Spoilers for episode 7 ahead.
The flames have finally come to Delhi. Titled “The Black Spot,” Episode 7: Welcome to Derry pushes the prequel into full-on nightmare mode, delivering a canon-shaking tragedy, a brutal breakup, and a clearer look at the human face behind Pennywise. Watch the season finale trailer here.
black spot love and fire
This series has been orbiting the black spot since the beginning, and episode 7 does a good job of resolving that fear. Flames tore through buildings, turning clubs into death traps, claiming horrific numbers of lives and burning Derry in more ways than one.
Amidst the chaos are Rich Santos (Arian S. Cartaya) and Marge Truman (Matilda Lawler). Episode 6 framed their relationship with gentle warmth before tearing it apart here, with Rich sacrificing himself to save Marge. Before he died, they managed to tell each other that they loved each other. This small, tender moment made his loss one of the hardest punches of the season.
Young Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) doesn’t escape unscathed either. By the time the credits roll, he has succumbed to Pennywise’s Deadlight, leaving his fate up in the air as the show heads to its finale.
Bob Gray and Ingrid: Broken Beliefs
“The Black Spot” also serves as an important chapter in the Bob Gray mythology. At the carnival, we meet Bob as Pennywise, a dancing clown who was still human. Bill Skarsgård plays a disturbing showman with a strange, charismatic energy and a voice that has more than a little flavor of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood.
This matches Ingrid Kirsch’s story. In episode 6, it is revealed that Ingrid (Madeline Stowe) is Bob’s daughter and helps Pennywise, clinging to the belief that her father still exists somewhere among the creatures. Outside the burning Black Spot, Ingrid confronts Pennywise, but her abusive husband Stan, who beats his wife and is one of the culprits in the fire, ends up paying the price. Pennywise cuts off half of her head and asks her out during the banquet. “Does my face have a face?” This is one of the most grotesque, darkly humorous moments this show has put on screen.
For a moment, Ingrid seemed to be one of the rare people Pennywise might actually let go of, seemingly spared because she felt no fear (all that love and obsession probably means she’s not that palatable). But when she finally realizes that her father is gone and has been that way all along, Pennywise responds to that realization by showing her Deadlight.
Plans for the show and other monsters of Delhi
While Pennywise is tearing apart life on earth, other horrors are brewing in the halls of power. Episode 7 reveals General Francis Shaw’s (James Remar) true plans. He doesn’t want Pennywise to be captured alive for research. He wants to weaponize this creature and unleash it on the United States.
According to Shaw’s twisted logic, terrorism would unite the country under a shared fear and make it easier to control the population. Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) tries to stop him, but the General maintains the upper hand and prepares for a massive threat that extends beyond Derry’s borders.
Behind the Scenes Episode 7: Building Augury
Episode 7’s “Inside the Episode” featurette pulls back the curtain on how the creative team approached such a deeply traumatic chapter. Executive producer and director Andy Muschietti sees “Black Spot” as part of a repeating pattern in the long and bloody history of “It.”
From the beginning, that event was the backbone of the show. Muschietti explains, “We started with the black spot as one of the scariest events in the book and built the story around it.”
Writer and executive producer Jason Fuchs says that anchoring the series in this moment gave them room to explore parts of the city that they had never really seen before. “And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, ‘Wait a minute, there’s still a world in Derry that we haven’t explored yet, and that’s the world of Derry Air Force Base.’
Fire, One Take, and Farewell to Rich
A big part of why the Black Spot sequence is such a hit is the way it’s presented. A lot of it is designed to feel like one long continuous shot. “We wanted to create the impression that things were happening in real time with just one camera move,” Muschietti says. “It wasn’t easy to shoot.”
Stunt coordinator Jamie Jones analyzes the intensity of pulling it off in real life: “There were about 35 to 40 people in this building. It was close quarters with a lot of fire flying around. You couldn’t see three feet in front of you. So we rehearsed and danced everything through. So even when it started smoking, we were still able to get the job done.”
The special feature also spends time reflecting on Rich’s death with the cast and producers. Executive producer Barbara Muschietti explains the cruel necessity behind this choice: “We had to lose one of these kids to keep the emotional stakes up.”
For Matilda Lawlor, it was a career-defining challenge. “I think that was the most painful scene I’ve ever shot. I love Rich so much.”
Ariane S. Cartaya talks about how the energy on set changed the day she filmed Ritchie’s Last Stand. “Usually I’m high-fiving and hugging everyone, but that day it was a little more calm because I was really trying to feel for Richie in that moment. But I’m glad I was able to do that because it brings the story to life and Rich saves Marge.”
The Black Spot is reduced to ashes, the Lich is gone, Will is claimed by the Deadlights, and Shaw’s plans are behind the scenes. “The Black Spot” not only brings Derry to a corner, but also lights the fuse for a finale in which Pennywise isn’t the only monster to worry about.
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