Season Analysis

IT: Welcome to Derry

Season 1 Analysis

Season Woke Score

out of 10

Season Overview

In 1962, amid a spate of unexplained disappearances of local children, a group of misfit friends begin to suspect a long-buried evil lurking. As the kids set out to determine what's really going on, a rising unease prompts several townspeople to work together to restore peace – all while a U.S. military operation seeks to exploit Derry for its own objectives.

Season Review

"IT: Welcome to Derry" rebrands Stephen King’s cosmic horror as a pointed social critique, where the 1962 setting serves as a backdrop for a lecture on systemic racism and civilizational failure. The plot frequently prioritizes racial grievances over the supernatural, explicitly stating that the "real monster" is the prejudice and apathy of white suburbia. Black characters are defined primarily by their status as victims of a corrupt American system, while the U.S. military is depicted as a hubristic antagonist attempting to weaponize evil for population control. The series leans heavily into intersectional themes, framing the town's history as a "rotting core" of bigotry that fuels the supernatural clown. While the production is slick, the narrative is bogged down by a modern political lens that views the American past through a lens of perpetual oppression and institutional evil.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics9/10

The narrative prioritizes racial conflict over supernatural horror, framing racism as the era's primary villain. Characters are defined by their intersectional identities and their struggle against "white suburbia" and systemic neglect.

Oikophobia8/10

The show depicts Derry and 1960s America as a deceptive facade masking a history of systemic violence and apathy. The U.S. military is cast as an arrogant, villainous institution seeking to weaponize a cosmic entity to control the populace.

Feminism6/10

Female characters are the primary voices of moral clarity, standing in opposition to the "hysteria" labels and oppressive structures of the time. The narrative elevates the "traumatized but enlightened" female trope while portraying institutional male figures as corrupt.

LGBTQ+3/10

The show adheres to a mostly normative framework given the historical setting, though it emphasizes "misfit" bonding that favors contemporary social hierarchies over traditional ones. There is no overt focus on gender theory or sexual identity politics.

Anti-Theism4/10

Traditional spirituality is absent, replaced by government conspiracy and secular social analysis. The moral landscape of the show is defined by subjective power dynamics rather than objective higher truth or religious faith.