🔗 Share this article

The clown's impact on the young residents of the Derry series shapes them long into adulthood, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the town's pattern of hatred alive. The creature preys most easily on kids from fractured homes — youngsters who frequently grow up to repeat the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, persists as the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when the entity starts haunting 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 municipality, notably Leroy, who was shown to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in episode 3. Subsequently, he sees one of the clown's trademark balloons outside his residence. The ability, coupled with his inability to feel fear, along with the base of his family, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. However, consider if that psychic sensitivity is generational, and a key factor Mike is one of the only adults in Derry who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

The boy is a member of the collective of children at his school being tormented by Pennywise. All his school friends come from broken homes, with parents who refuse to accept they're being targeted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are ultimately outsiders in the town during 1962, which contributes towards the family sensing something is off about the town from the beginning. Additionally, they possess a good foundation that remains unbroken, unlike the folks who come from the area, with bonds that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we understand the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the local KKK members of Derry will ignite. In the recent movie, we see that he has a son named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a configration, with Leroy 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 difficult to accept. Maybe the timid youth, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town got to him initially, with the KKK eventually completing the task it began long before. Be it via the fear of Pennywise or through the cruelty of the town, seeded by Pennywise, It in the end achieves the final victory on Will.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would clarify how Leroy changes so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his older age, he seems resentful and much stricter with his discipline. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight since we are aware he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they had on his child. In the initial sequence of It, we see the boy pause to use a bolt gun on a animal at Leroy's farm. His grandfather reprimands him for delaying and offers an analogy that results in 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 sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that bolt between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for some reason, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.