Welcome to Derry Could Have Solved a Lingering It Mystery

The clown's impact on the children of Welcome to Derry shapes them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the community's pattern of hatred ongoing. It finds easy targets on children from broken homes — children who often grow up to replicate the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a households that remains intact, which may explain why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in Derry, remains the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy at last grows more aware of the supernatural forces enveloping the community, particularly when the entity begins tormenting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises some of the few adults who are aware that something is amiss with the municipality, especially the father, who was shown to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing a fellow psychic's employment of it in episode 3. Later, Leroy spots one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. This gift, coupled with his inability to feel fear, along with the base of his household, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. But what if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only adults in the town who resisted succumbing to the town's malevolence?

Will is part of the group of kids at his school being terrorized by Pennywise. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who refuse to accept they're being haunted. The cause he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the family feeling something is off about the town from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a solid base that remains unbroken, unlike the residents who come from the town, with relationships that have decayed within.

Historical Context

Drawing from the original book, we know the juvenile Will will end up at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will save him from a blaze that the town bigots of the community will cause. In the recent movie, we see that he has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a configration, with his father surviving his own son and adopting his grandchild. The public account in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in the series, that's hard to believe. Perhaps the shy boy, once he grew up, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the torments, or maybe the rotten environment got to him first, with the KKK ultimately finishing the job it began long before. Be it via the terror of the entity or via the cruelty of the community, seeded by It, the creature in the end achieves the final victory on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would explain how Leroy transforms so radically from what we witness in the first film and the prequel. In his older age, he seems bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Because he outlived his own son, it's comprehensible to observe such a profound shift. However, his statements hold greater significance now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the opening scene of It, we see the boy hesitate to use a bolt gun on a sheep at the family property. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and offers an analogy that leads to a kill-or-be-killed situation.

“You have two options you can be in this existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he points to the creature. “You waste time indecisive, and another is going to decide for you. But you won't know it until you feel that bolt in your head.”

In hindsight, this could represent a bit of prediction, something he wishes he had told his own son. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the sickening allure of Derry.