The third episode of HBO’s “IT: Welcome to Derry” (2025) is titled “Now You See It,” hinting that the audience and some of the characters finally get a glimpse of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård), after much anticipation.
The episode opens in 1908, with General Shaw (James Remar) as a child having a vivid and horrible experience with IT while attending a carnival with his father. He is saved by a Native American girl named Rose and works to preserve Derry’s Native American heritage and roots in the modern storyline.
Kimberly Norris-Guerrero plays adult Rose. Lily Bainbridge (Clara Stack) is discharged from Juniper Hill, and she reconciles with Ronnie Grogan (Amanda Christine). The two then devise a plan to take a photo of IT so that they can prove to the authorities that Ronnie’s father, Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), is innocent and that Lily isn’t hallucinating.
Clint Bowers (Peter Outerbridge), the Derry police chief, threatens to send Hank to Shawshank State Prison if he doesn’t confess to the murders. Meanwhile, Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) is tasked alongside Major Leroy Hanlon (Javon Adepo) and Captain Pauly Russo (Rudy Mancusso) to help find the “weapon” General Shaw believes is located in Derry.
Dick can connect with IT in the form of Pennywise in IT’s own lair in the sewage system of Derry, and IT almost causes Dick to commit suicide. Lily and Ronnie recruit Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) and Rich Santos (Arian S. Cartaya) to help them get a photo of IT and develop it properly.
After escaping from the ghosts of previous children that IT has captured and eaten, they manage to develop photos they took of the whole situation, one of which includes IT in the form of Pennywise.
Something that “IT: Welcome to Derry” does well in its first few episodes is establishing a setting where people of all various backgrounds can have the spotlight, even if they aren’t a part of the main core group of characters the show follows.
General Shaw has only been shown a few times before this episode, and now, understanding why he’s in Derry looking for IT is given in the opening origin of how he came into contact with IT in 1908.
His relationship with Rose is a quality, additional touch, too. It provides a better, richer setting where the side characters have depth and aren’t just mindless vessels for Pennywise to torment and kill.
In terms of technical filmmaking, one aspect that warrants attention regarding the show is the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI). The CGI, for the most part, is good when used. However, in this episode specifically, the use of it is poorly used and definitely should’ve had more time to polish it in post-production.
On a more positive note, the cinematography and overall look of the show are top-notch. In terms of its visual representation, the show looks and sounds creepy and eerie when it appropriately needs to be.
Many television programs and even feature-length films can sometimes fall flat in their execution of horrific subject matter. So far, this show does not fall into that category. Andy Muschietti and the other directors of the show know what they are dealing with and understand how to portray it.
The decision to withhold Skarsgård’s Pennywise from taking over and terrorizing the children is a smart strategy by the filmmakers.
When Pennywise does take the screen, it will be a reward for lovers of Skarsgård’s performance and those who enjoy watching the villainous clown.
