Pop Culture Happy Hour — "IT: Welcome to Derry"

Date: November 3, 2025
Host: Linda Holmes
Guests: Jordan Morris (podcaster, graphic novelist), Kate Young (producer, culture critic)
Summary by Segment

Overview

This episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour explores HBO’s new prequel series "Welcome to Derry," a chilling expansion of Stephen King’s "It" universe. Hosts Linda Holmes, with guests Jordan Morris and Kate Young, dig into the series’ handling of horror, its 1960s period setting, themes around trauma and community, and the effectiveness (and discomforts) of both its shock tactics and efforts to broaden King’s world. The team brings their typical sharp, accessible, and often humorous lens to dissect what works, what unsettles, and what feels perhaps a little too squishy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. General Impressions of "Welcome to Derry"

[03:15-06:08]

• The series starts in 1962, introduces a new group of children experiencing terrifying Pennywise manifestations, and weaves in adults behaving suspiciously—especially at a local military base.
• While the show is overseen by Andy and Barbara Muschietti (of the recent “It” films), listeners are cautioned not to try reconciling its timeline with King’s original 1986 novel.

Jordan Morris:
“It is a really good delivery system for thrills and chills. I was shocked that I was shocked…A lot of it is very scary and a lot of it is very shocking. That's not something that horror TV usually does for me.”
[04:52-05:19]

• The show is notably “impressively gross” but sometimes veers into historical shock value without saying anything meaningful, leaving “an ick.”

2. Gore vs. Scares: The "Squish" Factor

[06:08-07:20]

• The team agrees on the show’s squishy, gross tone—leaning more on grotesque visuals than actual jump scares.
• Kate Young emphasizes her aversion:

“I'd commit to the absolute sin of being too squishy. I hate squishy things. There's a lot of squish in this TV show.”
[06:56-06:57]

• The gross-out is deliberate, but not always in service of deeper fear or story.

3. Missing King’s Thematic Depth & Structural Differences

[07:20-09:30]

• Holmes notes a key difference: the loss of King’s theme of adult trauma revisiting childhood—here, it’s just kids and adults running parallel, dulling the central anxiety of lifelong haunting.
• The shifting focus and early deaths hinder audience connection.

Linda Holmes:
“It’s better as a set of really gross set pieces than it is as a version of It. So much is lost from what I think is the point of It that I'm not sure what this is really supposed to be about.”
[08:25-08:42]

• The show dips into Derry’s race and indigenous history, but for the hosts, doesn’t do enough with these.

4. Avoiding (and Leaning Into) "Stranger Things" Comparisons

[09:30-11:01]

• The creators seem to consciously avoid another “boys with bikes” story (an It/Stranger Things trope comparison), instead going darker and less sentimental, sometimes just for shock’s sake.

Jordan Morris:
“One of the ways they're trying not to do that is being really messed up and killing a lot of kids…maybe the reason is less story and more we're gonna shock people every week.”
[09:39-10:08]

• Kate Young confesses uneasiness with repeated child trauma, even as it’s genre-appropriate.

5. Backstory Overload: Explaining Pennywise & "Marvel-ization"

[11:01-13:40]

• The show leans into explaining Pennywise’s origins, including magical artifacts and backstory quests—what Jordan calls “Marvel-y” and “comic booky” choices.

Linda Holmes:
“Never once did I think, I really want to know why it's a clown. Like, it just is. That's how horror is. That's how Stephen King books are in a lot of ways.”
[12:27-12:39]

• Jordan reflects on “Murder Clown fatigue,” but welcomes the monster manifesting beyond just clown form.

Jordan Morris:
“I am glad that the monster manifested as other things… The things it manifests as are very gross and disturbing.”
[14:07-14:26]

6. Representation, Casting, and Character Dynamics

[14:59-16:51]

• The hosts appreciate more than one Black family and more varied female roles—breaking from genre tokenizing.

Linda Holmes:
“I did appreciate the fact that… there's more than one Black family, and… more than one girl. And I was grateful for both of those things… often not more than that.”
[14:59-15:28]

• Child characters, especially lead girl Lily, feel emotionally authentic.

Kate Young:
“One of the things that the show does really well is look at the stigma of mental health… It makes me sad for [Lily] that she is aware of those dynamics…that might mean essentially, like, incarceration in a psychiatric facility.”
[17:06-17:58]

7. Race, Indigenous Representation, and Historical Context

[18:39-21:32]

• The show places Black and Indigenous characters at the fore—but with trade-offs.
  • Military racism is depicted vividly, sometimes with jarring “casual cruelty.”
  • Indigenous characters risk being reduced to bearers of mystical lore, rather than just community members.

Kate Young:
“A lot of the stuff around the indigenous community felt like very noble savage to me…I like those characters a lot, but something about it just felt, like, really squeaky to me.”
[19:41-19:57]

Linda Holmes:
“It does sometimes feel like the indigenous community is there to have lore…rather than to live in the community and, you know, just be like people who are in the community.”
[20:35-20:46]

8. The Military Plot: Standard Fare

[22:14-22:28]

• Military elements become generic trope fodder (“turn the thing into a weapon”), ultimately feeling less compelling to the hosts.

Jordan Morris:
“And they want to turn the thing into a weapon. Yeah, that's a tale as old as time.”
[22:23-22:28]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I was shocked that I was shocked… That's not something that horror TV usually does for me."
  — Jordan Morris [04:52-05:19]
• "I'd commit to the absolute sin of being too squishy… There's a lot of squish in this TV show."
  — Kate Young [06:56-06:57]
• "It’s better as a set of really gross set pieces than it is as a version of It… I'm not sure what this is really supposed to be about."
  — Linda Holmes [08:25-08:42]
• "It seems like they're consciously trying not to make it Stranger Things… One of the ways they're trying not to do that is being really messed up and killing a lot of kids."
  — Jordan Morris [09:30-10:08]
• "Never once did I think, I really want to know why it's a clown. Like, it just is. That's how horror is."
  — Linda Holmes [12:27-12:39]
• "I am glad that the monster manifested as other things…"
  — Jordan Morris [14:07-14:26]
• "I did appreciate the fact that… there's more than one Black family, and… more than one girl."
  — Linda Holmes [14:59-15:28]
• "A lot of the stuff around the indigenous community felt like very noble savage to me."
  — Kate Young [19:41-19:57]
• "It does sometimes feel like the indigenous community is there to have lore…rather than to live in the community…"
  — Linda Holmes [20:35-20:46]

Takeaway & Tone

The hosts find “Welcome to Derry” an impressively gross and atmospheric horror series that occasionally shocks, but doesn’t fully capture the thematic richness or emotional scaffolding of King’s “It.” While the show makes welcome attempts to broaden representation and tie the story into the darker threads of American history, these efforts often feel incomplete, and some shock elements border on gratuitous. Still, the casting, kid performances, and willingness to experiment are praised. Comedy banter and a sense of pop-culture camaraderie keep the critique lively and accessible.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Setup: [00:21-03:15]
• General Impressions: [03:15-06:08]
• Gross-Out Factor, “Too Squishy”: [06:08-07:20]
• Loss of Thematic Depth: [07:20-09:30]
• Stranger Things Avoidance/Shock for Shock’s Sake: [09:30-11:01]
• Exploring Pennywise’s Origins (“Marvel-ization”): [11:01-13:40]
• Child Characters & Representation: [14:59-16:51]
• Mental Health & Empathy for Lily: [16:51-17:58]
• Race, Indigeneity & Historical Context: [18:39-21:32]
• Military Storyline Critique: [22:14-22:28]

Final Thoughts

If you enjoy horror with a heavy dose of visual disgust and are curious about Stephen King universe expansions—even with storytelling shortcuts and “lore dumping”—“Welcome to Derry” offers something different (and disturbing). However, long-time fans of the book’s deeper psychological horror and generational trauma may find this adaptation lacking in resonance, despite its ambition and efforts to diversify the cast and context.

“We want to know what you think about IT: Welcome to Derry…”
Pop Culture Happy Hour invites listener reactions for future episodes.