The Military’s Plan for Pennywise on ‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Is Completely Unhinged

Since it began, It: Welcome to Derry has telegraphed there’ll be a military component within its tale of small-town supernatural terror, circa 1962. While local high schoolers learn to “duck and cover†in the event of a nuclear attack from Bert the Turtle—winking at It fans who know the importance of turtles in Stephen King’s original story—there’s a top-secret project going on at the Air Force base just outside of town. What could it be? This week’s episode, and the teaser for next week’s, lifted the lid in a big way.

In episode one, we meet Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) as he lands at the Derry base; he’s a Korean War veteran who’s been hand-picked by General Francis Shaw (James Remar) to serve at this strategic facility. At first, Welcome to Derry leans in on the Maine base’s northern positioning: it’s just a seven-hour flight from Soviet airspace, a crucial consideration at the height of the Cold War. But we also take note, as Major Hanlon does, of a fenced-off building with warning signs plastered on it. “Special projects,†he’s told.

When Major Hanlon first meets General Shaw, there’s an immediate impression of a firm, fair, “no horseshit†commander. He tells Hanlon he’s brought him to Derry Air Force Base to test a new plane, praises Hanlon’s reputation for bravery, and inquires gently about Hanlon’s combat injury. The two men bond over their desire to defeat America’s enemies.

We also meet Dick Hallorann—an airman who tells his buddies that he’s involved in a “super-secret spy mission.†He’s joking, seemingly, but he’s definitely got some special privileges, including getting waved past the gate guard when he and his pals return after hours. And since we know who Dick Hallorann is, thanks to The Shining… we start to have an idea of where this might be going.

Still, though, It: Welcome to Derry keeps its cards close to its chest. In episode two, “The Thing in the Dark,†we see that Hallorann is using his gifts to guide a mysterious dig.

Then, we get this nugget, as Shaw brings Hanlon into that “Special Projects†building: recent intel has suggested that the Soviet Union is planning to place nuclear warheads in Cuba—aimed directly at the United States.

“What you’re about to see may be our best and only way to prevent that,†he tells Hanlon.

Behold, “Operation Precept,†aimed at winning the Cold War “before the first missile is ever fired.†It depends on a very special weapon, “Something that was buried in Derry a long time ago. Something that you, Major, are uniquely qualified to help us retrieve.â€

That’s because the weapon generates fear. Debilitating fear. And Hanlon, thanks to that brain injury he suffered in combat, doesn’t feel fear.

“We don’t know everything about it, where it came from, how it works,†Shaw says. But they do know it’s surrounded by objects, “beacons†of sorts, that can help them pinpoint its location.

We know from one of the other ongoing Welcome to Derry plots that these objects are tied into the local Indigenous population, who are extremely invested in keeping the military the hell away from them.

This week’s episode, “Now You See It,†brings some backstory into things, letting us know that Shaw spent some boyhood years in Derry—where he visited a creepy carnival and then had a very close encounter with this “weapon†while playing in the woods.

We know what it is: it’s It, an entity that can take any form and excels at using fear to attack its victims.

“Now You See It†also saw Hallorann and Hanlon team up, with Hanlon and his buddy Pauly (Rudy Mancuso) piloting Hallorann, who’s described as a “human compass,†on a surveillance flight. Hallorann, clutching Shaw’s old slingshot, searches for It vibrations from the air.

When Hallorann makes mental contact with the entity, he very nearly leaps to his death in the aftermath. It’s so harrowing he warns Shaw: “It wasn’t supposed to see us. It wasn’t supposed to know. I got a feeling if we keep doing what we’re doing, something bad’s coming. Maybe we ought to just let this thing be?â€

We tend to agree with you, Dick, because General Shaw—who should really know better—seems to think he’s going to capture It and somehow use It to fight the Soviet Union? Sir! This is not a good idea! This is a terrible, terrible plan!

And thanks to It and It: Chapter Two, we know what happens in Derry in subsequent years. We know there’ll be no grabbing this terrifying creature and pressing it into patriotic service.

The promo for next week’s episode not only hints at a key It location (“29 Neibolt Streetâ€), but it also suggests Hallorann is going to reach into a painfully unwilling mind to pry details about those “beacons.â€

It also shows Major Hanlon, who thus far has cheerfully gone along with everything, asking Shaw, “What the hell do you have us chasing?â€

Something bad is coming—and we can’t wait to see how Pennywise reacts, though we’re definitely dreading whatever happens.

New episodes of It: Welcome to Derry arrive Sundays on HBO.

 

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