The upcoming episode of IT: Welcome to Derry is set to depict one of the most tragic events in the town’s dark history. Episode 6, titled “In the Name of the Father,” will show the burning of The Black Spot, a nightclub serving Black soldiers that was destroyed by a racist group. This incident, a pivotal moment in Stephen King’s lore, is expected to mark a major turn in the series as Pennywise’s current cycle of terror reaches its climax.
The Build-Up to a Tragedy
The story of The Black Spot has been carefully developed throughout the season. In earlier episodes, the character Dick Hallorann—who later appears in The Shining—requested a safe social space for soldiers. General Francis Shaw provided a decommissioned storage building, which the men cleaned and furnished, turning it into a vibrant club with a record player, piano, and refrigerator. It became a popular spot for Derry’s Black community to gather and dance. However, the club’s existence was threatened by the rising tensions in Derry. The hunt for escaped convict Hank Grogan has the town on edge, and suspicion fell on The Black Spot as a possible hiding place. This suspicion sets the stage for the tragic events to come.
The Attack on The Black Spot
The preview for Episode 6 shows a clear division in Derry. While white citizens, led by Police Chief Clint Bowers, hunt for Hank Grogan, people are seen celebrating inside The Black Spot. The scene then shifts to a mob of masked white men armed with guns surrounding the building and setting it on fire. In Stephen King’s original story, the club was burned down by a radical white supremacist group called the “The Maine Legion of White Decency.” The series appears to be sticking to this core truth, showing the attack as a racially motivated act of violence. Dick Hallorann, who worked in the club’s kitchen, is shown in the promo as disoriented, with Leroy Hanlon questioning him about what happened in the sewers, suggesting a connection between the tragedy and Pennywise.
Connecting to a Larger Horror
The burning of The Black Spot is not just a story of human evil. In the world of Derry, it is also a key event in the cycle of the cosmic entity known as Pennywise. The show’s producers, Andy and Barbara Muschietti, explained their approach to the series, stating that every 27 years when Pennywise appears, its cycle is marked by two catastrophic events. They are using The Black Spot as a central event around which many stories are built. In Stephen King’s novel, amidst the chaos of the fire, a giant bird that floated with the aid of balloons was seen snatching a victim. This strange creature was a manifestation of Pennywise, feeding on the fear and tragedy. The series will likely show how the entity uses this human-created disaster to its advantage.
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A Changed Timeline and New Characters
The prequel series has made some changes to the original story to fit its new continuity. In the book, the Black Spot tragedy occurred in the 1930s and was witnessed by Mike Hanlon’s father, Will, during his time in the Army. In IT: Welcome to Derry, the timeline has been shifted to 1962, which is 27 years before the events of the 2017 IT movie. Will Hanlon is a young boy in this series, and the story of the fire will likely be passed to his son, Mike, through the notes of Leroy Hanlon, who raises Mike after his parents die in a fire in this new version of the story.
More Pennywise is Coming
Episode 5, “29 Neibolt Street,” finally featured the grand return of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise after the creature had been kept largely in the background for the first part of the season. Series producer Barbara Muschietti explained this strategy, comparing Pennywise to the shark in Jaws and noting that they wanted to delay the terror to keep the character’s mystery and fear alive. Now that Pennywise has fully appeared, co-showrunner Jason Fuchs teased that Skarsgård’s performance in the upcoming episodes will go to some unexpected places. He said that the actor has opportunities with this character that the story of the films did not present, promising that audiences will see him doing new and thrilling things.
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