Courtesy of HBO

Featuring an all-new child cast, “Welcome to Derry” focuses on characters from Derry’s past and their encounters with It.

Editor’s Note: Minor spoilers for “It: Welcome to Derry.”

Recently, a new addition to the “It” franchise has been released: “It: Welcome to Derry.” 

The 8-episode series on HBO Max provides an immersive backstory for the town of Derry, along with references to characters in “It: Chapter One” and “It: Chapter Two” to expand on Derry’s history with It. With an 81% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the series had a generally favorable reception, and accumulated over 5 million viewers within its first three days.

Set in Derry, Maine, 27 years before the happenings of “It: Chapter One,” the television series has many references to the novel and other Stephen King works that are set in the same universe. 

Bill Skarsgård reprises his role as Pennywise. He gives a great performance with a lot of attention to detail. 

One of my favorite things about this television series is that many of the characters are connected in some way to characters in the novel and previous movies.

The interconnecting character relationships also create more cohesiveness with the previous installments in the franchise. For example, Teddy Uris, one of the first victims of It in “Welcome to Derry,” is the uncle of Stanley Uris, one of the members of the Loser’s Club in “Chapter One.”

The series also expands on the backstory of Ingrid Kersh, only a minor antagonist in “Chapter Two.” Before “Welcome to Derry,” Kersh was just another form used by It to scare Beverly. However, after watching “It: Welcome to Derry,” much more information about her close ties with It is revealed.

Flashbacks into Kersh’s complicated past reveal that her father, Bob Gray, is the man whom It based its clown form on. I especially liked how Kersh’s memories include the original Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Skarsgård does an excellent job portraying both Gray and Pennywise, making it clear that while It possesses Gray’s physical appearance, the two have completely different personalities at their core.

Another character I found interesting was Dick Hallorann, a member of the US Air Force. The name may sound familiar to some — he is the same Dick Hallorann who appears in “The Shining,” which shares the same universe as the It franchise.

As a member of the Air Force, Hallorann uses his “shining” ability to sense It and interrogate people as part of his mission. The series  successfully depicts the challenges and consequences that come with his ability, making it relevant to the plot.

I also enjoyed how the series is able to expand on the various aspects of Hallorann’s abilities while the storyline progresses. In the last episode, he mentions finding a new job as a hotel chef, a reference to the job he holds in “The Shining.”

However, some of the other characters are oversimplified in the series. Take, for instance, Charlotte Hanlon, a civil rights activist. Her beliefs seemed as if they were only there to give representation to the activists during that time period, but her character could have had more dimensions, considering how she is a relatively major character in the television series.

It was a missed opportunity: It would have been interesting to see the inner conflict between her inclination to “do what’s right” and her family’s safety. I felt that it was unrealistic that she never hesitates to choose the “right” choice. On the other hand, I liked the conflict that her husband, Leroy Hanlon, faces when he has to choose between his duty to the country and his responsibility to his family.

Even though Hanlon is physically unable to feel fear due to a brain injury, his rational realization of It’s power lead to self-doubts on his ability to protect his family. This was interesting to me because his thoughts and actions show how It can affect anyone, no matter how courageous they are.

The series was pretty gory for my tastes, with much of the horror stemming from how disgusting some of the scenes are. (Warning: Don’t watch if you’re squeamish!). The acting is generally more than satisfactory, although some child characters like Rich Santos come across as too simple at times.

“Welcome to Derry” was a solid addition to the It franchise, providing the answers to many questions left by previous works, while also setting the scene for a potential second season.

Rating: 4 out of 5 Falcons