IT: WELCOME TO DERRY’S Heartbreaking Death Scene Left a Crew Member in Tears
It: Welcome to Derry has delivered plenty of gruesome moments throughout its run, but episode 7 brings a level of emotional devastation that hit viewers, and even the crew much harder than expected.
The death of Rich Santos, played by Arian S. Cartaya, isn’t just another tragedy in a series built on dread. It’s one of the show’s most personal gut punches so far, and it left a high level crew member openly sobbing on set.
From the beginning, Welcome to Derry has made one thing painfully clear. The kids are not protected. For a prequel to IT, that might seem like a given, but the series has gone further than many expected.
The pilot alone set the tone with the brutal loss of Phil Malkin, Teddy Uris, and Susie at the hands of a horrifying baby creature in a movie theater. It felt like the show was telling us nothing is off limits.
Episode 7 pushes that even further with a moment that fans of Stephen King have been bracing for. The infamous Black Spot fire from the novel finally erupts on screen, but creators Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs reshape the event into something even more intimate and devastating.
In King’s book, the fire is a horrific piece of Derry’s history, sparked by white supremacists targeting the Black military officers who frequented the speakeasy. The show stays true to that foundation but adds new characters and details that make the tragedy feel even more harrowing.
This includes Rich Santos and Matilda Lawler’s Marge Truman, two characters original to the series whose growing bond quickly became one of the few hopeful threads in a bleak story. That bright connection makes what follows hit even harder.
As the Black Spot goes up in flames, Chris Chalk’s Dick Hallorann works to lead survivors to a hidden passage, but Rich and Marge end up trapped when the collapsing roof cuts them off.
With nowhere to run, Rich forces himself into the role of protector. He urges Marge into a metal locker that might shield her from the smoke. It’s cramped, barely large enough for her, and Rich stays outside, lying across the door to keep her inside and alive. He dies of smoke inhalation while she survives.
It certainly wasn’t easy for the crew. Cartaya revealed that Assistant Director Emmanuel Manny Whitney Alexander broke down during filming, overwhelmed by the scene as it unfolded.
The actor remembered the moment vividly in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “When they yelled cut, and I was wrapped, he just went over and gave me a hug for like five minutes straight,” Cartaya said. “Shout out to Manny! I love you.”
Rich’s sacrifice is one of the show’s most affecting scenes in the series because it strips everything down to raw, human emotion.