Image courtesy of Everett Collection
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Cathal Gunning
Published 11 minutes ago
Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.
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While It: Welcome to Derry episode 6’s story was dark throughout, it was the outing’s ending that cruelly undid the triumphant finale of 2025’s biggest horror hit, Sinners. From It: Welcome to Derry’s opening scene onward, it was clear that the show would be darker than the earlier It movies.
The prequel opened by killing off its apparent hero, the young runaway Matty, and the pilot episode doubled down on this dark tone when it ended with the deaths of almost all the show’s young heroes. It: Welcome to Derry’s five main characters entered the town’s movie theatre, but only two emerged alive as the rest were mercilessly slaughtered by Pennywise.
Even though this made it abundantly clear that the series was not going to be pulling any punches, It: Welcome to Derry episode 6, “In the Name of the Father,” still stung like a slap in the face. The episode’s twist ending revealed that Lily’s seemingly kind friend Ingrid was really Pennywise’s daughter, Mrs. Kersh.
It: Welcome to Derry’s Black Spot Massacre Reverses The Ending of Sinners
Michael B Jordan in Ryan Coogler's Sinners
Lily was horrified to learn that Ingrid Kersh was only helping Lily in the hopes of finding her “father” again, but things soon got even worse as “In the Name of the Father” reached its downbeat cliffhanger ending. In an inversion of the bittersweet ending of 2025’s hit vampire horror Sinners, the episode concluded with a brutal racist massacre.
The sight of a heavily armed all-white militia successfully lynching a venue full of joyous Black characters would always have been almost unwatchable-y bleak, even in the context of It: Welcome to Derry’s already-dark story. However, it is notable that Sinners set up a similar scene when the movie’s antiheroes converted a white landowner’s barn into a juke joint.
The repugnant businessman who sold them the barn then assembled a group of KKK members to attack the barn and kill the revellers the next morning, only for the movie’s newly vampiric protagonist to outsmart them and kill the entire militia. It’s a deeply cathartic scene after the deaths of many innocent characters, and the movie’s most shamelessly satisfying moment.
It is hard not to see echoes of this scene in the Black Spot massacre since, like the partiers from Sinners, the patrons of the Black Spot are blissfully unaware of the evil white supremacists congregating outside to attack and kill them. Since The Shining’s Dick Halloran is too drunk and disturbed to use his psychic powers, he is unable to warn them.
It: Welcome to Derry’s Black Spot Storyline Was Always Going To Be Its Bleakest Plot
Unfortunately for any It: Welcome to Derry viewers who hope to see the Black Spot’s revellers miraculously survive the night, their fate is already set in stone by Stephen King’s source novel. In It and its earlier movie adaptations, the Black Spot massacre is referenced as a particularly dark moment in Derry’s racist history.
It is arguably the darkest part of the novel’s backstory, which is saying something considering the horrors that Pennywise has wrought on Derry over the decades. This means that It: Welcome to Derry was always going to end up eventually portraying this horrifying moment, but the fun atmosphere in the Black Spot makes the story particularly tragic.
Like Sinners, It: Welcome to Derry portrays this improvised juke joint as a hub of community, creativity, and fun where people of color can finally relax and enjoy themselves within a country that is openly hostile to their very existence. Like Sinners, the show also depicts shadowy forces gathering outside the bar, hoping to pounce on this free-spirited revelry.
It: Welcome to Derry Flipping The Ending of Sinners Reinforces The Show’s Shocking Truth
Whether or not It: Welcome to Derry season 2 happens, no one could accuse the show’s first outing of holding back or coddling its audience. The show is brutally, undeniably bleak, and each new episode reinforces this reality further.
In the first episode alone, the kids who appear to be the main characters of the series are killed off horribly onscreen. Later, the only one who seemed like he might have survived turns out to be Pennywise in disguise, and he gleefully gloats about how he killed his victims in front of their terrified friends.
After this chilling encounter in episode 5, “29 Neibolt Street,” It: Welcome to Derry doubles down on its downbeat outlook once again with the ending of the next episode. Most of the titular town’s Black population is under attack from a racist militia as “In the Name of the Father” ends, and Ronnie’s father Hank Grogan will almost certainly be killed.
While changing Pennywise’s powers is one thing, the extent to which It: Welcome to Derry darkens the tone of the It franchise is striking. One of the biggest criticisms of 2019’s It: Chapter 2 noted that the sequel’s tone was unexpectedly comedic and lacking in stakes.
As a result, this prequel appears to have overcorrected with a brutal, hopeless storyline that is overflowing with trauma. Although this makes It: Welcome to Derry a compelling and dramatic story, moments like the show’s inversion of Sinners’ ending make the series feel straight-up mean-spirited at times.
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It: Welcome to Derry
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-MA Horror Mystery Drama Release Date October 26, 2025 Network HBO Directors Andy Muschietti Writers Jason Fuchs, Stephen King, Austin Guzman Franchise(s) IT
8 Images
Dick Hallorann with his eyes wide looking angry in It Welcome to Derry
Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise in IT Welcome to Derry trailer 2Image courtesy of HBO Max
Kid similing in IT Welcome To Derry
It: Welcome to Derry teens looking surprised at something off screen
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How do you feel about It: Welcome to Derry subverting the triumphant ending of Sinners with the tragic Black Spot massacre?
Cathal
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11 minutes ago
Some might find the inversion of Sinners' ending to be a powerful commentary on the ongoing struggle against racism and the cyclical nature of violence. Others could argue that it undermines the catharsis and hope provided by Sinners' conclusion, replacing it with despair. Another view might be that the subversion effectively highlights the differences between the two stories and their respective messages about the human condition.
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