Instant Reaction: Welcome to Derry Episode 7 – “The Black Spot”

Chaos erupts at the Black Spot as Episode 7 delivers one of the series’ most brutal confrontations.

Episode 7 of Welcome to Derry drops us straight into the fallout from last week’s reveal: Han (Stephen Rider) hiding out at the Black Spot, and the town mob marching in with vigilante rage. The moment the show anchored itself in that location, you knew it wasn’t going to pull any punches. The Black Spot has always carried weight in Welcome To Derry's mythology, and here it becomes the stage for one of the series’ most brutal reminders of the time period, the racial climate, and the violence hiding in plain sight long before Pennywise ever crawls out of a drain.

The script smartly acknowledges that the Black Spot is run by trained military men — not passive victims — and that dynamic adds tension to the chaos that erupts when Derry’s mob arrives. But even with that backbone in place, the series doesn’t shield us from the ugliness or the cost. Another young character dies here, and the show continues its uncomfortable — but honest — tradition of refusing to sanitize childhood vulnerability in this universe.

The episode also circles back to Ingrid (Madeleine Stowe) and her father, the original Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) host. There’s undeniably a compelling story to tell in that lineage, but the placement of this material feels oddly timed. It’s interesting, sure, but it softens the emotional punch Episode 7 could’ve landed if it stayed centered on the Black Spot’s siege. This lore thread keeps expanding, almost as if the writers are auditioning a second spinoff inside the prequel we’re already watching. It doesn’t derail the episode, but it does dilute some momentum.

Where the episode really intrigues is with the shifting role of the military. General Francis Shaw (James Remar) drops a few lines that hint at something larger — almost like the institution isn’t just aware of Pennywise but wants him at full strength. There’s an existential dread brewing around those scenes, a sense that the “monster” the kids are fighting isn’t the only one growing underneath Derry.

We also get the return of the Native American storyline, but just barely. They’re brought back in only to vanish again under the episode’s massive load of subplots. It’s clear the show wants all these threads firing at once, and while the ambition is impressive, this is the rare episode where the weight shows. There’s simply too much being jammed into one hour.

Still, the ending snaps everything back into place. The final scenes make it obvious Episode 8 is going to be heavy — emotionally, thematically, and probably literally. You can feel the series bracing for a finale that won’t tie every knot but will definitely tear a few open.

Episode 7 isn’t the show at its best, but even a lesser episode of Welcome to Derry is packed with enough tension, atmosphere, and unpredictability to keep us glued to the screen. A dense but compelling hour of horror, history, and heartbreak.

HMU Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Episode 8 is clearly the storm we’ve been waiting for. Strap in.