It: Welcome to Derry is stuffed with Easter eggs from the Stephen King universe, but the latest episode took this to the absolute next level.
It: Welcome to Derry episode 3 gives us a proper introduction to Dick Hallorann, who King fans know from The Shining. It's Hallorann's unique ability that saves Danny Torrance's life at the Overlook hotel...and in It: Welcome to Derry, it evolves into something else entirely.
The episode also gives us a pretty big reveal about the true intentions of the U.S. Air Force, and let me tell ya – they don't have anything to do with the Cold War.
How are It and The Shining connected?
Though it may come as a surprise, Dick Hallorann does make an appearance amongst the 1,108 pages of It. Long before Hallorann ended up working at the Overlook hotel, he worked as a chef for the army, and opened a bar in Derry known as The Black Spot. The bar specifically catered to Black soldiers in the United States military, and was subsequently burned down by a white nationalist hate group (though Pennywise is thought to have been present at the fire as well). In the book, Hallorann uses his Shining ability to find and rescue survivors, one of them being Will Hanlon, father of Losers Club member Mike Hanlon.
It looks as though Welcome to Derry episode 3 is setting up the Black Spot, with Hallorann asking General Shaw for a place that he and his friends can go blow off steam in a safe place that doesn't have a leaky roof. We can already infer that, in exchange for Hallorann risking his life on that military aircraft, General Shaw is gearing up to grant him an even bigger, better space.
It's worth noting that, in Stephen King's novel universe, Hallorann is a cook for the U.S. Army. In Andy Muschietti's live-action It universe, Hallorann is a Navigator in the U.S. Air Force. There is no mention of the U.S. Army having knowledge of or utilizing his Shining ability, though there is mention that Hallorann is one of the few people to see It in its true form.
What is Dick Hallorann's "Shining" ability?
In The Shining, Hallorann is able to telepathically communicate with Danny Torrance and essentially save his life. In Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, a now-dead Hallorann is able to communicate with Danny Torrance by possessing someone else's body. In Welcome to Derry episode 3, his powers are demonstrated in a few different ways.
In episode 3, Hallorann is given a Phillies cigar box and is ordered to board a plane piloted by Major Leroy Hanlon and Captain Pauly Russo. Inside the box is a slingshot from 1935, the last time Pennywise was in Derry. When he touches the slingshot, he tells Leroy and Pauly to turn east. A quick flashback to 1935 sees the slingshot in the hands of a young General Shaw, who uses it to fight off Pennywise alongside a young Rose.
While in a trace state, Hallorann suddenly walks off the plane and into a vault filled with ankle-deep water and old children's toys. A traveling carnival cart with the name Pennywise appears, and the door falls open, revealing a stage. Pennywise's eyes appear in the dark before the corpse of his grandmother tells him to run. In his trance state, he's trying to open the door to the vault, but in reality, he's opening the plane hatch and is a mere second away before falling to his death, before Leroy reels him back in.
After the incident, Hallorann tells General Shaw that Pennywise wasn't supposed to see them and that if they continue their mission, something bad is going to happen. Later, Hallorann has dinner with Leroy and his wife, Charlotte. He asks about Leroy's son Will, to which Leroy later points out that he never mentioned he had a son. When Leroy asks about what happened on the plane, Hallorann simply explains the Shining as "seeing things without seeing things." Leroy goes on to tell him that he felt him in his head, reading his mind.
It was also Hallorann who located the Bradley Gang's car at the end of episode 2, who sensed it while looking for Pennywise.
Why is the army interested in Dick Hallorann's "Shining" ability?
In an absolutely wild turn of events, the U.S Air Force is not only well aware of Hallorann's Shining ability, but aware of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. In Welcome to Derry episode 3, we learn that the Air Force, under the command of General Shaw, is using Hallorann to lead them to Pennywise...presumably so they can destroy him once and for all.
As we learn in the episode, the Air Force is damaging Indigenous land in order to carry out their mission. This is due to the fact that Shaw's first encounter with Pennywise was in the woods, and the belief that It won't or can't leave those particular woods (as we learn in the slingshot flashback). It's Rose who knows that Pennywise is unable to leave, though we're not sure why this is so.
We don't know if the military at large knows about Pennywise, though we can presume this isn't so as Leroy and Pauly are given orders to simply surveil the woods and bring Hallorann along – without any other context given. We also know, by the events of It and the later formation of the Losers Club, that the U.S. Air Force does not succeed in their mission. Pennywise still manages to return 27 years later in order to terrorize a new generation.
The question is, how long has this mission been going on? How did Shaw know that Pennywise had returned to Derry, and how does he plan to destroy It when they finally find It? We'll likely find out as the season goes on.
It: Welcome to Derry airs on HBO every Sunday at 9pm PT/ET. Episode 2 was made available to stream on HBO Max earlier, on October 31, in honor of Halloween. Stay up to date on new episodes with our Welcome to Derry release schedule.
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