Pennywise's Secret Daughter: How IT: Welcome To Derry's Biggest Twist Almost Ruined Everything

Pennywise's Secret Daughter: How IT: Welcome To Derry's Biggest Twist Almost Ruined Everything

Here's a terrifying thought: What if Pennywise had a sidekick? Not a fellow cosmic horror, but a human daughter dressed in her own clown costume, orchestrating murders on Daddy's behalf. That's exactly the twist HBO's IT: Welcome To Derry dropped in its sixth episode — and according to critics, it's the single dumbest move a strong season has ever made.

The reveal that Ingrid Kersh (Madeleine Stowe) is actually Periwinkle Gray — daughter of the circus performer from whom IT stole its clown persona — arrived like "big, floppy clown shoe steps trodding all over what had previously been a much more elegant affair." And it's threatening to undermine everything that makes Stephen King's cosmic horror masterpiece work.

The Twist That Almost Killed the Fear

Let's be clear: Episode 6, "In The Name Of The Father," contains some of the series' best material to date. The scenes between Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) and his son Will (Blake Cameron James) are gut-wrenching explorations of how fear corrupts even the strongest parental bonds. The budding romance between Margie and Rich is genuinely sweet. The tension at the Black Spot is palpable.

But then comes the reveal: Pennywise has a human daughter doing his dirty work.

And critics are asking: "Has any supernatural villain ever needed a human infiltrator less?"

The Problem With Humanizing Cosmic Horror

The brilliance of King's original novel — and what made the 2017 film so effective — is that Pennywise isn't just a clown. He's "the boogeyman under the bed of the human soul." A primal force that preys on fear itself, woven into the very fabric of Derry.

Giving IT a human sidekick "lessens it by making the creature feel like it's actually beholden to a human agent." Suddenly, the cosmic horror becomes... bureaucratic. Instead of a force of nature, we get a monster with a management team.

What Actually Works (Despite the Terrible Twist)

Before we completely clown on the show (pun intended), let's acknowledge what Welcome To Derry gets right:

1. The Parent-Child Dynamic

The episode's title isn't accidental. The best scenes explore how fear warps parental love:

• Leroy's brutal confrontation with Will, culminating in a slap that echoes through the series

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• Lilly Bainbridge clinging to her magical rock like a security blanket

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• Even the twist itself tries (and mostly fails) to connect to themes of familial legacy

2. The Kids Are Finally Alright

After weeks of criticism about the child actors, they're finally hitting their stride:

• Margie and Rich's awkward, sweet romance

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• Will comforting Ronnie about her escaped father

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• The show capturing "the ease with which Stephen King wrote childhood friendships"

3. The Impending Black Spot Tragedy

The slow burn toward the historical massacre is handled with unsettling subtlety. Unlike King's novel — where the arson is explicitly racist violence by a KKK-adjacent group — the show opts for subtext over explicit racism.

Critics are divided: Is this "clever and subtle, or simply a cowardly way to acknowledge what has to be acknowledged without having to talk more explicitly about race?"

Pennywise: The Reverse Poochie Problem

The A.V. Club review coined the perfect analogy: Pennywise is the "reverse Poochie." Remember the Simpsons episode where a new character was added to Itchy & Scratchy, and audiences kept asking "When's Poochie?" only to be relieved when he left?

Here, it's the opposite: "Anytime Bill Skarsgård is prancing around the screen, projecting 'menace,' I find myself asking: 'Did Pennywise actually need to be here?'"

The show is strongest when focusing on human fear rather than supernatural spectacle. The scene where drunk Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) tells Leroy about his haunted "lockbox" is more terrifying than any clown appearance because it's about psychological erosion.

The Bigger Issue: Plot vs. Character

Welcome To Derry keeps falling into the same trap: "The show is nearly always better when it's dealing with character and tone rather than plot."

The Periwinkle twist feels like mandatory mid-season shock value rather than organic storytelling. It's the TV equivalent of a studio executive note: "We need a big reveal by episode six!"

Contrast this with the genuine character work:

• Leroy desperately clinging to authority as his world collapses

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• Lilly's paranoia growing alongside her power

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• The Hanlon family's slow unraveling

These are the moments that capture what makes IT terrifying: not the monster under the bed, but what the fear of that monster does to people.

The Verdict: Can the Final Episodes Recover?

With two episodes left (airing December 7 and 14), Welcome To Derry stands at a crossroads:

Path A: Double down on plot mechanics, more twists, Pennywise family drama

Path B: Return to psychological horror, character development, atmospheric dread

The show has proven it can deliver powerful, character-driven horror. The scenes between Leroy and Will are Emmy-worthy. The Black Spot tension is masterfully built. The child actors are finally clicking.

But the Periwinkle twist represents a dangerous temptation: to explain the inexplicable, to humanize the inhuman, to make cosmic horror... manageable.

What's your take? Does the "secret daughter" twist ruin the cosmic horror, or does it add an interesting layer? Are you more invested in the human drama or the supernatural plot? Float your theories in the comments (but watch out for sewer clowns).

Share this with a fellow King fan. The debate about what makes IT work is almost as eternal as Pennywise itself.