Don't Miss This Classic Stephen King Movie Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment
HBO's It: Welcome to Derry is packed with references to the author's vast library of stories. Beyond the clear ties to It, the series showcases an explicit link to The Shining via the cameo of a young Dick Hallorann. Currently, as the narrative progresses, Welcome to Derry is integrating another beloved King story which merits a revisit.
The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption
While The Shawshank Redemption may not be considered horror, especially in contrast with much of the author's additional work, it is a gripping story about an wrongfully convicted individual sentenced to spend his remaining years in a infamous penitentiary. It is this specific penitentiary which is central here, since the Shawshank facility possesses significant history throughout King's fictional world — a pattern that continues within It: Welcome to Derry.
Some of the tales that reference Shawshank include Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Through these narratives, we discover about the awful conditions at Shawshank State Prison and some of the inmates within, such as the boyfriend of a of Pennywise's early victims, who was found guilty of armed robbery.
Thus far, though, the most we've learned about the prison has been via the perspective of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, played by Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. Andy ends up at the prison after being wrongly convicted, and finds himself beaten and abused by other prisoners, while exploited by those in authority figures for his financial knowledge. It takes nearly three decades to tunnel an escape route of the prison, prior to crawling "through sewage" to reclaim his liberty.
Shawshank's Role in Welcome to Derry
Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, viewers first learned about the prison's involvement from an initial preview for the series, where a prison bus appeared bearing the title painted on the side. During the second episode, it is revealed which character is probably headed to Shawshank.
Though we know he was not commit the child deaths initially, the character Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for the crimes. The preview for the next episode, "Now You See It," reveals an officer telling a jailed Hank, "Are you aware what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for the Character and Ronnie
Considering that the actual murderer in Derry is a primordial entity originating elsewhere hunting and murdering children, Hank's prospects of clearing his name do not look good. And even if he does go in the prison and the audience do not see him there, knowing what we do regarding Shawshank indicates that his time there would be far from enjoyable.
Crucially, however, this situation could threaten his daughter. He acts as her guardian. Horrible things are occurring around Derry which no one, child or adult, understands and Ronnie only has her recently formed of friends to rely on. She will require her dad as the story progresses, however should Shawshank has any say, she may be out of luck.
A single fact seems clear: Hank doesn’t have three decades to dig his way out.
It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are currently available via the streaming service. New episodes are released each week each Sunday.
