Welcome to Derry May Have Unraveled a Lingering Pennywise Mystery
The clown's influence on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's cycle of hatred ongoing. It preys most easily on kids from fractured homes — children who often mature to replicate the same patterns as their parents. But, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as a rare example of a family unit that remains intact, which may explain why Mike, even after choosing to stay in the town, persists as the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.
Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resistance
In the fourth installment of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the neighborhood, especially when the entity starts haunting his child, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family consists of some of the few grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the municipality, notably the father, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's use of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy spots one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. This gift, coupled with his inability to experience terror, along with the base of his household, could be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?
Will is a member of the collective of kids at his educational institution being tormented by the clown. All his school friends come from broken homes, with caregivers who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the community, combined with his potential sensitivity to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally outsiders in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the family feeling anomalies exist about the locality from the beginning. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the residents who originate in the town, with relationships that have decayed internally.
Backstory Connections
Based on the It novel, we know the juvenile Will will end up at the Black Spot, where the psychic will rescue him from a fire that the town bigots of Derry will cause. In the recent movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a fire, with his father surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see him in the series, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid boy, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to free himself of the torments, or perhaps the corrupt town got to him first, with the KKK ultimately completing the task it started years ago. Be it via the fear of the entity or via the cruelty of the town, instigated by It, the creature eventually achieves the final victory on him.
The Father's Evolution
These occurrences would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we see in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, he seems bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a drastic change. However, his words hold greater significance since we are aware he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they wrought upon his child. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for delaying and provides an analogy that results in a kill-or-be-killed situation.
“There are two places you can be in this world. You can be in the open like us, or you can be in there,” Leroy says as he gestures to the sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. But you won't know it until you feel that bolt between your eyes.”
Looking back, this could represent a piece of prediction, something he wishes he had told his own child. Maybe he desires he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.
