🔗 Share this article

The clown's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's pattern of animosity ongoing. The creature preys most easily on children from fractured households — youngsters who frequently mature to repeat the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few households that remains intact, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in the town, remains the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy at last grows more aware of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, particularly when the entity begins tormenting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of a small number of adults who are aware that something is amiss with the town, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's use of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he spots one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his residence. The ability, coupled with his failure to experience terror, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few individuals in Derry who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is a member of the group of kids at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates come from broken homes, with parents who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The reason Will is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the family sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a solid base that isn't fractured, unlike the residents who come from the area, with relationships that have deteriorated within.

Historical Context

Drawing from the It novel, we know the young Will Hanlon will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will rescue him from a fire that the local KKK members of Derry will ignite. In the recent movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with Leroy outliving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but now that we see Will in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy boy, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the hauntings, or maybe the rotten environment affected him first, with the KKK ultimately finishing the task it began long before. Be it via the terror of the entity or through the malice of the community, seeded by It, the creature in the end gets the final victory on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we see in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, he appears resentful and much harsher with his discipline. Because he survived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words hold greater significance now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we observe Mike pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating and offers an metaphor that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be in there,” Leroy states as he points to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. Except you won't know it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could represent a bit of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.