‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Explained: The Many Stephen King Connections & References in Episode Three

WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for episode three of It: Welcome to Derry.

The first season of It: Welcome to Derry may be set in 1962, but its third episode, “Now You See It,” begins in the past. A little boy named Francis (Diesel La Torraca) runs through an old-fashioned carnival before daring to enter the freak show tent. Inside, he finds a menagerie of unusual oddities, some bearing a strong resemblance to cinematic adaptations of Stephen King stories. Director Andy Muschietti steps into the frame as a piano player, jovially accompanying this grotesquerie. Though never featured prominently in any of the author’s fictional works, King muses on freak shows in Danse Macabre, his 1981 treatise on the horror genre, examining the dated concept itself and the way we categorize monstrosity. 

Terrified by a one-eyed man in the circus tent’s darkest compartment, Francis receives a present from his disapproving father. This gift, a slingshot, comes in handy when It—disguised as the freak show ghoul—chases him through the forest. Just inches from the humanoid creature’s gnashing teeth, Francis is saved by a rock launched from the trusty tool by his friend Rose (Violet Sutherland). Decades later, a young Beverly Marsh will similarly save her friends from the monster in werewolf form with her own slingshot and bullets made from melted silver dollars. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

This harrowing moment was perhaps foretold by the ominous 6719 on the license plate of Francis’ Model T. Though Gen Z will likely gravitate to the first two digits, Constant Readers take notice of the number 19. This is an auspicious figure in King’s Dominion, appearing in many of his published works, from dates and addresses to room numbers and ages. Johnny Smith last bets 19 on the dreaded Wheel of Fortune game just hours before an accident unlocks his disturbing psychic abilities in King’s 1979 novel The Dead Zone, and an anonymous patient suffering from OCD describes it as “a powerful odd number” used to hold an otherworldly monster at bay in the terrifying short story “N.” 

King was just nineteen years old when he began writing The Gunslinger, the first entry in his sprawling Dark Tower saga. In a terrifying coincidence, the author would later be hit and nearly killed by a van on June 19, 1999, an event which sparked the completion of the final three Dark Tower novels. The number appears throughout King’s epic series with branches that seem to form the digits and names containing 19 letters. It is said to indicate the presence of ka, the force that binds together all living things. Here, it shepherds the passage of a powerful weapon into the hands of an early Derry defender. Marked with the number 19, Francis’ car overheats, and he must trade the slingshot for a bottle of water, placing it in the hands of Rose, who will later use it to save his life. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

Sensing the slingshot’s power, a much older Francis—revealed to be General Shaw (James Remar)—asks Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) to use it as a beacon of sorts to locate the hidden “entity.” The talismanic object does manage to draw Hallorann closer, and he finds himself mentally pulled into the lair of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård). Near a familiar funhouse stage, a pair of yellow eyes open in the darkness as the monster notices Dick’s mental presence. In addition to this lurking threat, the underground silo is filled with the remains of Its destruction—the floating bodies of those caught in the Deadlights. Originating from Todash Space, a liminal realm in King’s Macroverse, these radiant orange lights emerge from Its gaping jaws with the power to instantly kill or incapacitate.  A powerful weapon in the arsenal of the Crimson King, an antagonist in the Dark Tower series, these lights form the essence of Its deadly power. 

Among the floating victims, Hallorann spies his grandmother, Rose. First introduced in King’s 1977 novel The Shining, the saintly woman teaches her young grandson to navigate his psychic abilities and is credited with giving the power its luminous name. King’s 2013 sequel, Doctor Sleep, will further the woman’s heroic legacy. She teaches Dick to trap dangerous spirits in a metaphysical lock box where they will eventually starve. Dick, in turn, teaches a young Danny Torrance this mental defense when battling demons of his own. It’s unlikely that Rose has actually been caught in Pennywise’s Deadlights. Her presence in Hallorann’s disturbing vision is probably a subtle reminder in a moment of terror that her grandson, now grown, also possesses immense psychic strength. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In addition to the sewer-dwelling entity, Derry has always been home to human monsters. After arresting the obviously innocent Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), Chief Bowers (Peter Outerbridge) threatens the prisoner with manufactured evidence, reminding him of what happens to child killers in the notorious Shawshank Prison. First seen in the 1982 novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the Maine correctional facility’s most famous resident, Andy Dufresne, may not be convicted of killing a child, but he suffers brutal sexual assault at the hands of fellow inmate Bogs Diamond. 

Elsewhere in town, Derry’s indigenous residents are concerned with Shaw’s attempts to dig up the beacons. (For more information on the Bradley Gang’s exhumed car, see last week’s recap of episode 2.) Rose (Kimberly Guerrero), proprietress of the town’s consignment store, warns her nephew Taniel (Joshua Odjick) against getting involved, insisting that he and his friends are “needed.” While it remains unclear just how and why, Odjick is a familiar face in King’s Dominion, last seen starring as Walker #48 Collie Parker in Francis Lawrence’s adaptation of the Richard Bachman novella, The Long Walk. 

Photograph by Brooke Palmer/HBO

In addition to presiding over Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes (also explained in our recap of episode 2), it seems Rose has a deeper connection to this frightening town. Flashbacks reveal that she is the brave girl who saved young Francis with a deft hit from her trusty slingshot. In a quieter moment, the smitten boy reveals that his father has been transferred to another base and he will soon be moving away. Francis asks Rose to promise not to forget, echoing Bill Denbrough’s future vow to his friends. But Rose explains the brutal truth: those who leave Derry tend to lose their memories of the town’s dark secrets. We see this strange phenomenon in the Losers’ Club members, who all forget their battle with the sinister clown, only remembering after a call from Club historian Mike Hanlon, who stays behind to man the watch. 

While the adults try to locate this entity, Lilly (Clara Stack), Ronnie (Amanda Christine), Will (Blake Cameron James), and Rich (Arian S. Cartaya) seek to prove Its existence and exonerate Hank for the movie theater massacre. When a summoning ritual seems to fail, they find themselves under attack in the cemetery but manage to snap a few photos, including one of a sinister figure emerging from a crypt. When developing the film, they make out the blurry image of a malevolent clown, marking the first official appearance of Pennywise in his iconic form. 

For more on It: Welcome to Derry, check out weekly coverage from The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King podcast. 

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