🔗 Share this article

The clown's impact on the children of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's cycle of animosity ongoing. The creature finds easy targets on children from fractured homes — children who often mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. But, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few family unit that never splinters, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in Derry, persists as the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resistance

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes more aware of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, especially when It starts haunting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises a small number of grown-ups who are cognizant that something is amiss with the town, especially Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, Leroy spots one of Pennywise's signature inflated orbs outside his residence. The ability, coupled with his inability to feel fear, combined with the foundation of his household, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

The boy is part of the collective of children at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates come from broken homes, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The cause Will is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the community, paired with his likely receptiveness to shine, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally strangers in Derry 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 remains unbroken, unlike the residents who originate in the area, with relationships that have decayed within.

Historical Context

Based on the It novel, we know the young Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of Derry will ignite. In the recent movie, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy surviving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the film is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid boy, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to free himself of the torments, or maybe the corrupt environment affected him first, with the KKK eventually completing the task it began long before. Be it via the fear of the entity or via the malice of the community, instigated by It, the creature eventually achieves the final victory on him.

The Father's Evolution

This chain of events would explain how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, he appears bitter and much stricter with his discipline. Since he outlived his own son, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his statements carry more weight now that we know he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and provides an analogy that leads to a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and someone is going to decide for you. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a bit of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the sickening allure of the town.