🔗 Share this article

Pennywise's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the exact individuals who keep the community's cycle of animosity ongoing. It finds easy targets on children from fractured households — children who frequently grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their guardians. But, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as a rare example of a households that remains intact, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under Pennywise's sway.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resilience

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces surrounding the community, particularly when the entity starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan consists of some of the few adults who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, notably Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to the Shining when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he sees one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his residence. This gift, alongside his failure to feel fear, along with the foundation of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike Hanlon is among the few individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

Will is part of the group of children at his educational institution being tormented by Pennywise. His classmates come from broken homes, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The reason Will is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are ultimately outsiders in Derry during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the family feeling something is off about the town from the onset. Additionally, they possess a solid base that isn't fractured, in contrast to the residents who come from the town, with relationships that have decayed within.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we understand the juvenile Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will ignite. In the 2017 film, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a configration, with his father outliving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the film is that Mike's parents were on substances, but given our current view of him in the series, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid boy, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to rid himself of the hauntings, or maybe the rotten environment got to him first, with the hate group ultimately completing the job it began years ago. Be it via the fear of the entity or through the malice of the community, instigated by Pennywise, It eventually achieves the last laugh on him.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his later years, he seems resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight now that we know he's seen the clown's activities and the impacts they had on his son. In the opening scene of It, we see Mike hesitate to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy chastises him for delaying and provides an metaphor that leads to a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“There are two places you can be in this existence. You can be out here like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Perhaps he desires he had done something in his past, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the repellent attraction of Derry.