HOLLYWOOD—Talk about being stunned after watching a single episode. That is precisely how I felt after watching the premiere episode of “IT: Welcome to Derry.” SPOILER ALERT: if you have not watched the premiere episode, I have no clue why you haven’t, stopped reading this column right now.

If you thought the people you met were going to be the focal point of the entire season, think again. Yeah, the creators dismantled several key characters in a sequence that was just brutal, gut-wrenching and awesome at the same time to watch. I can’t believe that Teddy (Mikkal Karim-Fidler), Susie (Matilda Legault) and Phil (Jack Malloy Legault) are gone, and if this is some twisted dream sequence the creators cooked up shame on them, as it hurts to watch as a viewer.

We have to rewind a bit because the opening of the series was a doozy. I mean we opened to a scene in a movie theater and we closed the premiere episode with a scene in a movie theater. It is here that we meet Matty (Miles Ekhardt), who has snuck into the movie theater in Derry and is being chased around by a theater patron.

Instead he had a pal in Ronnie (Amanda Christine), who did spill where he was hiding so he could escape. That’s where things got crazy because Matty tried to hitchhike and was picked up by a family that seemed normal, but went nutty. How so? The mother who was pregnant, gave birth in a gruesome fashion that was bloody and uncomfortable to watch.

So this was a new transition for me because it opened the door for the infamous clown Pennywise to shape-shift into an illusion that allowed Matty to get inside of a vehicle? Yeah, that was a massive stretch for my liking. I tried to peace the elements together, but they were not fully clicking for me, it wasn’t so the creators have to do some explaining. We didn’t actually see Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) himself, but I’m expecting that iconic villain to make his presence known much sooner than later.

A deformed monster baby attacked Matty and he has been reported ‘missing,’ but the audience already knows Matty’s fate. This soon leads us into the introduction to a standout character that I enjoyed thoroughly in Lilly (Clara Stack). Lilly is suffering from grief over the passing of her father, that transpired while he was at work. Her mother is pressuring her to visit her father’s grave, but Lilly just isn’t in that head space yet to do so. That leads to her having a strange, vivid nightmare where she sees Matty’s fingers in the sink and hear his voice.

She shares these concerns with Teddy, Susie and Phil who aim to get down to the truth of what’s happening to the kids in Derry, Maine. Teddy suffers a haunting nightmare and it brings the group back to the Capital Theater to watch “The Music Man” and get answers. All hell breaks loose, and Matty’s presence on the screen allows ‘IT’ to unleash and dispatch of Teddy, then Phil then little Susie. To say I was aghast with what I was watching was an understatement. With those 3 being dispatched. It almost felt like a given that Lilly was going to be next, but Ronnie came to her aid. So when its all said and done, Ronnie and Lilly are still standing, but it raises the question: for how long?

Yes, we had the presence of some adults, notably, Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo), who suffers racism front and center and is attacked, but aided by his partner Pauly. The adults were not critical for this first episode, which I think will transition as the season progresses. I normally hate prequels because you tend to have a good idea how things will end if there is already other movies in the franchise? However, “IT: Welcome to Derry” has changed my perception and I cannot wait until episode 2 which premieres on Halloween of all days. New episodes of “IT: Welcome to Derry” air Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.