Make Time For One Legendary Stephen King Movie Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment
The series It: Welcome to Derry is packed with references to Stephen King's extensive universe of narratives. Beyond the clear links to the original story, the series includes an explicit connection to The Shining via the cameo of the youthful future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Now, as the narrative unfolds, Welcome to Derry is integrating one more classic tale from King that deserves another look.
The Haunting Story of The Shawshank Redemption
While Shawshank Redemption may not be considered horror, particularly in contrast with much of King's other work, it remains a haunting tale of a wrongfully convicted individual condemned to live his remaining years in a infamous prison. And it's this specific institution that becomes important in this context, as Shawshank State Prison possesses significant history throughout King's fictional world — a tradition which persists within Welcome to Derry.
Among the tales that reference Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these stories, we discover about the terrible conditions inside Shawshank State Prison and some of those imprisoned there, such as the partner of one belonging to Pennywise's initial victims, who had been found guilty of armed robbery.
So far, however, the majority we have discovered about the prison was via the perspective of the protagonist from Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. Andy winds up at the prison after being wrongly convicted, and finds himself beaten and abused by other prisoners, and exploited by those in officials in power due to his financial knowledge. He requires him 28 years to dig an escape route of the prison, before crawling "through a river of shit" to reclaim his liberty.
Shawshank's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry
In relation to It: Welcome to Derry, viewers first learned about the prison's involvement via an initial preview for the show, in which a correctional transport appeared with the name painted on the side. During the second episode, it is revealed which character is likely headed to Shawshank.
Though it is known he was not responsible for the child deaths initially, Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. The preview for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," shows an officer telling a jailed Hank, "Are you aware what happens to kiddie killers in Shawshank?"
The Implications for the Character and His Daughter
Considering that the actual murderer in the town is a primordial entity originating elsewhere preying on and killing children, Hank's chances of proving his innocence do not look good. And even if he does go to Shawshank and viewers don't follow him inside, knowing what is known about that prison makes it clear that his time there would not be pleasant.
Crucially, however, this situation would endanger his daughter. Hank is her guardian. Horrible things are happening around Derry which no one, young or old, understands and she just has her new group circle of pals to rely on. She's going to need her father in the coming episodes, however should the prison system plays a role, she may be without help.
A single fact is apparent: Hank lacks three decades to tunnel his way out.
Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now on HBO Max. New episodes are released each week on Sundays.