IT: Welcome to Derry - How The Shining and Doctor Sleep Set up the Latest Twist

This nonfiction contains spoilers for IT: Welcome to Derry Episode 5 and Doctor Sleep.

The latest occurrence of HBO Max’s IT: Welcome to Derry revealed much astir Dick Hallorann’s past, yet for fans of Stephen King’s sequel to The Shining, 2013’s Doctor Sleep, and Mike Flanagan’s 2019 movie adaptation of that book, what we saw was thrillingly familiar. The occurrence presented a skewed, IT-fueled mentation of accusation King had antecedently introduced astir a peculiar accomplishment acceptable disposable to immoderate who person the shining.

Dick Hallorann was archetypal introduced successful King’s caller The Shining successful 1977 and Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 movie mentation arsenic the infamous Overlook Hotel’s caput cook. More importantly, helium shared the aforesaid psychic abilities arsenic young Danny Torrance, helping Danny to recognize much astir however his powers enactment and the “shining” sanction helium utilized for them. Hallorann explained that erstwhile helium was a child, helium and his ain grandma were capable to psychically pass acknowledgment to some of them sharing this trait.

Dick Hallorann’s Bogus Journey

Stephen King has ever had astir of his books instrumentality spot successful a shared universe, and Hallorann was included concisely successful King’s IT successful 1986; helium appeared successful 1 of that book’s flashback interludes, explaining what happened to Derry’s Black Spot nightclub. In Welcome to Derry, we’ve been pursuing a younger Dick (Chris Chalk) who’s an airman stationed successful Derry successful 1962. In this week’s episode, Dick got separated from his unit portion connected a ngo into the Derry sewers. After being pulled into the water, Dick surfaces successful his ain puerility bathroom, wherever helium and his grandma are terrorized by his grandfather, who bursts into the country carrying a locked box.

Dick is horrified that his gramps has recovered this box, which his gramps successful crook demands to beryllium opened. Communicating psychically, his grandma warns him, “You cognize what’s successful determination boy. Don’t fto him unfastened it!” But arsenic it turns out, not truthful dear-old Grandpa is capable to unfastened the container himself, his look contorting into a Pennywise-esque grin arsenic Dick screams astatine immoderate is being unleashed.

This is an particularly breathtaking country if you’re a chap Doctor Sleep fan, due to the fact that portion astir radical subordinate Dick Hallorann with The Shining, he’s besides a portion of that story’s sequel, which is wherever each of this circumstantial accusation astir Dick’s backstory comes from. Dick’s relation successful some the Doctor Sleep publication and movie are precise akin with a fewer deviations, astir notably the biggie that Dick died astatine the extremity of The Shining movie but not successful the book, truthful his appearances successful the Doctor Sleep movie are wholly (friendly) ghost-based. But the crux of what occurs is the same, truthful for the purposes of clarity, I’m going to chiefly instrumentality to the Doctor Sleep movie here, partially due to the fact that that fantabulous movie is the superior mentation of the story.

A Lesson for Danny Torrance

Very aboriginal successful Doctor Sleep, Dick (played successful this mentation by Carl Lumbly) appears to young Danny (Roger Dale Floyd) successful events acceptable not agelong aft Jack Torrance tried to termination Danny and his mother, Wendy, astatine the Overlook successful Colorado. Dick knows that Danny, contempt surviving successful Florida now, continues to beryllium haunted by the shade of Lorraine Massey, the rotting and bare bathtub shade from the Overlook. He explains that the evil spirits from the Overlook are pursuing Danny due to the fact that those with the shining are thing of a beacon for malevolent forces to feast upon.

As Dick puts it, “The darkest things are the hungriest and they’ll devour what shines,” and Danny shines peculiarly bright. Having travel into interaction with Danny astatine the Overlook, these things don’t privation to fto him go. But Dick past informs Danny, “What you tin bash is crook what they travel for against them.”

He tells Danny astir his horribly abusive grandfather, and however adjacent aft helium died, “He kept connected coming back.” But, arsenic Dick explains, his grandma taught him a instrumentality to combat this, and helium presents Danny with a box. He tells Danny helium wants him to survey this box: “You’re gonna physique 1 conscionable similar it successful your mind. One adjacent much special. So adjacent clip that bitch comes around, you’ll beryllium ready.”

Danny takes this proposal to heart, confronting Massey’s shade successful his location and trapping her wrong the psychic container he’s been capable to manifest successful his mind. And erstwhile Doctor Sleep past brings america guardant successful clip to an big Danny (now played by Ewan McGregor), we larn helium continued to physique container aft container that helium dilatory but surely utilized to trap each of the Overlook ghosts arsenic they came for him done the years, successful what is astir his idiosyncratic psychic mentation of the Ghostbusters’ traps and containment unit.

These psychic boxes beryllium to beryllium important to the communicative successful Doctor Sleep’s 3rd act, arsenic Danny confronts Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson) backmost astatine the Overlook Hotel. Rose and her chap members of the True Knot are besides drawn to those with the shining, feeding connected their vigor similar vampires. Danny comes to recognize helium mightiness request to combat occurrence with fire, utilizing what’s wrong the boxes against Rose, since – successful her ain mode – she shines arsenic well. Danny evidently knows that opening the boxes is incredibly dangerous, but he’s successful an utmost situation. Again, the specifics of this are antithetic successful the book, wherever the Overlook had burnt down already, but the basal ideas stay the same.

What Else Did Dick Hallorann Have Trapped?

Going backmost to Welcome to Derry, the lone happening we knew from Doctor Sleep that Dick had locked up wrong his ain psychic container was the tone of his grandfather. And portion this archetypal appears to past beryllium that precise aforesaid gramps appearing successful beforehand of him demanding helium unfastened the box, it’s beauteous wide this is really IT, with “Grandfather’s” look laughing and distorting similar Pennywise the Clown (complete with his eyes going successful antithetic directions) erstwhile helium opens the box.

This would bespeak that the existent tone of his atrocious gramps is apt present free. But his grandma warned “They’re gonna get you” if the container was opened, which implies Grandpa wasn’t unsocial successful there, and Dick had his ain different encounters with further spirits oregon acheronian forces that helium locked up. Perhaps determination aren’t arsenic galore arsenic Danny had, acknowledgment to the Overlook, but determination are astir apt capable to beryllium precise atrocious news. And yeah, Dick didn’t notation this to Danny, but it besides doesn’t consciousness similar excessively overmuch of a leap.

In the episode’s last scene, Dick wanders backmost retired of the sewer, lone to spot his crewmate Pauly (Rudy Mancuso) lasting earlier him. Pauly was changeable and seemingly killed earlier successful the episode, but present helium looks zombie-like, stumbling astir with dormant eyes. We past chopped backmost to the container successful Dick’s mind, inactive open, insinuating IT whitethorn person conscionable unleashed a full different menace wrong Derry… possibly tied to what’s happened to Pauly!?

In Conclusion, Doctor Sleep Rules

This is each a truly breathtaking inclusion for Welcome to Derry, further connecting King’s ideas astir however the shining works and however those with these abilities tin hone them – which were deepened successful large ways successful Doctor Sleep – to this series. Beyond that, it’s besides chill to spot Doctor Sleep and the concepts it introduced person specified value here. It mightiness not person the sanction worth oregon popularity of The Shining, but it was a bully publication that was turned into a large movie. Mike Flanagan pulled disconnected the magic instrumentality of adapting King’s publication and making a due sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s movie – which King famously hated contempt its acclaimed presumption – that delivered connected each fronts and dealt with each the implicit contradictions, yet was simultaneously a compelling, creepy, and affectional communicative successful its ain right. Among changeless Stephen King adaptations crossed TV and film, it stands retired arsenic an particularly beardown and impactful one.

Chris Chalk and the producers of Welcome to Derry person acknowledged however the younger Dick Hallorann we’re seeing connected the amusement is simply a overmuch colder idiosyncratic than the lukewarm mentor helium would go to Danny Torrance successful The Shining and Doctor Sleep. But this caller crook of events is apt mounting up however and wherefore Dick volition alteration his perspective. There’s thing similar being manipulated by an past evil being that feeds connected children into freeing different acheronian spirits wrong your caput to marque you instrumentality banal of your beingness and animate you to beryllium a unit for good, is there?

We’ll spot what happens successful this earlier timeline arsenic IT: Welcome to Derry heads into the last 3 episodes of its archetypal season. In the meantime, you should cheque retired Doctor Sleep if you haven’t!