>>211711321
To be fair, the episode isn't really about the kid's powers at all, but about the terror the kid's mere existence inflicts upon the town. Mentally and emotionally he's an ordinary kid who just happens to have these strange god-like powers, which is the problem, he's far too immature to handle power like that responsibly. When he doesn't get his way or something he doesn't like goes on, he makes it go away, like any child would if they had the ability to do so. Also throughout the episode it's implied that nearly everyone/everything he wishes away into the cornfield has repeatedly upset him before he decided to do something about it, so he's not necessarily some tyrannical maniac who automatically punishes everyone for every little slight, which is why he only wished the guy away at the end of the episode when he freaked out on the kid, the kid had had enough and decided he wanted him gone. Although he does threaten everyone to wish them away if they think bad thoughts about him too, he likely doesn't actually realize that everyone is terrified of him and only acts nice to him because they don't want to die, he's just a kid who wants to be happy, and just happens to have strange powers that nobody can do anything about. His powers are never fully explained because, again, the story isn't about his powers, it's about the effect that him having these powers has on the people around him. Trying to do a full breakdown of his powers is pointless, I'd say if the writers implied he can read thoughts then that's what he can do, it's not about his actual ability to read thoughts, it's about how the rest of the town reacts to knowing, or believing, that even one wrong thought can get them killed.
