One of the fun little Easter egg hunts going on in HBO’s IT: Welcome to Derry is trying to guess who the kids in the show are eventually going to be related to — specifically members of The Losers Club in IT and IT: Chapter Two. Well, scratch one potential parent off the list as this week’s episode, “The Black Spot,” killed off one of the kids in horrific fashion. Spoilers past this point, but Rich Santos (Arian S. Cartaya)? You are not the father.
To be a little less glib about this, because the sequence was truly heartbreaking, Rich and Marge Truman (Matilda Lawler) have been growing closer over the past few episodes, and in particular while drinking some Air Force Cokes (read: Coca-Cola with alcohol) at The Black Spot, a hangout for airmen and friends of color, in last week’s hour. Given Rich is fast-talking — and nicknamed Richie — fans speculated he was likely the father of Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard/Bill Hader) in the two movies, with Marge as his mother (they do have similar glasses). Further adding fuel to the fire is that the older Richie in Chapter Two occasionally slipped into a little Spanish, which could indicate having a Latino father, i.e. Rich Santos.
Well… Nope. We should have seen some of this coming given neither Rich nor Marge have the last name Tozier. When a racist lynch mob set The Black Spot on fire, Rich and Marge were trapped inside, the last ones left after Dick Hallorann (Chris Chalk) managed to get a few stragglers to safety. Seeing a cooler in the middle of the raging blaze, Rich told Marge it was big enough for the both of them, and put her inside… Then shut the lid on her.
Questionable level of air inside there aside, as Marge sobbed and fought to get free, Rich got on top of the cooler and held her in, confessing that he’s thought she was beautiful since the first moment he saw her. Then he tells a lovely story about her shooting back, “take a picture, it’ll last longer,” and him wishing he had answered that he would love to have a picture of her. Calling back to their conversation about knights, he explains that part of what a knight does is keep people safe. Marge confesses she loves him, he kisses the cooler, and we’re left in limbo until Marge is rescued by firefighters the next day.
Rich is dead, though. There’s no question about it, as his surprisingly intact body — he likely died of smoke inhalation, not burning to death — is slumped next to the cooler. And later, his body is taken out on a stretcher, with Marge placing his limp hand under a tarp, in case you had any questions about a potential miraculous resurrection.
This is far from the first time Welcome to Derry has killed off significant members of the kid cast — see the first episode for more on that — but it’s still a shocker to have this happen late in the season, particularly since every indication was leading towards Rich being Richie’s dad. However, in the Stephen King novel IT, Richie’s dad is Wentworth Tozier, who only briefly appears and we’re told died about a decade after the first cycle of IT/Pennywise attacks The Losers Club encounters.
Neither Wentworth nor Margaret Tozier appear in the 2017 version of IT, though Margaret is featured in the ’90s miniseries… Meaning it was possible Welcome to Derry could have introduced some surprising lore to this particular iteration of the adaptation, like how fans had further speculated Rich Santos would reveal his middle name was “Wentworth.” But nope.
However, there is one thing we can speculate about here: Marge is indeed Richie Tozier’s mom… And she named him for Rich Santos, the first boy she truly loved. That’s sweet and sad in and of itself, though we’d have to jump ahead in time significantly in the season’s final episode to have that particular bit confirmed. As is, RIP, Rich Santos. You died a hero.
IT: Welcome To Derry Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of IT: Welcome To Derry premiere on Sundays on HBO and HBO Max at 9pm ET.
Here’s the full list of episodes in IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1 with premiere dates:
- Sunday, October 26, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 1
- Sunday, November 2, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 2
- Sunday, November 9, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 3
- Sunday, November 16, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 4
- Sunday, November 23, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 5
- Sunday, November 30, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 6
- Sunday, December 7, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 7
- Sunday, December 14, 2025: IT: Welcome To Derry, Season 1, Episode 8 *Season Finale*
Where To Watch IT: Welcome To Derry
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