HBO Max’s IT: Welcome to Derry has gripped viewers from its first episode, expanding the unsettling universe of Stephen King’s classic novel with new emotional depth and terrifying lore. Episode 7, titled The Black Spot, marks the season’s most pivotal hour yet, delivering a blend of brutality, heartbreak, and supernatural menace.

The episode opens with a haunting flashback to Derry’s 1908 carnival, introducing Bob Gray—the human form of Pennywise—played with unsettling fragility. He performs alongside his young daughter, Ingrid, whose adoration is quickly shattered when a mysterious boy leads Gray into the woods. Ingrid later discovers her father’s blood-soaked handkerchief, hinting at a monstrous fate that reshapes Pennywise’s origin.

In 1962, the Black Spot becomes the center of unimaginable violence. A masked racist mob led by Chief Bowers storms the club, searching for Hank Grogan. Though a brief standoff occurs, the mob retreats—only to trap the Black soldiers inside and rain Molotov cocktails and bullets upon them. Flames consume the building as Dick Hallorann fights through smoke, fire, and horrifying visions to find a way out, guided by an Indigenous woman who appears like a spiritual warning.

Amid the inferno, Pennywise steps out of the flames with chilling calm, offering false salvation to a terrified woman before tearing into her face. Ronnie witnesses the horror and flees into Hallorann’s arms, Pennywise mocking her panic while ghostly figures drift past them. The Indigenous woman again beckons Hallorann, who begs her to lead him to the trapped children.

Hallorann manages to shepherd Hank, Ronnie, and Will into a crawl space that opens outside. But when a collapsing wall separates him from Rich and Marge, a tragic choice must be made. Rich discovers a tiny fridge that can hold only one person. In a moment that breaks both Marge and viewers, he forces her inside, choosing to remain outside as the flames intensify. They whisper their love through the metal, fulfilling Rich’s earlier promise that knights always protect the maidens they care for.

Outside the Black Spot, Stan Kersh struggles to start his car—until Ingrid, now eerily dressed as a clown, appears beside him. Pennywise follows, cleaver in hand, brutally splitting Stan’s head in two. Ingrid, still believing this creature is her father, begs for his approval. Pennywise commands her to bow before coldly revealing that he ate her father, who “lives inside” him. She floats helplessly as his jaw splits open, exposing the dead lights.

When firefighters finally reach the ruins, they rescue Marge from the fridge. Her relief shatters when she discovers Rich’s lifeless body still sitting atop it, having shielded her until the end. She collapses in grief as Ronnie and Will gather around her. Ingrid is also found alive, dazed and wheeled away on a stretcher. Hallorann tells Colonel Fuller that the creature has gone back to sleep, and that the Indigenous woman can guide them toward one of the entity’s pillars.

The next day, a false radio report blames the Black Spot tragedy on an electrical malfunction, while pretending Hank Grogan has died. Rose, surrounded by her tribe, declares the cycle complete and warns that “It” is caged only for now. Charlotte Hanlon works to help Hank escape to Canada. Meanwhile, Marge—now wearing an eyepatch—joins Ronnie at the standpipe where they mourn Rich, clutching one of his beloved toy planes.

At a new dig site, General Shaw uncovers a massive double turtle shell encasing a remnant of the star, echoing deep elements from Stephen King’s cosmic mythology. Shaw ignores warnings, transporting it to the Air Force base for what he claims is containment. Leroy Hanlon realizes too late that Shaw’s real goal is to unleash the entity, believing widespread fear will unite a fractured America. Shaw orders the star remnant incinerated, and Pennywise appears to melt into the sewer floor—before suddenly opening his eyes.

Will later receives a call from Ronnie, but her voice slowly blends with Pennywise’s, who taunts him by saying she can “smell Rich.” Will turns, only to face the dead lights themselves, declaring he’s done being afraid—just before the screen cuts to black.

Rich’s sacrifice remains the emotional core of Episode 7, standing out as one of the most devastating moments in the IT universe—made even more painful because it stems not from Pennywise’s supernatural evil, but from human hatred and racial violence. The tragedy highlights the show’s commitment to blending psychological depth with horror, proving that Welcome to Derry can break hearts just as powerfully as it terrifies.