IT: Welcome to Derry (2025) — Episode 6 Review

“The One Where Everything Finally Clicks… and Then Punches You in the Throat.”

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🎬 Let’s start by showing y’all the trailers, shall we?

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⚠️ CONTENT WARNING:
This episode gets BRUTAL — child endangerment, racism, manipulation, trauma, domestic violence, and one hell of a disturbing Pennywise-lore twist.
If you’re not ready for IT-level darkness, Episode 6 will steamroll you.


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NON-SPOILER PLOT OVERVIEW 🍿

Episode 6 is the moment the show finally says, “Oh, you thought this was a prequel about sad balloons? No. Time to suffer.”

The kids are falling apart emotionally.
Lily wants to return to the sewer and kill the creature.
Her friends think she’s gone off the deep end.

Dick Hallorann is spiraling from trauma and visions.
Hank Grogan and his father (Ronnie Grogan) hit their breaking point.
Virgil Hanlon slaps his son Hank, destroying their relationship in seconds.

Meanwhile, the racist white townsfolk start openly whispering about “taking care of the Black Spot,” setting up one of the darkest events in Derry’s history.

And then there’s Mabel Gray.

Sweet, quiet nurse.
Secret girlfriend of Ronnie Grogan.
And daughter of Bob Gray — the original circus clown Pennywise impersonates.

Episode 6 is where the show FINALLY turns into Stephen King chaos.


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CHARACTER RUNDOWN 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Lily (Jena Daniels)

Determined, traumatized, and obsessed with ending the creature. Won’t let go of that sewer shard for ANYONE.

Madeline (Lily’s best friend)

Fed up. Scared. Tired of Lily’s reckless “let’s go back in the sewer” attitude.

Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk)

His Sight is overwhelming him. Trauma is changing him for the worse. Some of the best acting in the episode.

Hank Grogan (Tehya Skye)

Wants to protect his friends. Gets slapped by Virgil Hanlon and reaches a breaking point.

Ronnie Grogan (Hank Grogan’s father)

Cheating on his wife. Emotionally shutting down. Drowning in guilt. Involved in Derry’s ugliest racial tension.

Virgil Hanlon (Malcolm Barrett)

Losing control. Uses fear as a weapon. One of the most realistic “scary humans” in the show.

Mabel Gray (Tessa Albertson)

Nurse. Secret lover of Ronnie Grogan.
Daughter of Bob Gray.
Deeply, creepily tied to Pennywise.
The emotional horror engine of this episode.

The White Mob / Black Spot Setup

Simmering racism turns explosive. This is the episode that sets the stage for the Black Spot tragedy.


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PACING / EPISODE FLOW ⏳

FINALLY.
This episode has NO filler.
No random side plots.
No pointless monologues.

Every storyline moves forward.
Every thread ties into something bigger.

The last 10 minutes?
Some of the best IT-universe material since the 2017 film.


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PROS 👍

The Mabel Gray twist hits HARD.

The Bob Gray reveal is chilling.

Beautifully sets up the Black Spot tragedy.

Hallorann’s story gets DARK in all the right ways.

The kids’ friendships breaking apart feels earned.

Creepy clown attic scene = peak nightmare fuel.

Finally feels like IT again.



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CONS 👎

Honestly?
The only “con” is that Episodes 1–5 should’ve had THIS energy.

Episode 6 is so good it feels like an entirely different show.


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FINAL THOUGHTS 💭

Episode 6 is easily one of my favorites.
The twist. The lore. The horror. The emotional firepower.
This is the episode that finally connects the show to Stephen King’s universe in a meaningful way.

If Episodes 7 and 8 keep this momentum?
Season saved.


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RATING ⭐

10/10


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⚠️ SPOILER WARNING — TURN BACK NOW OR FLOAT 🎈

Full chronological spoilers. NO bullet points.


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SPOILERS 💀🎈

Episode 6 opens with a flashback to young Mabel Gray at a carnival in the 1930s. She’s dressed like a clown, smiling, holding a balloon. A pale hand grabs the string. A man in clown makeup. Her father.

Bob Gray.
The original Pennywise.

Back in the present, the kids begin falling apart. Lily wants to return to the sewer. Madeline snaps at her and calls her reckless.

Hank Hanlon tries to stand up to his dad Virgil after everything they’ve been through… and Virgil slaps him. HARD. Hank runs away, devastated.

Dick Hallorann tries explaining “the box” — the imaginary place where he locks away dead things so he won’t see them — but the adults around him don’t understand the trauma he’s carrying. His powers are growing. And so is his fear.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Grogan has been MIA because he’s been secretly having an affair with Mabel Gray.
She hides him, comforts him, whispers things to calm him down… but her energy? Off. WAY off.

Tension builds among Derry’s white townsfolk as they gather in a bar planning to “deal with the Black Spot.” The racist energy is BOILING.

But the real nightmare is about to hit Lily.

She goes to Mabel’s house.
At first it seems normal.
Then Lily notices photos.

A man with balloons.
A circus clown outfit.
A little girl dressed as a clown.
Her father holding her hand near a red balloon.

Bob Gray.

Not the demon Pennywise.
Not the entity.
The HUMAN Pennywise stole his face from.

And then Mabel appears behind Lily… dressed in a handmade clown costume, humming, smiling.

She calmly explains that her father used to lure children with balloons.
That the creature took his form after he died.
That he still talks to her.
That she’s been helping him.

Because he promises she will “see him again.”

Pennywise is literally grooming her through the voice of her father.

Lily panics and escapes the house. Mabel doesn’t chase her. She just keeps humming… and starts getting ready like a child preparing for a carnival performance.

Meanwhile, the white mob lights torches and heads toward the Black Spot.

Also here’s the trailer for next week’s episode.

Yes thats right we finally get to see prototype Pennywise before the demon took form of him. Anyways see y’all then.