Don't Miss This Classic Stephen King Cinematic Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment
The series It: Welcome to Derry is filled with connections to Stephen King's vast collection of tales. Apart from the clear ties to It, the show showcases an explicit connection to King's famous novel via the appearance of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the narrative progresses, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating one more beloved King story which merits a revisit.
The Haunting Story of The Shawshank Redemption
Although The Shawshank Redemption isn't typically considered horror, particularly compared to a lot of the author's additional work, it is a gripping tale about an innocently imprisoned individual sentenced to spend the rest of his life inside a infamous penitentiary. It is this specific penitentiary which is important in this context, since the Shawshank facility possesses significant history across King's fictional world — a pattern that continues in It: Welcome to Derry.
Some of the tales that reference the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Via these narratives, we discover about the awful conditions inside the state penitentiary and some of those imprisoned there, including the partner of a belonging to Pennywise's early victims, who was convicted of armed robbery.
So far, though, the majority we have discovered about the prison has been via the perspective of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, played by Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy winds up in Shawshank following being wrongly convicted, then experiences assaulted and raped by other prisoners, while taken advantage of by those in officials in power for his expertise in finance. It takes him 28 years to tunnel his way out from Shawshank, prior to crawling "through a river of shit" to reclaim his liberty.
Shawshank's Appearance in Welcome to Derry
Regarding the series, viewers initially discovered of Shawshank's inclusion via an early trailer for the show, where a prison bus was seen bearing the title displayed on its side. In episode 2, it is revealed which character is probably headed to the prison.
Although we know he did not responsible for the murders of children initially, Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for the crimes. The preview for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," reveals an officer telling a jailed Hank, "Are you aware what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for Hank and Ronnie
Considering that the actual murderer in Derry is an ancient power from another world preying on and killing kids, Hank's chances of clearing his name do not look good. Even should he does go to Shawshank and viewers do not see him inside, knowing what is known about that prison indicates that his experience would be far from enjoyable.
More importantly, though, this situation would endanger Ronnie. Hank is her guardian. Horrible things are occurring in the town that nobody, young or old, comprehends and Ronnie just has her recently formed of friends to rely on. She will require her father in the coming episodes, however should Shawshank has any say, she may be without help.
One thing seems clear: Hank doesn’t have three decades to tunnel his way out.
It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are currently available via the streaming service. Additional installments air weekly each Sunday.
