Welcome to Derry Episode 3 Just Teased Stephen King’s Most Heartbreaking IT Story — And Fans Aren’t Ready
Every new episode of It: Welcome to Derry pulls viewers deeper into the nightmare behind Pennywise, but episode 3 goes a step further. It not only hints at the clown’s full arrival — it quietly sets up one of the darkest and most tragic stories from Stephen King’s original It novel.
A Return to Derry’s Past
The series jumps back to the 1960s and follows a new group of kids and adults who cross paths with It in terrifying ways. The kids want proof of the creature’s attacks to free a father wrongly accused of murder, while the adults — especially the military — have their own secret mission. They want to find It’s lair and study the creature as a possible weapon.
Episode 3 keeps both journeys moving. The military taps into Dick Hallorann’s psychic ability, known as the “shine,” to track It. Meanwhile, the kids manage to catch the creature on camera after a terrifying encounter in a cemetery. But beneath these plot lines, the show quietly prepares viewers for a major tragedy from the book.
Episode 3 Hints at the Black Spot Disaster
In this episode, Dick Hallorann spends some downtime with fellow soldiers in a rain-damaged tent. Later, General Shaw pulls him aside and offers to make his stay more comfortable. Hallorann asks for one simple thing — a safe place where he and other Black soldiers can relax.
Fans of Stephen King will instantly recognize what that request leads to: The Black Spot.
In the novel, The Black Spot is a nightclub used mainly by Black soldiers. Hallorann cooked in the club’s kitchen when a horrifying attack took place. The Maine Legion of White Decency, a violent racist group, burned the club down. Hallorann escaped only because of his shine, and he even managed to save others — including Mike Hanlon’s father.
But the tragedy wasn’t caused by people alone. During the fire, both Hallorann and Hanlon’s father saw It appear in the shape of a giant bird. This makes the Black Spot one of the earliest and most chilling examples of Pennywise feeding off hatred and fear.
Welcome to Derry now seems ready to bring that terrible moment to the screen.
Why the Black Spot Matters for the Show
The military continues to push Hallorann to use his shine, even though he barely understands the creature they’re chasing. Episode 3 gives him his first real look inside It’s lair. He sees the floating bodies. He sees Pennywise’s hiding place. He even meets those terrifying yellow eyes.
But he still has no idea what It can truly do.
That’s where the Black Spot tragedy comes in. Once it unfolds, Hallorann will finally see the creature’s real power — the fear, the violence, the cruelty. This moment becomes a huge turning point in King’s book, and the show seems ready to use it the same way.
The Black Spot won’t be easy to watch, but it’s one of the key events that shapes Derry’s cursed history. And for Hallorann, it becomes the moment he truly understands what kind of evil he’s dealing with.
