ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 1 Breakdown - Stephen King Easter Eggs You Missed!

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

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It Welcome to Derry, episode one is filled to the brim with Easter eggs references and little things you might have missed. Not only nods to the films and the book, but other Stephen King's stories and characters as well, such as my personal favorite, The Shining. So, let's break this thing down. Hey, welcome back to Screen Crush. I'm Colton Ogburn, and It Welcome to Derry takes place in the same universe as It chapters 1 and 2, but 27 years prior to the Losers Club first encounter with The Dancing Clown. And listen, I am going to talk about the movies and the book, could potentially spoil what we see happen in this season. So spoiler warning if you don't want to know anything.

So the entity of it is a cosmic being and shape-shifter that crash landed on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago and that now feeds on the residents of what has become Dairy every 27 years following its slumber, it awakens and feeds on the people of Dairy, especially children because they're easier to scare and it feeds on fear. And we should also mention that this episode is cleverly titled The Pilot. Not only is it the first episode of the series, which is called a pilot episode, but it's also an episode where we meet the lead of the show, Leroy Hanlon, a pilot. So, we open in a movie theater where The Music Man is playing. The Music Man was released in 1962, which is when

this series is taking place, and that film is based on the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name written by Meredith Wilson. And the choice of this particular film was absolutely brilliant, because the music man is about a con artist posing as a music professor. And he is scamming small town people into buying instruments and uniforms with the promise that he'll form a band and teach their kids music. But he actually knows nothing about music. He's a swindler. So a lying, cheating deceiver who pretends to be something he's not

in order to take advantage of children for his own personal gain. Sound like anyone you know? Oh. Now listen to what the character of Harold Hill is saying in this clip. Mothers of River City, heed that warning before it's too late. Watch for the telltale signs of corruption. This warning he's giving is eerily relevant to the story at hand and the It novel itself, which follows kids on the cusp of puberty, going out on their own and getting into trouble.

That trouble being IT. Oh, and I should also mention that the Music Man was distributed by Warner Bros. That owns and produces the It films as well as this series. So they likely had no trouble whatsoever, getting the rights to use this film, in the series and later like when they superimposed Maddie into the film, they likely didn't have to go through any red tape because they own the movie. So little Maddie Clements, he has snuck into the theater because, as we'll hear Hank mention, he has a horrible home life. We also see that he is sucking on a pacifier. Now, a child of this age sucking on a pacifier can often be a sign of trauma and

stunted emotional growth and neglect. And it's a form of regression and a comforting exercise, I guess you could say, for a young mind that hasn't received the attention and care that it deserves and they use the pacifier in order to cope. Now, here in the lobby, as Maddie runs away from this usher, we see a poster for the 1962 film Geronimo. Now, this usher, he is a perfect representation of how many of the people in Dairy have no empathy. Many of Derry's residents are cruel and vindictive.

And this is a result of the rot that sleeps beneath Dairy, the entity of it. It's evil even when hibernating radiates throughout Dairy. Now, as Maddie makes his way out of Dairy, seemingly running away from home, we see him passing this Welcome to Dairy sign that features Paul Bunyan, and later in the episode we see in this newspaper that they're constructing a Paul Bunyan statue, the same statue that we see here in It Chapter 2. Now, it's also on this billboard that we see this logo for the Legion of White Decency. This is the same group from the It novel that caused the Black Spot fire,

the same fire that we here mentioned in the It films that occurred in 1962, and that we will definitely be seeing happen in this season of Welcome to Derry. Now, the black spot was a nightclub where black soldiers from a nearby base were able to socialize without having to deal with the rampant racism that plagued dairy. So, Maddie is picked up by a passing car that seems to be carrying your average family, but the pleasantness of these seemingly kind people immediately sticks out like a sore thumb in dairy. On the car radio, we hear mention of Moscow nuclear test, and the radiation these tests can cause, leading to cancers, genetic mutations and birth defects teasing the arrival of the mutated winged.

baby. Now, this family likely consists of past victims of It, and It is now using them in his mimic arsenal. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if these actors appear in future seasons of this series that will go back in time 27 years every season. The young boy is named Ray, which could be a reference to the character of Ray Garrity from another of Stephen King's works, a long walk, which just got brought to the screen for the first time ever, despite it being one of King's very first works. And look, to be clear, no, I'm not saying this kid is Ray Garrity. I'm just saying that, you know, it might be a fun nod to that character. Then again, when you've written as many characters as Stephen King, you're bound to have a reused

name here and there. All of this is to say, check out my ending explained for the long long. There's also the character of Ray Brower, who's an even more likely candidate for reference from King's works. Ray Brower is the dead kid and stand by me who was hit by a train, or so they say. Now, in the car, things are immediately unsettling and give you the willies. W-I-L-R-A-Rae. And you'll notice that when Arlene interrupts Ray's spelling of Willys, it's right after the first L, and when he picks back up, he spells L-I-E-S, lies. L-I-E-S.

That's right. This is another hint that Maddie is being deceived. Now, it is notoriously foul and vulgar, and that begins to bleed through when we hear the mom call the daughter a harlot, that can't keep her legs closed, and then the dad says this. Reminds me of her mother. Now, I love seeing them loop back. back into Derry despite having not turned around. Very creepy and eerie.

And it's a great visualization of the recurring loop or cycle of It that this series will be exploring over the seasons with the every 27 years emergence of the entity. We also got this great shot where the kids' eyes begin to cross, and it looks just like this shot from It Chapter 2 when Penny Wise is preying on this girl under the bleachers. Now, we see the mom's belly begin to swell up like a balloon, one of Penny Wise's favorites, and then we get, well, this.

Now, well Pennywise is its most well-known form amongst Derry Residence, it has taken on many other forms and it will morph into whatever you fear the most. As we just discussed, Maddie obviously has some regressive and repressed trauma related to when he himself was an infant, so it makes sense that this creepy infant is what it concocted to scare Maddie. And the wings could also symbolize how Maddie has always just wanted to fly away and get out of dairy, get away from his home life. And this mutated baby also connects to the conspiracy of mutated babies that we just heard mention of on the radio and that is later mentioned by Phil, all still surrounding that fear of nuclear war in the 1960s. Now, this wing baby is actually from the novel, in one of Mike Hanlon's recollections of Derry's Dark History, remember Mike Hanlon is a member of the Losers Club, whose grandfather that we actually meet in this episode. Anyway, in this account from the novel, we hear a group of men described seeing a baby-like creature with leathery wings, rotting flesh,

and yellowish eyes flying over Kitchener Ironworks, another location that would fall victim to the terror of it. So then we see Maddie is, of course, taken by it, and we see his pacifier floating down the infamous tunnel to the depths of Derry where it resides. Now, water is a major part of not only the tragedies of Derry and its terror, but throughout Stephen King's other works as well. We've actually got a great video up on the channel right now. It's an oldie, but a goody, breaking down why water scares us so much and how Stephen King's and those who've adapted his stories into film have utilized water as a universal fear. Now, my take on it is that water, like it, is without true form.

It can take any form, just like it. And water can fill any place it inhabits, completely taking over the same way that it fills your mind with fear and finds its way into every corner, revealing all of your greatest fears and your deepest, darkest secrets. Now there's also the fact that water is always finding the low point. When it rains, the water is falling from the sky, which could be a depiction of falling from grace, and that water always finds itself down beneath the surface, and that's of course where the sewers come into play for Pennywise, and the sewers of course represent hell. And guys, by the way, we have some other great it inspired videos up on the channel right now

that I encourage you to check out, and I am super excited to show you this exclusive It parody merch that we have designed for our merch store. We have this grid of the Dairy Sewer System featuring Pennywise as Pac-Man. We've got the official Losers Club membership shirt. There's also the IT-I-T department, the Overlook Maze, as well as this carpet pattern from the Shining, and if you'll look close, you'll see that red rum is hidden in the pattern.

We also have this fun life of a dancing clown shirt, as well as this Dairy Vintage Clown costume. Links for all of these are below, and now you can become a store member to earn rewards and get free stuff. Shopping our merch store is a great way to support our channel. So thank you so much for your support. Now, back to what I was saying. Okay, so next we get a nice wide shot of 1960s dairy and we can see Phil watching military planes go by.

He then looks at his Tom Corbett Space Cadet wristwatch, a popular series from the 50s that was on radio and TV and also had comic books and we actually see one of those comic books later in the episode. Next, we meet Leroy Hanlon, the grandfather of Losers Club member Mike Hanlon, whom we've actually met before in the 2017 It. You need to start taking more responsibility around here, Mike. Your dad was younger than you, will he be. Not my dad, okay? Rousseau says, that there's zero night clubs in this town. Probably not one decent Chinese restaurant.

A fun nod to the Chinese restaurant that we would later see in it chapter two. Okay, now here's where it gets good. You see this guy? That's the actor Chris Chalk, who is confirmed to be playing Dick Halloran, aka this dude from The Shining. Do you know how I knew your name was Doc?

You know what I'm talking about, don't you? Now, in the it novel, Dick is introduced as an army cook and he's a member of the Black Spot and he is present for the fire that is started by the White Legion. And using his shine, Dick was able to save several lives from the fire that night. The shine being a psychic ability that many of King's characters have, including the young Danny from the Shining. Now the shine also gave Dick the ability to see Pennywise for what it was and since the presence of its evil. Now later, after the Black Spot fire, the military and local authorities would cover up the attack, claiming that it was an accidental

fire. But Dick Halloran knows the truth, both about the White Legion and something else that was there that night, something even worse. When he tells the story years later, he admits that he's never stopped feeling the evil and dairy and that he has never gone back. I would assume that he didn't end up feeling something as evil as it until later in life when he took the head chef job at the Overlook Hotel. Okay, it's also here in this scene on the military base that we hear mention of special projects. So, what's that over there? That's special projects.

Now, in other works by King, like Fire Starter, The Mist, and Dream Catcher, secret military bases have dealt with alien visitors just like Phil insists is happening. Obviously, we're all alone in the universe, right? In Dreamcatcher, the US military operates a secret containment and research facility. The base is part of the government's attempt to contain and study an alien infestation that spreads through spore-like parasites and psychic infection, which, I mean, that is pretty much it. That's what it is, an alien from outer space that has come to Earth and infects a human mind. Now, while King has never said that Mr. Gray from the Dreamcatcher book and It are the same entity,

it's a pretty popular fan theory that they might be one and the same, especially considering that they're both in Dairy. Now, Warner Bros, which owns the film and TV rights to It, they also have the rights to Dreamcatcher. So maybe we're going to see an even more evident, connection in like a cinematic universe of sorts for Stephen King inspired projects. Okay, so here on this sign in front of the school, we see mention of Bert the Turtle, and then inside we see a full-on mascot and these duck-and-cover signs. This is all from the real-world campaign for Duck and Cover, which was an animated film featuring

Bert the Turtle that teaches kids what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. He knew just what to do. He's duck and cover. And you would think the mascot for Duck and Cover. would be a duck, but then again I get the turtle, you know, he's going into his shell, so it makes sense. But there's of course something special about a turtle warning kids of what to do when hellfire rains on dairy, and I'm of course referring to the creator of the universe, its polar opposite, Maturin, the giant space turtle. You see, before time itself existed, there were two beings, Maturin the turtle, the

the giver of life, and it, the consumer. And this isn't the only Maturin Easter egg in this episode. Later, we'll actually see this turtle charm that Lily calls Lucky and that she clutches when remembering Maddie because it was Maddie who gave her the charm in the first place. You got turtle. Trade you? And that turtle is, of course, also meant to represent Maturin and him being the polar opposite of it. Now, in the school, we also see this poster for the dairy rifle club.

That is an actual club from the book. And we hear mention of Florida. Also, you can come down any weekend or want the summer. Hasn Ray, so they have a bunch of parties at the beach that are crazy. This could be a fun nod to how Stephen King spends his winters in Florida. half of the year in Florida. Now, I didn't really want to go, but once you get to be 65 and you don't play tennis very well, it's the law. Now, here in this hangar scene, we get a reminder of the racism that plagues dairy and that is intensified by the presence of it when Airman

Masters refuses to salute Hanlon. Do I make myself clear? I'll meet you next time, brother. And we got another Stephen King reference when Phil says, I was just thinking that like, I know you're a story guy, but when he comes to Earth. King is notorious for describing himself as a type of writer that hates plot and is more focused on dialogue and character interaction and just letting the story flow instead of plotting out the story before you start to writing it. Now here in the boys bedroom we can see a creature from the Black Lagoon poster, a fun nod to It taking the form of the creature of the Black Lagoon in the book. Now as we saw in the It movies, the Losers Club consists of kids who have experienced tragedy

and trauma and the same is true for this group of kids, Lily especially. Her father died in a machine accident one year prior and Lily is now viewed as crazy by her peers because she spent time in Juniper Hill, likely following a mental breakdown after the brutal death of her father. Now, Juniper Hill is an asylum featured in several of King's works, including insomnia, Needful Things, the Dark Aff, and of course, It. We actually see this asylum in It Chapter 2, and that is where Eddie Bowers, the Losers Club bully and fellow victim of It was sent after he killed his father, which was a murder that

was provoked by It. Next comes the infamous pipes and the voices of the children that come from them, almost all of Derry's children are familiar with the voices that come from the pipes. But its lurking evil presence makes the residents of Derry almost numb and purposely blind and like blissfully, maybe blissfully is not the right word, but blissfully ignorant to the evil lurking below and the frequent tragedies that occur. It's really a warbing of the mind that it does to shield itself from the outside world. So not only does it feed on the people of Derry, but it uses them as a human shield.

Now back at the school in this bathroom stall, we can see written on the door a boy's name and a heart. That boy is none other than Alvin Marsh, the father of Looser's Club alum, Beverly Marsh. And it is fitting that we see his name here in the bathroom stall because a bathroom stall is also where we met his daughter, Beverly, for the first time in It. And while that's a super cool Easter egg, Alvin Marsh is a total piece of shit. I just want that on record. Now, Lily also has parallels to Beverly throughout the episodes, such as her encounter with it in her bathroom at home through the drain pipes, just like Beverly's first encounter with it. And I love these parallels that they are drawing between these kids in

1962 who are about to fight it and the Losers Club who would fight it 27 years later, because again, it is showcasing the entire theme of this series, recurring evil. Speaking of parallels, we even have this parallel between Stan and Ted, with them both being young Jewish boys prepping for their first bar mitzvah. But come the end of the episode, we realize that we aren't getting just like some rehash of the Losers Club, because three of the five kids end up brutally murdered, leaving only Lily and Ronnie. Now, I may have missed it. I watched the episode twice, and I still may have missed it, but I know Ted's gone, and I know Phil's little sister's gone. Bill might have made it. We'll just have to see. Now, anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Here, we can see Ted reading a Batman and Robin comic featuring Clayface as the villain, and it reads, Batman and Robin defied the menace of Clayface. And here we're reminded that Clayface can quote, mold his body into any shape. This is a great and intentional choice of comic book because Clayface, like Pennywise, is essentially a shapeshifter. Clayface uses his ability to deceive his prey just like it. And today, on the same day that this first episode of It Welcome to Dairy dropped, James Gunn, the head of DC Studios, posted this on Instagram, a picture of the same comic book cover, and he captioned it with,

Happy Anniversary to the perennially misunderstood villain, Clayface. Can't wait for you to see Tom Reese Harries bring him to life on the big screen. And this makes me wonder, since James Gunn also works under Warner Brothers, and this It Welcome to Dairy series is under Warner Brothers, perhaps they had some collaboration in having these fun DC comic Easter eggs in the show. We then get the terrifying skin lamp scene. This is yet another example of it entering the mind of its prey and taking on the form of what they fear most.

Ted had just learned about the concept of his ancestor's skin being used for lamps by the Nazis. And this new fear was immediately used by It to terrorize him. In a meeting between Shaw and Handlin, Shaw says, Told me the proudest moment of his life was when I signed up to be a doughboy. This being a nickname for soldiers that emerged most prominently during World War I. Next, we see the kids regroup at the Dairy Public Library, just like Young Ben in the first it and the entire Losers Club in It Chapter 2. In the library, we can see this book in the background that has Hitler's ugly mug on the front.

This symbolizes the lurking evil of Pennywise and ties back into head spheres as a young Jewish boy, an America's fear of outside tyrants following World War II, and the current Cold War of the 60s and this new nuclear age that was spawned by America when they ended World War II with Oppenheimer's nuclear bomb. And I loved getting to see the Musis old microfilm reader. Very neat. So back with Hanlon, we see him, too, reading a newspaper, and here we see mention of that Paul Bunyan monument being built. We also see this article about a dairy man dying in a car crash, a reminder of the constant tragedies that are occurring in Derry. Now, Hamlin is attacked by Maskmen who wants specs on the new plane that he is overseeing.

Now, it's unclear at the moment who these guys are exactly, but the masks they have on are making me wonder if they are the Blue Boy Group from Dreamcatcher. In Dreamcatcher, we see a special military unit referred to as the Blue Boy Group investigating an alien invasion in Derry. Maybe that story is being adopted into this series, and they're investigating the alien invasion of it. And we could see a connection or maybe even emerging of the character of it and Mr. Gray from Dreamcatcher as one entity from the cosmos that plagues Dairy Main. Or they could be The Shop, another secret military group from Stephen King's books. And I think the secret military group in Dreamcatcher is also probably a version of The Shop. Again, you know, a lot of King's works have straight

up like crossover. But there's also in Stephen King's works where you'll see a lot of similar characters or groups of characters or stories and stuff like that that aren't labeled as the exact same thing or the same name, but they're so similar that you could argue, oh, that that's actually the same. So I wouldn't be surprised if we learned that they're the same thing. Now, the shop, it's another notorious, like, secret military group in the King universe that was behind the events of, like, the mist.

I think they also appeared in Firestarter, and they appeared in Tommy Knockers. And in Tommy Knockers, we see them digging up like a crashed alien spaceship, and a small town in Maine, so again, you can see how that could all tie into it. Now, in this wide shot of Derry, we can see Nan's Luncheonette and Quality Meats, both being staples of the Stephen King universe. Back at the movie theater, we see on the marquee that the devil at 4 o'clock is playing, and we can also see this poster for Wild Westerners.

And then we get the projector scene, and guys, I did a whole video on the projector scene from the 2017 It, where I discussed how it was the most crucial scene of that entire movie, and served as the key moment that the Losers Club truly bonded together, in their quest to destroy Pennywise. Now, in that scene, we see it infests the projector reel, and it is doing the same thing here with Maddie via the projector. And we can also see behind him the family from the car earlier in the episode.

We see Maddie's face begin to morph into that of Pennywise, taking on the exact same smile as the dancing clown, and this is paralleling how Pennywise did the same thing with Bill's mother in the movie's projector scene. So we then see the winged baby burst from the screen, just like Pennywise does in the original projector scene, And I think just like that scene in the It movie, that this projector scene in the series will serve as perhaps the most crucial scene of the season, bringing together Lily and Ronnie

in their fight against It. But hey, guys, those are just the Easter eggs and references and little things that I caught in this episode of It. Welcome to Dairy. I'm so excited to be covering this show. We're going to be covering every episode. So if you're new here, be sure to subscribe, smash the bell so you get notified every time we upload a new video.

For Screen Crush, I'm Colton Ongren. Thank you.