“It: Welcome to Derry” is not nearly giving Pennywise one other likelihood to run amok. The present goals to reply three important questions that can probe the historical past of the titular entity and even reveal extra about wider Stephen King lore. To date, that enterprise has given us a major backstory for Dick Hallorann, the person with psychic talents who ultimately turns into head chef on the Overlook Lodge in “The Shining” and teaches a younger Danny Torrance harness his personal supernatural powers. In episode 3 of the HBO collection, we see Hallorann use his “shine” to find that Jovan Adepo’s Leroy Hanlon has a son. The scene is an intentional mirroring of a scene from Stanley Kubrick’s movie during which the character makes use of Danny’s nickname, “Doc,” with out being advised about it forward of time.
Scatman Crothers performed Hallorann in Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation, however within the 1962-set “Welcome to Derry,” a youthful Hallorann is performed by Chris Chalk. Up to now, we have realized a lot in regards to the character’s talents, which within the present are being exploited by the U.S. Military with the intention to find a mysterious weapon hidden someplace beneath Derry. However he is additionally utilizing them in his private life to seek out out extra in regards to the residents of the titular New England city. When he tries it on Leroy, nonetheless, he discovers a formidable and sharp ally who instantly calls him out for his psychic trespass.
All of that was apparently written with “The Shining” in thoughts. We already knew that “Welcome to Derry” would discover the King macroverse, making it essential viewing for followers of the creator. However with the foreshadowing of Hallorann’s Danny interplay in “The Shining,” we will see simply how meticulous the creators are about connecting their present to different King creations.
Dick Hallorann makes use of the Shining in Welcome to Derry
The surprisingly ugly “It: Welcome to Derry” was designed to interrogate the historical past of It and extra normal Stephen King lore over a trilogy of seasons. Whether or not the present will run for that lengthy stays to be seen, however we’re already seeing the way it connects to different facets of the King-verse, and Dick Hallorann’s interplay with Leroy in episode 3 is only one small however vital instance.
Within the episode, Hallorann is shipped up in an plane to survey Derry from the air, however finally ends up having a nightmarish imaginative and prescient that nearly kills him. Leroy Hanlon saves him earlier than he can unwittingly bounce out of the plane, after which Hallorann visits Leroy and Charlotte Hanlon’s (Taylour Paige) home for dinner. As soon as there, he asks, “So, the place’s your son at tonight?” A stunned Leroy replies that younger Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) is “at a good friend’s home,” and whereas the second passes shortly, it is clearly a turning level for Leroy and Hallorann’s relationship.
That turns into clear later when the pair speak on the porch and Leroy asks his visitor, “I by no means advised you we had a son,” to which Hallorann says, “I will need to have heard it from somebody on-base.” The 2 then get right into a dialogue of Hallorann’s trance aboard the plane, main Chalk’s character to clarify his psychic capability and Leroy to disclose that he felt “one thing” earlier than being requested about his son. All of which implies Leroy could be very a lot conscious of Hallorann’s “shine” and can possible change into a key ally within the combat towards It. However past being a second that strengthens the 2 characters’ alliance, it additionally served as a approach to foreshadow a second in “The Shining” and pay transient homage to Stanley Kubrick’s movie.
It: Welcome to Derry deliberately foreshadowed The Shining
In “The Shining,” Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) is stunned to listen to Scatman Crothers’ Dick Hallorann confer with Danny Torrance by his nickname “Doc.” “Mr. Hallorann. How do you know we name Danny ‘Doc?'” she asks, to which Hallorann replies, “You should have known as him that.” It is principally the identical back-and-forth shared by Leroy and Hallorann in “Welcome to Derry” episode 3.
In a The Hollywood Reporter interview, Chris Chalk was requested whether or not that was intentional. “It is very a lot that,” he mentioned. “[Hallorann will] then attempt to allure and disarm, however it’s tough to allure a person like Leroy after he is caught you.” Chalk is referring to Leroy’s declare that he “felt one thing” when Hallorann learn his thoughts to find that he had a son. “Inside Leroy’s head, Dick was like, ‘Holy s***, I have been via a number of stuff, however this man bought shot within the face,” Chalk continued, “‘He is been via all this s*** within the conflict with the intention to climb the ranks.’ That scene was a bit bit longer; they lower out my monologue.”
In “Welcome to Derry,” Hallorann tries the identical tactic he would ultimately use on Wendy Torrance by attempting to allure his manner out of a tricky spot. Whereas it labored on the considerably harmless and remoted Wendy, Leroy is having none of it and calls out Hallorann. “I believe he is actually taking a look at it like an allyship,” added Chalk. “Rattling, it is a unhealthy motherf*****, and it might be cool to have a tricky man like him subsequent to me since he now is aware of that I’ve bought this secret energy. Let me recruit him, and possibly we each can get out of this goofy ass city.”
“It: Welcome to Derry” is accessible on HBO Max.
