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Tom is a Senior Staff Writer at Screen Rant, with expertise covering all things Classic TV from hilarious sitcoms to jaw-dropping sci-fi.
Initially he was an Updates writer, though before long he found his way to the Classic TV team. He now spends his days keeping Screen Rant readers informed about the TV shows of yesteryear, whether it's recommending hidden gems that may have been missed by genre fans or deep diving into ways your favorite shows have (or haven't) stood the test of time.
Tom is based in the UK and when he's not writing about TV shows, he's watching them. He's also an avid horror fiction writer, gamer, and has a Dungeons and Dragons habit that he tries (and fails) to keep in check.
Among the many revelations in season 1 of Welcome to Derry, few resonated as strongly as the confirmation that Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsgård) experiences time in a nonlinear way. His appearances across different eras suddenly felt less symbolic and more literal. Pennywise isn’t bound by history; he moves through it at his leisure.
This was especially shocking when, in episode 8 of Welcome to Derry, Pennywise tells Marge (Matilda Lawler) that he knows she will one day give birth to Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard). More chillingly, he says he remembers encountering Richie years later during IT and IT: Chapter Two.
For Pennywise, the future is already a memory. This manipulation of time instantly deepened Welcome to Derry’s lore, but it wasn’t Stephen King’s first time blending the past and future to unsettle viewers in a TV show.
Back in 2016, Hulu’s Stephen King miniseries 11.22.63 explored time travel through the iconic horror author’s uniquely strange lens. For fans of Welcome to Derry, it’s essential viewing that reveals just how well Stephen King understands that inverting expectations around time can be incredibly effective.
What 11.22.63 Is About
A Grounded Time-Travel Story Driven By Character And Consequence
Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, 11.22.63 centers on Jake Epping (James Franco), a high school English teacher whose life changes after discovering a time portal hidden in the back of a local diner. The portal, known as the “Rabbit Hole” always leads to the same moment: October 21, 1960. Discovering the portal comes with consequences for Jake, as the knowledge has an additional burden of purpose. It is now up to him to stop the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
The mission is handed down by Al Templeton (Chris Cooper), the diner’s owner, who believes preventing the assassination could reshape American history for the better. Jake steps into the past repeatedly, living years in the early 1960s while waiting for November 22, 1963. Each time he fails and returns to the present, any changes he makes are reset, forcing him to start over.
Jake’s life becomes especially complicated when he meets Sadie Dunhill (Sarah Gadon) in the 1960s, a librarian whose warmth and intelligence ground him. Their relationship evolves slowly and naturally, turning the series into a love story as much as a time-travel-based sci-fi thriller. The emotional stakes become inseparable from the historical ones.
However, the unique premise isn’t the only reason 11.22.63 stands out as a great TV show even without being based on a Stephen King novel. The miniseries excels at showing the cost of intervention. Each attempt to fix smaller injustices leads to unintended consequences, reinforcing the idea that history isn’t easily reshaped. Jake’s moral certainty erodes as he witnesses how even good intentions can cause harm.
Visually, 11.22.63 recreates early-1960s America with care, from small-town diners to tense political rallies (all of which will be incredibly familiar to Welcome to Derry fans). The production design enhances the sense that Jake is truly living another life. By the time the assassination date approaches, the weight of time itself feels overwhelming.
Stephen King Puts His Own Spin On Time Travel In 11.22.63
Time Becomes Strange, Hostile, And Impossible To Fully Control
Time travel in 11.22.63 immediately feels different from traditional sci-fi. The whole concept is bluntly weird in the miniseries, and delivered in a uniquely Stephen King way. For example, The Rabbit Hole exists in the back of a diner for no explained reason. It isn’t scientific, technological, or symbolic. It simply exists, and the show never apologizes for that lack of explanation.
Each trip sends Jake back to the exact same day in 1960. Again, the reasons why are never explained. No matter how long he stays or what he changes, the entry point never shifts. This rigid rule gives the story structure while also reinforcing how indifferent time is to human desire or logic.
However, the most distinctly Stephen King element of time travel in 11.22.63 is how the past actively resists change. Coincidences stack up, accidents occur, and obstacles appear whenever Jake gets too close to altering major events. The past feels aware, almost hostile, pushing back like a living organism protecting itself.
This idea turns time into a character rather than a setting. The more Jake interferes, the more aggressive the resistance becomes. It’s not about paradoxes or timelines splitting, but about history refusing to cooperate. That resistance adds tension without technical exposition.
Stephen King’s trademark weirdness shines here. There are no diagrams, no explanations, and no lectures about causality. The show treats time travel as something unknowable and dangerous, aligning it more with horror than science fiction.
That blunt acceptance of the strange mirrors King’s broader storytelling style. The Rabbit Hole works because it works. The past fights back because that’s what it does. This unapologetic approach makes 11.22.63 feel unsettling in a way few time-travel stories achieve.
By stripping away scientific justification, 11.22.63 is able to focus entirely on emotional consequence. Every choice Jake makes feels heavier because the rules are simple, unforgiving, and beyond negotiation. Time doesn’t bend, it retaliates, and in doing so turns the show’s time travel into a textbook Stephen King narrative device.
Why 11.22.63 Is The Perfect Follow Up To Welcome To Derry
Two Very Different Stories United By Stephen King’s Warped View Of Time
Although 11.22.63 and Welcome to Derry differ in genre, they feel unmistakably connected. Both shows present time as unstable and threatening rather than linear and predictable. Pennywise remembers the future, while Jake struggles against a past that refuses to be changed.
Fans drawn to Welcome to Derry’s expansion of IT’s mythology will find familiar thematic ground in 11.22.63. Both shows suggest that time isn’t passive. It observes, reacts, and punishes those who misunderstand its power.
Both shows also thrive on small-town Americana. Welcome to Derry builds dread alongside the supernatural threat of Pennywise through buried secrets of Cold War paranoia, while 11.22.63 captures a nostalgic but uneasy vision of early-1960s America. The settings feel warm on the surface and deeply unsettling underneath.
That atmosphere is a major point of overlap. Stephen King’s small towns are never just locations; they’re pressure cookers where ordinary lives collide with the impossible. Viewers who enjoy Derry’s slow-burn menace will recognize that same energy in Jake’s destination when he jumps through the Rabbit Hole.
11.22.63’s self-contained structure also make it a perfect go-to now that Welcome to Derry season 1 is complete. As a miniseries, it tells a complete story with a definitive ending. That makes it ideal to fill the gap until season 2 arrives. For fans intrigued by Pennywise’s nonlinear existence, 11.22.63 offers a different but equally compelling exploration of time’s cruelty through the Stephen King lens.
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