'IT: Welcome to Derry' episode 4 ends with a throwback to the movies
There are so many Easter eggs and crossovers in IT: Welcome to Derry that it can sometimes be tricky to remember where you remember something from.
The end of episode 4 is a bit like that, giving us a final shot of a house that looks incredibly familiar.
But where do we know it from, and what's the significance? Let's unpack it.
How does episode 4 end?
Episode 4 gives us in insight into Pennywise's origin story, with Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) delving into the mind of local tribe member Taniel (Joshua Odjick) and learning the history of the monster that Native Americans in Derry refer to as "the Galloo."
"They found the cave and broke off shards of the ancient star the Galloo had arrived in," says Taniel. "A plan was formed — not to kill it, but to cage it. They would used the shards of its old bindings, the only thing the Galloo feared, to keep our people safe again. The children circled the western wood, which had been the monster's hunting ground for so long, and they buried 13 sacred shards deep into the earth. Over each stone they lit a fire to mark its place, a line the Galloo could not cross. Our people made a sacred promise to guard the pillars and keep their places secret so that the monster that's trapped inside could never break free."
At this point, Hallorann appears in young Taniel's memories to speak to him directly, asking him where the pillars — which the military believes they can use against the monster — can be found.
"Follow the tunnels under the old well, and you'll find the pillars," Taniel says. But it's not a well we see next; it's a house.
Why does that house look familiar?
The ramshackle house at the end of the episode looks familiar, and not just because an image of it shows up in IT: Welcome to Derry's opening credits. This is the well house, also known as the House on Neibolt Street, that appears in both the novel and Andy Muschietti's movies. It's a key location in the story, concealing a well that leads directly down into the sewers where the creature awaits.
Looks like we may be due a trip down memory lane in episode 5.
New episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry premiere Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
