Welcome to Derry Episode 4 Unlocks New Secrets and Surprises

With episode four of Welcome to Dair, it turns out it's not just killer clowns you have to watch out for in Derry, but secrets as well on and off camera. I can't believe this. So, who is Maline Stow playing? Well, HBO told us not to talk about it. They're like, "Don't you dare." When you get screeners, there's a do-not-spoil list. But I guess the people who cut the trailers at HBO did not get this list because they released a trailer. I was wondering what I don't always watch once I have seen the screeners. I don't always watch the trailers after that because I don't want to have it ruined what is left to come because you know sometimes you guys are like Grace you give it away because you've seen the extra episodes. So I try to be somewhat as surprised as you. And so I was wondering how so many of you were like is that Mrs. Kersh? I was like hmm. And then apparently there was a "this season on Welcome to Derry" trailer where she says the exact same line that Mrs. Kersh said in It Chapter 2 and by the way is sporting a very nice look. I like the mini bangs in a red lip there uh whoever Meline Stow is playing. So is she playing Bob Gray's daughter and is his daughter in cahoots with her papa or is she maybe working against him? That would be interesting, right? As she has been making a strong case for being Murin related. Some of you think she took that turtle charm off the bracelet. And to be fair, we have not seen the turtle charm since. But Maturin has to be somewhere on this show as there are turtles freaking everywhere. But on that note, another actress, Kimberly Norris Guerrero, who plays Rose, revealed in a behind-the-scenes interview on HBO that her tribe is called the Children of Murin. How did they not edit that out? And I didn't even know that, by the way, because I guess it gets revealed after episode five because the press has only gotten through episode five of eight. I mean, these are big reveals that the show itself has done a very good job hiding. And yet here they are in HBO promotional material. Is HBO trying to give the show an extra boost? Right. Although they rob the show of the chatter when it's revealed within the show. They never reported viewership for episode two which dropped early on Halloween as you might recall causing mass confusion. People are like what is it out? But they did report viewership for episode three. And what do you know? It fell by about a million views from the debut episode. Now, that's within the first three days. However, HBO says that overall, Welcome to Dair is averaging 9.2 million viewers per episode in the United States and 15 million globally, which still puts it in their top three for freshman seasons. So, I know you're still watching Welcome to Dair, or maybe you're not. Maybe you're just watching these breakdowns, but did you do you still watch it when it drops or at least in the first three days, or are you catching it a little bit later down the line? And do you know anyone who watched the first episode but then said, "Nah, I'm good. Peace out." and stopped watching all right. Now, let's talk about the secrets in the show. So, Mrs. K, I mean, Matteline Stowe, the show hasn't called her Mrs. Kersh yet. We don't know for sure. [laughter] All right. But she's this character Maline Stow's character is right. Seeing is believing. But too bad there's nothing for the police to see as the photos have mysteriously changed. Well, all except the photo of Pennywise. And unfortunately, these police aren't freaked out by clowns. You know, I'd still send someone to take a look because supernatural or not, there's still some dude in a weird outfit walking around the cemetery at night, but a Bowers is a Bowers. Also, they've already got kids and the military looking into Pennywise. This party's already got enough people in it. But thankfully, the Hanland family is not only a loving family, but they haven't been in Derry long enough for the vibe of the town to get to them, to get to the adults in the family. At least not yet. Wouldn't that be interesting if by the end of the season? And remember, I haven't seen the final three episodes if maybe the vibe of Derry does get to Charlotte and Leroy. That would be so tragic. Right now, they're such a wonderful family. Charlotte finds Will's photos and actually asks him for his side of the story. And what do you know? He actually tells her. Is this a Hollywood production? Do we have a family that's actually nice to each other? Oh my god. But alas, the Hanland family still isn't loving or trusting enough because Charlotte and Will decide not to tell dad and dad's not telling them about Operation Precept even though his family is clearly very smart. I mean, really, Charlotte and Will are both very intelligent and they're in danger. How would you would think he would want their advice, right? But no, I think that's a real shame. And he's putting them in just horrible danger. You know, speaking of the danger that the family finds itself in. I think one of the interesting commentaries this show has had is that you know the Urus and the Hanland patriarchs are prepared for the very real world hate of racism and bigotry and that's what they assume is happening to their respective families. Uh particularly Leroy Hanlin when you know his son tells him there's someone outside watching that watching the house he suspects racism but then he sees the red balloon and he knows it's something supernatural. Did you see it by the way? Did you? Leroy Hanlin is afraid. That part of his brain is supposed to be destroyed in his accident, his plane crash. That's the whole reason they want him for Operation Precept. But both times that it/ Pennywise has come for his son and we've seen the red balloon, Leroy Hanland has been afraid. I think that's a great choice. So afraid that he goes to Dick Howerin first, hoping that you know cuz you know uh they're both uh you know from the same community in the military that he might be able to get some real answers about what they're dealing with. But Dick Howerin has secrets of his own. On the surface, things are going great for Dick Howerin. He has this cool new night spot that he and his uh fellow soldiers are building. It's going to become the black spot. I told you, keep an eye on this storyline. It's very important. And he's also very valuable at work, which is how he got the space for the black spot. But his dead grandma, who also had and seems to still have in death the same psychic abilities, is warning him, "Keep that lid on tight." What does she mean by that? Hm. But it makes Dick Howerin afraid and when Leroy demands pleads for some answers, Dick decides to keep his secrets. So Le So much for their uh camaraderie, right? So Leroy, that's not going to stop Leroy. His family's in danger, particularly his son. So he goes to General Shaw, and Shaw lets him witness Dick Howerin's interrogation of Daniel, the Native American teenager. And we learn a lot. But first, I want to point out something I that really struck me. Here we have two men of color representing old world cultures beliefs and abilities. Two men who know that they should be leaving this thing alone. Yet, they are fighting each other due to the unchecked ambitions of a white man who is going after something that's also ancient. And the white man isn't even bothering to understand any of the elements that he's dealing with. all three, you know, uh, Dick, Daniel, and Pennywise. Instead, General Shaw is laser focused on his own assumptions and ambitions. I'm just saying. And I thought it was really sad because again, neither Dick or Daniel wanted to be doing this. They didn't even want to be They didn't want to be going after Pennywise. They didn't want to be doing this to each other. What did What did Did you notice that when you saw that scene? Anyway, in this episode, we learn well, we revisit the origin of it because we'd already talked about it in the movies, but here we get some really important new information. So, it seems that for a decent amount of time, the Native American tribe for generations was able to coexist with it by staying away from it so that it couldn't feed and therefore wasn't powerful enough to leave those woods. But when the settlers showed up, they were like, "This is some nice woods. Why should we let uh they probably didn't even believe the the Native Americans that the land was cursed, but they were like, "We're going to go in here anyway." And they ended up feeding it and it became eventually powerful enough to leave the woods. So, some Native American 12-year-olds, it's always 12-year-olds. This is the Native American Losers Club. Uh there were no bikes back in the day, but they had everything else. And uh although back in the day, did you notice that it was hunting adults? Why doesn't it hunt adults anymore? Was it personal once those 12-year-olds trapped it? Or maybe it isn't is is too weak to hunt adults. If it were to become powerful again, maybe not feed every 20. They didn't address why it was 20 every 27 years. But maybe if he were to become or it were to become very powerful again, it could go after adults. And it technically went after adults in it chapter 2. But again, it's because, you know, it was personal from when they were 12. But an interesting distinction. All right. So, these 12year-olds get more of the ancient falling star that brought it to Earth and has been the only thing that's ever been able to contain it. Uh although not before it killed um the mother of the leader of the losers club, who was also the chieftain. But so, they got more ceremonial daggers. Before the tribe only had one, which they had used to, you know, kind of fight it when they needed to. But they get 12 more, giving them 13, and they bury them all deep in the ground, right? To keep it Pennywise trapped. So what happened? Well, I would They didn't say, but it seems to me that some idiot settler decided to build dairy within the confines of those totems, right? Was like, again, I don't believe your story, and this looks like a great piece of land. All right, so how can the military find those buried totems? That's what they want to know. They want to be able to triangulate its location. Although again, the the kids in It Chapter 1 didn't need any of this fancy stuff to find it. But yes, they get on the right track because how do you go underground? You go through the dairy sewer system. And the best entry point is the house on Neibolt Street, which is of course where the old well used to be. All right, so Dick is mighty powerful in this sequence. I loved the visuals, and he's getting on both as Professor X and his Doctor Strange. Did you see him touch his third eye when he truly went in to get the information? What I found ironic about this scene is that to Daniel, Dick Howerin is the villain. He's the Pennywise lurking in Daniel's nightmare. Daniel is a child in this interaction around I think probably 12 actually. Isn't that really interesting? Dick Howerin is digging around in this child Daniel's brain and manipulating it. He even smiles at him like Pennywise and creates horrific images like Rose's eyes sticking. That to me was fascinating. But while Dick Howerin is hunting Penny Wise with magic, so to speak, Will Hanlin is going after Pennywise with science. So just as Ben will do years later, Will says, "We ought to look into the history of Derry." And Lily says, "Let me ask my buddy Maline Stowe, whoever she might be playing, cuz she's lived in Dair for a long time." And sure enough, she thinks back to the 1930s with 1935 being its last feeding period where the Bradley gang came from. And she says, "Now that now that I think about it, a lot of kids did go missing back then. But since it was the Great Depression, we just assume they all ran away to try and, you know, find a a better situation because, you know, everybody was having a hard time back then." Uh, but considering who Maline Stowe again might be playing, can we really believe anything that she says? Although the story makes sense. So will though he he has in addition to looking into the history of Derry, he also comes up with another theory. He says clearly this thing could kill us at any time that it wanted to. So why doesn't it? Instead it just keeps scaring us. Uh using he and Will says how did it know my worst nightmare? You know, speaking of nightmares, I thought it was funny that Charlotte says to her husband, "Why don't you spend some time with our son?" And Leroyy's idea is forced sports. Isn't he paying attention? But that's not Will's worst nightmare. And I think it's quite touching that Will's worst nightmare is his dad not surviving that plane crash that, you know, took away his ability to be scared. Although apparently, you know, it's not working because he's very scared about his family. Will theorizes that just like some predators are attracted to fear pheromones, maybe it's the same thing with this creature. And then Lily has a really interesting idea. She says, "Let's take my mom's Valium and that way we won't feel anything." Ah, this is brilliant. All right. So, interestingly, back in the 1960s, Valium was very big with Housewives. It had just been approved for use, and with the rise of the suburbs, a lot of housewives felt trapped and alone. And these pills were prescribed and popped like candy. The Rolling Stones even had a hit song in 1966 called Mother's Little Helper. From 1968 to 1982, Valium was the bestselling medication in America. Again, almost exclusively prescribed to women. And in fact, even as the women's movement took shape, they were marketing it to single women as well. Any woman who was unhappy, [laughter] they were telling them they should take Valium. It's horrible. It lasted through 1982. And why did it stop? Because people started to find out that Valium was addictive. So very clever to use it here. Although, I have to say, to me, the most terrifying thing in this episode was that Lily took the one that fell on the toilet. I was like, "Oh no, Lily. I don't know if you should take that." I mean, she was facing down Pennywise, but the toilet volume, I don't know. There's a reason that gag in Toy Story with Woody on the toilet got such a big laugh. Would you have taken it? I guess you kind of have to. But e. But Marge needed her. Gosh darn it. Although Lily didn't know that Marge was just about to humiliate Lily in the school cafeteria to get in good with Patty and the Patty Cakes. This episode, in fact, features two people doing things they shouldn't, taking advantage of old friends. General Shaw with Rose and her people and Dick Howerin. And then, of course, Marge with Lily. Marge, to her credit, does try to come clean in the bathroom. It's not only too mean, but I think she realizes or starting is starting to realize who her real friend is. because you see Marge touch her sweater in the mirror and that's the sweater that Patty is always calling out for being the clearly like the only sweater that I think Marge owns. And a good friend wouldn't do that. But Pennywise doesn't give Marge the chance. I guess he's sowing problems between friends, too. He's like, "Uh-uh." And he uses Marge's fear of looking bug-eyed in her new glasses against her and gives her the snail eyes from the from the film in class. That was pretty good. I thought that was really amazing. And I mean that that was really gross. And Marge though, it turns out, is a doer and sets out to solve her new problem in the woodworking shop. Oh my god, Marge. What did you think was going to happen? I mean, if you thought those were really your eyes, how did you think you would survive the blood loss? All right, but it's just an illusion. And Lily is able to stop her. Although Marge has injured herself, but woo, Lily, it looks pretty bad for Lily when the rest of the school runs into the runs into the woodworking shop. I mean, I was like, I got to I got to tell you, Lily, this looks really bad for you. Cuz sometimes, even when we're innocent, things can look really bad. Like for poor Hank Grogan. Speaking of bored housewives, there's Charlotte Hanlin. What a shame. Charlotte's so smart, but she's having a really tough time. She can't be a teacher, which is her profession. Um, you know, and by the way, Rose, not cool either, Rose. Rose is taking advantage of Charlotte's boredom to try and get information on what's going on at the military base. Charlotte could use a real friend, Rose. Thank you very much. But then also, she's not, you know, her husband apparently has made it very clear to her he doesn't want her to get involved in her other activity, which is the civil rights movement. But with what's going on with Hank, she, you know, rightfully so, can't help herself. She's got to do it. And it turns out she's very effective at her job. So effective that there was a brick thrown through the window of their last home because people in that town weren't happy with how good Charlotte was at getting civil rights done. So she's able to get in to see Hank even though she's not related to him, even though she's not representing him. How does she do it? She goes to Hank's mom. Well, she not only goes to Hank's mom and gets a letter saying she has the mother's permission, but she threatens to call down the civil rights uh movement on the Derry PD, which is going to be a lot of negative press. So, she gets in to see Hank and it turns out Hank is being denied his rights, right? He should, it turns out, be out on bail. But Hank has bigger problems because he does tell um Charlotte where where he was. You know, it's supposed to be a private conversation obviously, but there's a you know, there's a lot of shenanigans to put it lightly. And so I'm surprised that he was willing to say it out loud at all. I'm surprised he didn't just whisper it to Charlotte. But he tells her that that night he wasn't just out with a woman, but it was a white woman and a married white woman. By the way, so this is the 1960s and so that's really a bad situation. And I think it's brilliant of the script in the same episode to have Leroy when he finds out his son has a crush on someone at school to discreetly ask his wife what is the ethnicity of that girl because he's also worried about even his son's safety for a similar for a similar situation. So Hank feels if people find out, he won't even get a trial, not even a sham trial. They'll just find the nearest tree and maybe even hurt this woman as well. And Charlotte, as optimistic and as big of a fighter as she is, well, she doesn't correct him. So what is Hank going to do? Especially because he's going to be sent to Shaw Shank very soon. All right. So, oh, by the way, what did you think of the old school nuclear safety film that they show? I bet you that's the real one. Pretty crazy that the government thought anyone would believe that but in fact at that time a lot of people did although I guess to some degree you know you believe what you have to and able to get through the day that was like visual volume to a degree I guess that's an interesting correlation. All right so what did you think of this week's episode? Are you enjoying it or are you like where's this freaking clown man? Sit tight I think you'll be pretty happy next week all right share your thoughts down below subscribe today And of course, as always, you can check out some more videos right now.