Welcome to Derry May Have Unraveled a Lingering Pennywise Mystery

The clown's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's cycle of hatred alive. The creature finds easy targets on kids from broken households — youngsters who often grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon family stands apart as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the community, especially when the entity begins tormenting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan comprises some of the few grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the town, especially the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Later, Leroy spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. This gift, coupled with his inability to experience terror, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is one of the only adults in Derry who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the group of kids at his educational institution being tormented by Pennywise. All his school friends hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The cause Will is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are ultimately outsiders in the town during 1962, which contributes towards the household sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the beginning. They also have a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the town bigots of the community will cause. In the recent film, we observe that he has a son named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with his father outliving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the motion picture is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Perhaps the shy boy, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to free himself of the torments, or maybe the rotten town got to him initially, with the hate group eventually completing the task it began long before. Whether through the terror of the entity or via the cruelty of the community, instigated by Pennywise, the creature eventually gets the final victory on him.

Leroy's Transformation

This chain of events would clarify how Leroy transforms so radically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, he appears bitter and much harsher with his parenting. Since he survived his own son, it's understandable to see such a drastic change. However, his words hold greater significance since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of the movie, we observe Mike hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and provides an metaphor that leads to a kill-or-be-killed scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like we are, or you can be in there,” he says as he points to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and someone is going to make that choice. Except you won't know it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own child. Maybe he wishes he had acted differently in his youth, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent allure of Derry.