“In the Name of the Father” shows that Pennywise isn’t the only monster hiding in plain sight. A shocking revelation about a trusted local figure changes everything we thought we knew about the town’s history.
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After the harrowing sewer escape and the death of Captain Pauly Russo, the survivors of Derry are left to pick up the pieces. But as the town descends into racial violence and the Losers’ Club fractures under the weight of their trauma, a new threat emerges from the past.
IT: Welcome to Derry — “In the Name of the Father” — The Recap
We open in 1935 at Juniper Hill Asylum. A storm rages outside in black and white. A nurse is led by a little girl to a red balloon, where Pennywise appears with a vacant stare, launching us into the title sequence.
In the present, Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) debriefs his family on the sewer disaster. The stress causes him to snap, and he slaps his son, Will (Blake Cameron James), after an insult, creating a deep rift in the family. Meanwhile, the town has decided Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider) is behind the disappearances. Angry mobs plaster his face everywhere, while the kids, weary and traumatized, study the “Pillar” artifact like it’s the One Ring. Its dark magic is already affecting them, especially Lilly (Clara Stack), who freaks out when Ronnie (Amanda Christine) calls her crazy.
It: Welcome to Derry Review – Without Pennywise, Derry is a Big Slog
Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) returns to the base, drinking heavily to drown out his intensifying visions. At the Hanlon house, Charlotte (Taylour Paige) interrupts a tender moment between Will and Ronnie to rush them to safety. She takes them to a secret “club” on the military base, which serves as a safe haven for the black community. Hank is hiding out there.
Rich helps Marge (Matilda Lawler) with her injuries. In a touching moment of bonding, he cleans her empty eye socket. Later at school, Marge uses her trauma as a weapon. When popular girls bully her, she rips off her eyepatch, causing one of them to vomit.
Tensions rise between Leroy and Dick. Leroy issues an ultimatum: serve his duty or leave in handcuffs. Later, Leroy and Charlotte fight. She forgives his earlier outburst but declares her intention to leave this godforsaken town immediately.
The biggest twist comes for Lilly. Isolated and terrified by apparitions, she looks through a scrapbook and is comforted by her teacher, Ms. Mabel (Madeleine Stowe). However, the comfort turns to horror. Mabel reveals she is related to Pennywise in a bizarre way and is happy Lilly “brought him back.” A flashback confirms Mabel was the nurse from the cold open, who sacrificed a child to the monster to save herself. She is essentially Pennywise’s daughter, or at least his acolyte.
Mabel traps Lilly and offers to reunite her with her dead father. Lilly slashes her own hand with the artifact blade and sprints away screaming.
As night falls, the safe haven club is lively with jazz and drinking, giving the kids a brief moment of joy. But outside, the angry white mob has located Hank. Inside her home, Mabel dresses herself as a clown, preparing for violence. Trouble has arrived.
Is the IT: Welcome to Derry episode — “In the Name of the Father” – worth watching?
“In the Name of the Father” is a strange hour of television. Coming off the high-octane horror of the sewers, this episode acts as a reprieve, focusing almost entirely on character dynamics and fallout. In a vacuum, it is a solid episode. In the context of the series, it highlights a major structural failure.
This episode focuses on the community aspects of Derry, specifically the racial tensions and the safe haven of the club. Surprisingly, this is the most interesting the non-horror elements have been all season. Seeing the black community band together to protect Hank feels grounded and tense in a way the “Operation Precept” military nonsense never has. It is a shame this focus comes so late in the game. If the show had led with this community building in episode two or three, the stakes would feel much higher now.
Instead, we are getting deep character work in episode six that should have been established weeks ago. Now that the “big bad” has been revealed, slowing down to watch Will and Ronnie flirt or Leroy struggle with his anger feels like backtracking. The pacing is simply off.
The horror elements are also a mixed bag. I absolutely hate the “nobody sees what I see” trope. Watching Lilly run around screaming at things only she can see is annoying and repetitive. However, the twist with Mabel is genuinely fascinating. Making the teacher a Renfield-esque acolyte for Pennywise who has been alive since the 1930s is a clever expansion of the lore. It gives the monster a human proxy and adds a new layer of danger to the kids’ lives.
Ultimately, “In the Name of the Father” feels like the episode we should have gotten a month ago. It is a decent watch with some strong performances, specifically from Madeleine Stowe, but it suffers from being misplaced in the season order. It is good content delivered at the wrong time.
IT: Welcome to Derry premiered on Friday, October 26 on HBO. “In the Name of the Father” aired on November 30.
IT: Welcome to Derry — “In the Name of the Father” — Episode 6 Spoiler Recap and Review
Cole Groth
