The Derry Chronicles Could Have Unraveled a Lingering It Mystery
Pennywise's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry shapes them throughout their adult lives, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's pattern of hatred ongoing. It finds easy targets on children from fractured households — children who often mature to repeat the same patterns as their parents. However, the Hanlon household 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 sole member who never fully falls under the clown's influence.
The Hanlon Family's Unique Resilience
In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the neighborhood, especially when It starts haunting his son, Will Hanlon, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few adults who are cognizant that something is amiss with the municipality, notably 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. Later, he spots one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his house. The ability, coupled with his failure to experience terror, combined with the base of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike Hanlon is among the few adults in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?
The boy is part of the collective of kids at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason he is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the community, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. This family are ultimately outsiders in Derry during the early sixties, which contributes towards the household feeling something is off about the town from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with bonds that have deteriorated within.
Historical Context
Drawing from the original book, we understand the young Will will end up at the infamous nightclub, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the town bigots of the community will ignite. In the recent film, we see that Will has a son named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a fire, with Leroy outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see Will in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the timid youth, once he became an adult, leaned into drink to free himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten town got to him initially, with the hate group ultimately completing the task it began years ago. Be it via the fear of Pennywise or through the malice of the town, instigated by Pennywise, It eventually gets the last laugh on Will.
The Father's Evolution
This chain of events would clarify how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, Leroy appears resentful and much harsher with his parenting. Since he survived his own offspring, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. However, his statements hold greater significance since we are aware he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike pause to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for hesitating and offers an analogy that results in a survival-of-the-fittest situation.
“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he points to the creature. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and someone is going to make that choice. But you won't know it until you experience that bolt in your head.”
In hindsight, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, something he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had acted differently in his past, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of Derry.
