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Pennywise's influence on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them long into adulthood, transforming them into the very adults who perpetuate the town's pattern of hatred alive. It finds easy targets on children from broken households — children who often grow up to repeat the identical behaviors as their guardians. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a households that remains intact, which may explain why Mike, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who never fully falls under the clown's influence.

The Hanlon Family's Distinctive Resistance

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities enveloping the community, particularly when the entity begins tormenting his child, Will, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon clan comprises a small number of grown-ups who are aware that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be sensitive to psychic abilities 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 house. The ability, alongside his inability to experience terror, along with the base of his household, may be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that shining is generational, and a key factor Mike is one of the only individuals in the town who resisted succumbing to its cruelty?

Will is a member of the collective of children at his school being terrorized by the clown. His classmates come from dysfunctional families, with parents who don't believe they're being targeted. The reason Will is being haunted is because of the cruelty of the town, combined with his likely receptiveness to shine, which renders him vulnerable. The Hanlons are ultimately outsiders in the town during 1962, which lends itself towards the family sensing something is off about the town from the onset. They also have a good foundation that isn't fractured, in contrast to the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have deteriorated internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the It novel, we understand the juvenile Will will find himself at the Black Spot, where Hallorann will rescue him from a blaze that the local KKK members of the community will ignite. In the 2017 film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father eventually perishes in a configration, with his father outliving his own child and taking his grandson in. The official story in the film is that the parents were on drugs, but now that we see him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the timid boy, once he grew up, leaned into drink to free himself of the hauntings, or perhaps the rotten environment got to him initially, with the KKK ultimately completing the job it started years ago. Be it via the fear of Pennywise or via the cruelty of the town, seeded by It, the creature eventually gets the last laugh on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would clarify how Leroy transforms so radically from what we see in the first film and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, he seems bitter and much harsher with his discipline. Because he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to observe such a profound shift. However, his statements carry more weight since we are aware he's witnessed the clown's activities and the effects they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of the movie, we observe the boy hesitate to use a stunning device on a animal at Leroy's farm. Leroy reprimands him for hesitating 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 out here like we are, or you can be trapped inside,” Leroy states as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. Except you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile between your eyes.”

Looking back, this could be a piece of prediction, a lesson he wishes he had told his own child. Perhaps he wishes he had done something in his youth, but for certain factors, he was unable to avoid the repellent attraction of the town.