{"id":163463,"date":"2025-12-02T04:01:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/163463\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T04:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T04:01:11","slug":"welcome-to-derry-twist-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/163463\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome To Derry Twist Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning: Spoilers ahead for It: Welcome To Derry Episode 6.<\/p>\n

While It: Welcome To Derry<\/a> confirms the fan theory that Pennywise is Ingrid Kersh\u2019s father, episode 6 doesn\u2019t necessarily answer every lingering question that viewers might have afterward. Since It: Welcome To Derry\u2019s opening scene<\/a>, it has been clear that the It prequel isn\u2019t afraid to get even darker than the movies that preceded the HBO series.<\/p>\n

The show doubled down on this when, at the end of the pilot episode, most of the main characters were brutally killed off. This clarified that It: Welcome To Derry was not a coming-of-age horror comedy, but rather a ruthless horror that was unafraid to kill off innocent characters in shocking, abrupt ways. <\/p>\n

While Marge\u2019s It: Welcome To Derry episode 4<\/a> fate was similarly nasty, the show took a momentary break from its full-throttle brutality with episode 5, \u201c29 Neibolt Street.\u201d This outing saw the kids brave the descent into Pennywise\u2019s lair with Matty, only to discover that their returning friend was really Pennywise in disguise.<\/p>\n

It: Welcome To Derry Confirms That Pennywise Is Ingird Kersh’s Father<\/p>\n

\"Bill<\/p>\n

While this proved that the killer clown can imitate humans for days at a time, thus subtly changing Pennywise\u2019s powers<\/a> in the process, the terrifying subterranean misadventure wasn\u2019t as lethal as expected. Lily, Will, Ronnie, Marge, and Richie all emerged from the sewers unscathed, and the only heroic character to die down there was Captain Pauly.<\/p>\n

Rather than reassuring viewers, this should have warned fans that episode 6, \u201cIn the Name of the Father,\u201d was going to pull out all the stops. Indeed, the episode didn\u2019t disappoint. As well as setting up the assault on the Black Spot, made famous by Stephen King\u2019s original novel, It, \u201cIn the Name of the Father\u201d also finally explained Ingrid’s story.<\/p>\n

Until now, It: Welcome To Derry kept the origins of Lily\u2019s friend a mystery, and the show never mentioned her surname. In \u201cIn the Name of the Father,\u201d viewers learn her full name is Ingrid Kersh, and that she is the same Mrs. Kersh from It: Chapter 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Lily finds Ingrid\u2019s clown costume and photos of Pennywise, she confronts the orderly from Juniper Hill and demands answers. Ingrid explains that her father was a traveling circus clown named Bob Gray and that, while she loved him dearly, he left when she was very young. She became obsessed with finding him again, which led to Periwinkle.<\/p>\n

Ingrid Kersh’s Carnival Role As Periwinkle Explained<\/p>\n

\"Madeline<\/p>\n

\u201cPeriwinkle\u201d was the clown name that Ingrid adopted when she began dressing as a clown to try to find her estranged father. Lily discovers that it was not Pennywise that the kids caught on camera in the cemetery a few episodes earlier, but rather Ingrid dressed as Periwinkle. This explains why the adults were able to see her in this photo.<\/p>\n

The adults are seemingly unable to perceive the supernatural phenomena at work in Derry unless Pennywise directly targets them, but the police could see the clown in the photo since it was just Ingrid in costume and not Pennywise. Although It: Welcome To Derry\u2019s Neibolt House attack<\/a> didn\u2019t explain much more about the clown and how he works, Ingrid did.<\/p>\n

Ingrid Kersh’s Encounter With Pennywise At Juniper Hill Explained<\/p>\n

\"Teddy
\n Image courtesy of Everett Collection<\/p>\n

In the opening scene of \u201cIn the Name of the Father,\u201d Ingrid leads a child to their death at Juniper Hill when they follow a red balloon down into the basement. The reasoning behind this death is explained later when Ingrid admits to Lily that she led numerous children to \u201cthe clown downstairs,\u201d since she hoped it would be her missing father.<\/p>\n

It is not entirely clear whether Ingrid delusionally believed the children were okay, or if she didn\u2019t care about sacrificing them to the monster. However, it is clear that Pennywise had convinced her he was her father, or that the entity actually is Bob Gray and, therefore, is her literal father.<\/p>\n

Since Ingrid had an affair with It: Welcome To Derry\u2019s Hank Grogan<\/a>, it seems like she has not always been entirely detached from reality. Thus, her obsession with Pennywise and her role as \u201cPeriwinkle\u201d might only take up part of her time, and she may not be aware of her habit of feeding the monster when she is more lucid.<\/p>\n

Why Ingrid Kirsh Has Been Following Lilly & Her Friends<\/p>\n

\"Lilly<\/p>\n

However, there is another, darker explanation. Lily could have started her affair with Hank precisely because she wanted to help Pennywise, as this left Hank without an alibi for the theater attack where Pennywise killed three children. Pennywise would have known that he could feed off Derry\u2019s racism after It: Welcome To Derry\u2019s Hank Grogan arrest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pennywise may have gotten his daughter to seek out Hank on purpose. Similarly, Ingrid appeared to follow Lily and her friends because she knew the kids were searching for Pennywise, and she hoped they might get her closer to contact with her father. It seems she will do anything for him as the dutiful daughter of It: Welcome To Derry\u2019s villain.<\/p>\n

\"03184877_poster_w780.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Release Date<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 26, 2025<\/p>\n

Network<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHBO<\/p>\n

Directors<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAndy Muschietti<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warning: Spoilers ahead for It: Welcome To Derry Episode 6. While It: Welcome To Derry confirms the fan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-163463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}