This It: Welcome To Derry Scene Was Designed To Foreshadow A Key Moment In The Shining

"It: Welcome to Derry" isn't just about giving Pennywise another chance to run amok. The show aims to answer three main questions that will probe the history of the titular entity and even reveal more about wider Stephen King lore. Thus far, that venture has given us a significant backstory for Dick Hallorann, the man with psychic abilities who eventually becomes head chef at the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" and teaches a young Danny Torrance how to harness his own supernatural powers. In episode 3 of the HBO series, we see Hallorann use his "shine" to discover that Jovan Adepo's Leroy Hanlon has a son. The scene is an intentional mirroring of a scene from Stanley Kubrick's film in which the character uses Danny's nickname, "Doc," without being told about it ahead of time.

Scatman Crothers played Hallorann in Kubrick's 1980 adaptation, but in the 1962-set "Welcome to Derry," a younger Hallorann is played by Chris Chalk. So far, we've learned much about the character's abilities, which in the show are being exploited by the U.S. Army in order to locate a mysterious weapon hidden somewhere beneath Derry. But he's also using them in his personal life to find out more about the residents of the titular New England town. When he tries it on Leroy, however, he discovers a formidable and sharp ally who immediately calls him out for his psychic trespass. 

All of that was apparently written with "The Shining" in mind. We already knew that "Welcome to Derry" would explore the King macroverse, making it crucial viewing for fans of the author. But with the foreshadowing of Hallorann's Danny interaction in "The Shining," we can see just how meticulous the creators are about connecting their show to other King creations.

The surprisingly gruesome "It: Welcome to Derry" was designed to interrogate the history of It and more general Stephen King lore over a trilogy of seasons. Whether the show will run for that long remains to be seen, but we're already seeing how it connects to other aspects of the King-verse, and Dick Hallorann's interaction with Leroy in episode 3 is just one small but significant example.

In the episode, Hallorann is sent up in an aircraft to survey Derry from the air, but ends up having a nightmarish vision that almost kills him. Leroy Hanlon saves him before he can unwittingly jump out of the aircraft, after which Hallorann visits Leroy and Charlotte Hanlon's (Taylour Paige) house for dinner. Once there, he asks, "So, where's your son at tonight?" A surprised Leroy replies that young Will Hanlon (Blake Cameron James) is "at a friend's house," and while the moment passes quickly, it's clearly a turning point for Leroy and Hallorann's relationship.

That becomes clear later when the pair talk on the porch and Leroy asks his guest, "I never told you we had a son," to which Hallorann says, "I must have heard it from someone on-base." The two then get into a discussion of Hallorann's trance aboard the aircraft, leading Chalk's character to explain his psychic ability and Leroy to reveal that he felt "something" before being asked about his son. All of which means Leroy is very much aware of Hallorann's "shine" and will likely become a key ally in the fight against It. But beyond being a moment that strengthens the two characters' alliance, it also served as a way to foreshadow a moment in "The Shining" and pay brief homage to Stanley Kubrick's film.

In "The Shining," Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) is surprised to hear Scatman Crothers' Dick Hallorann refer to Danny Torrance by his nickname "Doc." "Mr. Hallorann. How did you know we call Danny 'Doc?'" she asks, to which Hallorann replies, "You must have called him that." It's basically the same back-and-forth shared by Leroy and Hallorann in "Welcome to Derry" episode 3.

In a The Hollywood Reporter interview, Chris Chalk was asked whether that was intentional. "It's very much that," he said. "[Hallorann will] then try to charm and disarm, but it's difficult to charm a man like Leroy after he's caught you." Chalk is referring to Leroy's claim that he "felt something" when Hallorann read his mind to discover that he had a son. "Inside Leroy's head, Dick was like, 'Holy s***, I've been through a lot of stuff, but this guy got shot in the face," Chalk continued, "'He's been through all this s*** in the war in order to climb the ranks.' That scene was a little bit longer; they cut out my monologue."

In "Welcome to Derry," Hallorann tries the same tactic he would eventually use on Wendy Torrance by trying to charm his way out of a tough spot. While it worked on the somewhat innocent and isolated Wendy, Leroy is having none of it and calls out Hallorann. "I think he's really looking at it like an allyship," added Chalk. "Damn, this is a bad motherf*****, and it'd be cool to have a tough guy like him next to me since he now knows that I've got this secret power. Let me recruit him, and maybe we both can get out of this goofy ass town."

"It: Welcome to Derry" is available on HBO Max.