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The clown's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them long into adulthood, twisting them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the community's cycle of animosity alive. It finds easy targets on kids from broken households — children who frequently mature to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon family distinguishes itself as one of the few households that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike, even after electing to remain in Derry, remains the sole member who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Unique Resilience

In episode 4 of the series, Leroy Hanlon at last grows increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the neighborhood, especially when It begins tormenting his son, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was shown to be sensitive to psychic abilities when he was capable of sensing Dick Hallorann's use of it in the third episode. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. This gift, alongside his failure to experience terror, along with the foundation of his family, may be why he's able to see the entity's manifestations. However, consider if that shining is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few adults in the town who didn't lose themselves to the town's malevolence?

The boy is part of the group of kids at his school being tormented by Pennywise. His classmates hail from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being haunted. The reason Will is being haunted is due to the viciousness of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to psychic abilities, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are fundamentally outsiders in Derry during the early sixties, which contributes towards the family sensing anomalies exist about the locality from the onset. Additionally, they possess a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Based on the It novel, we know the young Will Hanlon will find himself at the infamous nightclub, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the town bigots of the community will cause. In the 2017 movie, we observe that Will has a son named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a configration, with his father surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The official story in the motion picture is that Mike's parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in Welcome to Derry, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid boy, once he became an adult, leaned into alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town got to him initially, with the hate group eventually finishing the job it started years ago. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the town, seeded by Pennywise, It eventually gets the last laugh on him.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would clarify how Leroy transforms so drastically from what we see in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, he appears resentful and much stricter with his parenting. Since he survived his own offspring, it's understandable to observe such a drastic change. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight now that we know he's seen Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe Mike hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at the family property. 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 existence. You can be in the open like us, or you can be trapped inside,” he says as he points to the sheep. “You dawdle hemming and hawing, and another is going to decide for you. But you will be unaware it until you feel that bolt in your head.”

In hindsight, this could be a piece of prediction, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Maybe he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the sickening attraction of the town.