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The clown's impact on the children of the Derry series shapes them long into adulthood, transforming them into the exact individuals who perpetuate the town's cycle of animosity alive. It finds easy targets on kids from broken homes — children who frequently mature to replicate the same patterns as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as one of the few households that remains intact, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after choosing to stay in Derry, persists as the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Unique Resistance

In the fourth installment of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the supernatural forces surrounding the neighborhood, especially when It begins tormenting his child, Will, during their angling excursion. The Hanlon clan consists of a small number of adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, especially Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to psychic abilities when he was able to detect a fellow psychic's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of Pennywise's signature balloons outside his house. The ability, alongside his failure to experience terror, along with the base of his family, may be why he's able to see Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that shining is generational, and one of the reasons Mike is one of the only 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 educational institution being tormented by the clown. All his school friends hail from dysfunctional families, with caregivers who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason he is being pursued is due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his potential sensitivity to shine, which makes him susceptible. This family are fundamentally strangers in the town during the early sixties, which lends itself towards the household sensing something is off about the town from the beginning. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, unlike the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the original book, we understand the young Will Hanlon will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will save him from a fire that the town bigots of Derry will cause. In the 2017 film, we observe that he has a boy named Mike and that Will eventually perishes in a configration, with his father surviving his own child and adopting his grandchild. The official story in the motion picture is that the parents were on substances, but given our current view of Will in the series, that's hard to believe. Maybe the timid youth, once he became an adult, turned to alcohol to free himself of the hauntings, or maybe the corrupt town got to him first, with the KKK eventually finishing the job it started long before. Whether through the fear of Pennywise or through the malice of the community, instigated by It, the creature eventually gets the last laugh on him.

The Father's Evolution

These occurrences would clarify how the elder Hanlon transforms so radically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and the prequel. In his later years, he appears bitter and much harsher with his parenting. Since he survived his own son, it's comprehensible to see such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his statements hold greater significance now that we know he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the effects they wrought upon his child. In the opening scene of the movie, we see the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a sheep at the family property. His grandfather reprimands him for hesitating and provides an metaphor that results in a survival-of-the-fittest scenario.

“You have two options you can be in this world. You can be out here like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy says as he points to the creature. “You waste time indecisive, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile in your head.”

In hindsight, this could represent a piece of foreshadowing, a lesson he regrets not imparting to his own son. Perhaps he desires he had acted differently in his past, but for some reason, he couldn't resist the sickening allure of the town.