

Did I miss something? Oh—Dick Hallorann is experiencing more psychological torment now that his box of ugly memories has been opened by Pennywise. Poor Dick. Perhaps he should move to a quiet hotel in the mountains for some peace. Oh yes, most of us have already seen that film. Things don’t end well for Dick. Poor Dick.   

Final Score- [6/10]