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The clown's impact on the young residents of Welcome to Derry molds them throughout their adult lives, twisting them into the very adults who perpetuate the town's cycle of animosity alive. The creature finds easy targets on kids from fractured homes — youngsters who frequently grow up to replicate the identical behaviors as their parents. However, the Hanlon household stands apart as a rare example of a family unit that never splinters, which could clarify why Mike Hanlon, even after electing to remain in the town, remains the only Loser who doesn't completely succumb under the clown's influence.

Hanlon Household's Distinctive Resilience

In episode 4 of Welcome to Derry, Leroy Hanlon finally becomes increasingly conscious of the paranormal entities surrounding the neighborhood, especially when the entity begins tormenting his child, Will Hanlon, during their fishing trip. The Hanlon family comprises some of the few adults who are cognizant that things are not right with the town, notably Leroy, who was revealed to be receptive to the Shining when he was able to detect Dick Hallorann's employment of it in the third episode. Subsequently, Leroy sees one of the clown's trademark inflated orbs outside his house. The ability, alongside his inability to feel fear, along with the foundation of his household, could be why he's capable of perceiving Pennywise's hauntings. But what if that psychic sensitivity is hereditary, and one of the reasons Mike is among the few adults in the town who didn't lose themselves to its cruelty?

Will is part of the collective of children 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 haunted. The reason he is being haunted is due to the viciousness of the town, paired with his likely receptiveness to shine, which makes him susceptible. The Hanlons are ultimately strangers in the town during 1962, which contributes towards the household feeling anomalies exist about the town from the beginning. They also have a solid base that remains unbroken, in contrast to the folks who originate in the town, with relationships that have decayed internally.

Backstory Connections

Drawing from the It novel, we know the juvenile Will Hanlon will find himself at the Black Spot, where the psychic will rescue him from a blaze that the town bigots of Derry will ignite. In the 2017 film, we see that Will has a boy named Mike and that the father ultimately dies in a fire, with his father surviving his own son and taking his grandson in. The public account in the film is that the parents were on substances, but now that we see him in the series, that's difficult to accept. Maybe the shy boy, once he grew up, turned to alcohol to rid himself of the torments, or maybe the rotten town got to him initially, with the KKK eventually completing the job it started years ago. Whether through the fear of the entity or via the malice of the town, instigated by Pennywise, It in the end gets the final victory on Will.

Leroy's Transformation

These occurrences would explain how the elder Hanlon changes so drastically from what we witness in It: Chapter 1 and Welcome to Derry. In his older age, he seems bitter and much stricter with his parenting. Since he outlived his own offspring, it's understandable to observe such a profound shift. Nonetheless, his words carry more weight now that we know he's witnessed Pennywise's hauntings and the impacts they wrought upon his son. In the initial sequence of It, we see Mike pause to use a stunning device on a sheep at Leroy's farm. His grandfather chastises him for delaying and provides 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 us, or you can be in there,” he says as he gestures to the creature. “You waste time hemming and hawing, and another is going to make that choice. But you will be unaware it until you experience that projectile in your head.”

Looking back, this could be a bit of foreshadowing, a lesson he wishes he had told his own son. Maybe he desires he had acted differently in his youth, but for certain factors, he couldn't resist the sickening allure of Derry.