IT: Welcome to Derry | "Neibolt Street" Recap & Review | "In the Name of the Father" Preview

*SPOILERS AHEAD

The episode opens with the kids and the military forming the most unlikely squad you’ll ever see as they descend into the tunnels beneath the old Well House on Neibolt Street. It’s claustrophobic, it’s grim, and the whole place feels like it’s breathing. The combination of terrified kids and tense, trigger-happy soldiers sets the mood immediately: nobody is getting out of here unshaken.

Out of nowhere, Matty strolls back into the story like he didn’t disappear into thin air last episode. The kids don’t even have time to question it — they immediately tell him he needs to lead them deeper into the sewers so they can confront IT. The urgency is high, but there’s an unsettling edge to Matty… something off, even for Derry standards.

While the military pushes forward, Dick Hallorann taps into the most intense psychic surge we’ve seen so far. He slips into a surreal, shining-fueled plane where he meets visions of his grandparents. His grandmother urges him to understand what’s coming, but his grandfather keeps pushing him toward a mysterious box that feels like it should never be opened. The moment is eerie, emotional, and straight-up Stephen King energy in pure form.

Meanwhile, the kids finally reach the heart of the sewers — and yeah, Matty might be exactly who fans suspected he was. In a wild reveal, we see IT in the classic Pennywise clown form for the first time in the series. He’s got Lilly pinned and ready to be devoured, but one of the ancient star fragments the kids uncovered earlier stops him cold. It’s the first sign that these relics are more than just Easter eggs — they’re weapons.

Right as all hell breaks loose underground, the surface isn’t doing much better. Leroy, already on edge, sees the kids sprinting out of the shadows and mistakes Pauly for another hallucination. In his panic, he accidentally shoots Pauly, triggering one of the most heartbreaking moments of the season. It’s messy, tragic, and so painfully “Derry.”

The episode also drops a sneaky but important reveal: we finally learn who Hank was with on the night of the theater murders — Ingrid. It’s a detail fans have been speculating about for weeks, and now that it’s confirmed, her connection to the chaos is about to matter a whole lot more.

Episode 5 continues weaving more and more Stephen King lore into the fabric of the show. Between the Shine visions, cosmic references, Neibolt tunnels, and artifacts with unexplained power, the series is starting to feel like a full King-verse crossover without ever losing its own voice.

As the episode winds down, Hallorann finally claws his way out of the tunnels and into the woods. That’s where he finds Pauly — alive, wandering, but not himself. He moves like something undead, something hollowed out. It’s haunting, tragic, and raises huge questions about what IT’s influence is doing to the people of Derry.

The episode ends with everything in freefall: Pennywise awakened in full form, star fragments proving crucial, Pauly transformed into something between life and death, and Hallorann teetering on the edge of knowledge he might not be ready for. The stage is set for the kids and the remaining adults to regroup and face an IT that’s not hiding anymore. Next episode looks poised to dive deeper into cosmic lore, the star pieces’ origins, the fallout of Pauly’s condition, and how Matty’s true nature reshapes the group’s trust.