Aahana Swrup
‘IT: Welcome to Derry‘ expands upon the lore of Andy Muschietti’s ‘IT’ cinematic universe, welcoming viewers to the titular town. The story takes place in 1962 as Pennywise, the Dancing Clown, re-emerges for his killing spree. Among his fresh batch of targets is Lily Brainbridge, a middle schooler who underwent the trauma of losing her father in a pickle-factory tragedy at a very young age. In fact, her trauma grew so severe that the young girl had to be admitted to the Juniper Hill Asylum for medical help. Unfortunately for the kid, as she survives through a Pennywise attack, but only after witnessing her friends’ brutal deaths, she finds herself back in the mental health asylum. Although this time around, she manages to make one unusual friend: Ingrid Kersh, the housekeeper at the facility. Unlike other adults in Lily’s life, Ingrid seems to possess the unique ability to believe her stories about her wild encounters with IT. However, as it turns out, her open understanding and friendship don’t come without their attached strings. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Ingrid Kersh is the Daughter of Bob Gray, the Original Pennywise
Ingrid enters the narrative as a friendly face in a town full of skeptical grown-ups who are inclined toward easy and convenient solutions rather than actual problem-solving. When Lily shares her problems with her, even those of the supernatural variety, the older woman seems to have a greater affinity for actually believing her. It isn’t until the viewers learn her full name in episode 4 that the reason behind this begins to clear up. By episode 5, titled ’29 Neibolt Street,’ Lily begins to comprehend the reason as well. The pre-teen and her friends’ venture into the sewers doesn’t go according to plan, leaving her to feel distant and othered, especially after an argument with Ronnie. As a result, she ends up back at Ingrid’s place, seeking her company. Instead, the kid finds an open door and an attic full of explanations.
Among Ingrid’s memorabilia, Lily finds a photo album that holds pictures of the woman’s father, Bob Gray. Startlingly enough, he seems to have the same face (minus the clown makeup) as Pennywise, the dancing clown, IT’s preferred mask. As the Juniper Hill worker returns home, the details of this connection begin to clear up. As it turns out, Ingrid is the daughter of Bob Gray, the man who was originally Pennywise. When Ingrid was a child, she lived with her father, who was a part of a traveling circus. Tragically, when the circus arrived in Derry, her father was taken away from her through yet unexplained methods. Even so, she decided to stick around the town as she grew up. Consequently, while working at Juniper Hill in 1935, the year when one of IT’s feeding cycles began, the orphaned young woman overheard one of the kids talking about Pennywise.
This led Ingrid to use the kid, Mabel, to seek out Pennywise by taking her to the basement, where the Clown promised to meet her. Although the nightmarish creature did show, it quickly became evident that the Clown wasn’t the one Ingrid called father. Nevertheless, her attempts to escape the basement were only half successful, as Mabel got left behind and fell victim to the creature’s hunger. Yet, in the aftermath, Pennywise taunted Ingrid by wearing her father’s face and attempting to lure her into his trap. Ever since that day, the woman became obsessed with finding her father again. She either believes that Bob Gray is IT or that IT has the former in its clutches. Either way, she is on a self-assigned mission to free her father from the influence of “dark shadow” and reunite with him.
Ingrid is Perwinkle, the Clown, Who is Looking For Pennywise
The revelation of Ingrid’s connection with Pennywise comes with another unexpected discovery. Throughout her search for the Dancing Clown, the orphaned daughter has managed to convince herself of a few things. Along with believing that she can save her father from IT, she also seems to believe her own clown persona, Periwinkle, is the way to do it. Back in her days with the traveling circus, Ingrid developed a clown persona for herself along with her father. Her costume mirrored elements from the Pennywise get-up, including the pointy hair, the Victorian-inspired tailoring, and the color scheme. It seems Ingrid has upgraded her Periwinkle costume with age and possesses an adult version of it.
Ingrid has donned the persona a few times in the past couple of weeks. As Pennywise’s feeding cycle begins in 1962 and children start to go missing, the woman likely recognizes the signs. Furthermore, she quickly realizes that Lily Brainbridge is on the list of the Clown’s potential victims. For the same reason, she befriends the kid at Juniper Hill, and afterward, continues to follow her and her friends. In fact, the kids catch glimpses of her throughout their misadventure. For instance, she was there at the cemetery on the night Lily and the others attempted to summon IT. For the same reason, a blurry clown was captured on camera while all other horrifying manifestations of the creature were erased from photographic evidence. Thus, it’s safe to say that Ingrid’s quest to find her father is bound to intertwine her story with Pennywise, and subsequently, the kids again.
Read More: Who is Leroy Hanlon? Who Plays Him in It Welcome to Derry?
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