Before IT: Welcome to Derry even premiered, the series made no secret about the fact that it would be connected to the larger Stephen King universe. Not only did the HBO show make this obvious with a tease of Shawshank State Prison, the setting for the fan-favorite The Shawshank Redemption, but one of the best characters from Stephen King’s The Shining was hiding in plain sight as a major cast member. Though the early press notes confirmed that Chris Chalk would be playing none other than Dick Hallorann, it wasn’t until audiences saw him appear, state his name, and use his shine that the connection really stuck.
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As the story has progressed with IT: Welcome to Derry over the course of the five episodes that have premiered (only three remain), Dick Hallorann has had a major role. Fans of Stephen King‘s original books IT, The Shining, and Doctor Sleep were aware that the character had previously spent time in Derry, but this show is the first time that story has ever been told. Now that we have a better idea of the big picture of Dick Hallorann’s past, it will ultimately change how audiences see him when they rewatch those other King adaptations.
IT: Welcome to Derry Adds More Depth to The Shining for Stephen King Fans
IT: Welcome to Derry has not shied away from teasing Dick Halloran’s Shining powers, though, for the first episodes, they took on a slightly different form than what fans of the Stanley Kubrick movie are used to seeing. The military has exploited Halloran’s abilities to try and locate items related to Pennywise, and though he’s been able to make that work, it has been somewhat of a general psychic expression of his abilities. He’s been able to sense the power of nearby objects and even enter the minds of other people to find out information
With Episode 5 of IT: Welcome to Derry, though, Halloran found himself directly confronting Pennywise the clown, who was able to enter his mind and use Halloran’s past to break him. It all begins with Halloran in a bathroom with his dead grandmother, Rose Halloran, a figure who has been recurring over the episodes of IT and who has previously never appeared in an adaptation. Dick is confronted by a vision of his grandfather though, who presents him with a lockbox, a major element of Halloran’s abilities, as he has the power to lock away evil spirits inside the lockbox and keep them at bay. The Doctor Sleep book reveals that he used this technique to suppress being haunted by his grandfather, who abused him.
As luck would have it, for Dick, though, it’s not his actual grandfather confronting him with the lockbox in the episode, it’s clearly none other than Pennywise taking on his form. The scene ends with the one thing Dick didn’t want to happen: his grandfather ripping the lock off the box. We don’t see Dick again after this moment until the very end of the episode as he exits the sewer and runs into his fellow soldier, Pauly, only to discover that he’s an ambling member of the dead stuck in limbo and not a possessed asset of Pennywise. The episode ends with the surprise visual of Dick Halloran’s lockbox wide open with a sinister glow emitting from it.
As a result of what’s already happened in IT: Welcome to Derry has filled out Dick Halloran’s backstory in a major way, which alters the perception of how audiences see him. Halloran’s backstory in Derry, now fully realized, makes The Shining and Doctor Sleep an even more harrowing experience for viewers. Knowing that Halloran’s experiences at the Overlook hotel weren’t the start of his paranormal experiences, but rather the ending of them after encountering the malevolent Lovecraftian deity in Derry, gives the character a history of horrific experiences that make him one of the most tragic figures in the horror genre.
This ending of the open lockbox brings up a major question that the rest of the season may actually answer. By tearing open the box in Halloran’s mind, what exactly did Pennywise unleash? Beyond locking away his grandfather, had Halloran locked away his ability to see the undead and any ghosts that are left behind? It seems that way, and with only three episodes left, maybe we’ll get an even better answer.
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Courtesy of Netflix
