Hank Grogan's escape in IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 5 inadvertently sets up one of Derry's most racist events. The original book and the 2017 movie mention the burning of a bar called The Black Spot. The original book ties The Shining's Dick Hallorann to IT as adult Mike learns that Hallorann sensed Pennywise's presence after rescuing people from the burning bar.The HBO series has been building the seeds for this event, which will end Pennywise's current cycle. The previous episode saw Hallorann setting up Black Spot inside a bunker that General Francis Shaw provided. The promo of IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 6 shows people partying inside the bar. However, we also learn that the town is still hunting for Hank Grogan.The burning of The Black Spot is probably linked with the hunt for Hank Grogan.IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 6's promo explained:The promo begins with a shot of a disoriented Dick Hallorann as Leroy asks him what happened in the sewers. As that happens, we see the irate citizens of Derry hunting for Hank Grogan. Police Chief Clint Bowers shares his theories about Grogan's location with a crowd of white people, and the scene then shifts to people of color partying inside the newly opened The Black Spot.What is the Black Spot incident in Stephen King lore? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostWe learn about The Black Spot incident in the second interlude of the book. Here, an adult Mike learns about this event from a dying Will, who served in the Army. IT: Welcome to Derry introduces Mike's grandfather as an Air Force officer, and makes Will a young boy. This lines up with the new continuity established by the IT movies, where the Losers Club fight Pennywise as kids in 1989.However, despite the changes, it seems that the writers of IT: Welcome to Derry have stuck to the basics of The Black Spot incident, where the bar meant for African-American service members was burned down by a racist group called "The Maine Legion of White Decency". But adult Mike may learn about this incident from Leroy Hanlon's notes, instead of Will.It should also be noted that Leroy Hanlon raised Mike after Will and his wife's tragic deaths in a fire in this new continuity. The Muschietti siblings shared their plans in an email to Entertainment Weekly in October 2024:"Twenty-seven years is the dormant period of Pennywise. It’s a different part of American history with a new set of fears for children, as well as adults having in mind the cost of the Cold War. Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past.... Every 27 years when It appears, It’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around."The two even shared their love for the original book in the same email:"This is a book we love a lot, and we felt that there was still a lot of story to be covered. It’s so rich with characters and events, we thought we would do justice to the book and the fans by going back into this world. Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town. In Welcome to Derry, we touch on the usual themes that were talked about in the movie — friendship, loss, the power of unified belief — but this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times."The Muschiettis' plan for the next two IT: Welcome to Derry seasons involves going back to the 1930s and the 1900s to cover the 27-year cycle. However, the next two seasons of IT: Welcome to Derry haven't been greenlit yet.