Don't Miss One Iconic Stephen King Film Before the Series' Next Episode
HBO's Welcome to Derry is filled with nods to the author's vast collection of tales. Beyond the obvious ties to the original story, the series also features an explicit connection to King's famous novel via the cameo of a young Dick Hallorann. Now, as the narrative unfolds, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating one more classic King story which merits another look.
The Powerful Story of The Shawshank Redemption
While Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as horror, particularly in contrast with a lot of King's other work, it is a haunting story about an wrongfully convicted individual condemned to live the rest of his life in a notorious penitentiary. And it's this specific penitentiary which is central in this context, as Shawshank State Prison possesses considerable history throughout King's stories — a pattern which persists in It: Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories which mention the prison include Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these stories, we discover regarding the awful life at Shawshank State Prison and several of the inmates within, such as the partner of one belonging to Pennywise's early victims, who had been convicted of armed robbery.
So far, however, the most we've learned concerning Shawshank has been through the perspective of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 movie. The character Andy ends up in Shawshank following being wrongly convicted, then experiences assaulted and abused by other prisoners, while taken advantage of by the officials in power for his expertise in finance. He requires him 28 years to tunnel an escape route of the prison, before crawling "through sewage" to take back his liberty.
Shawshank's Role in Welcome to Derry
In relation to It: Welcome to Derry, viewers initially discovered about the prison's involvement via an initial preview for the series, where a prison bus was seen with the name painted on the side. In episode 2, it is revealed who is likely destined for Shawshank.
Although we know he was not commit the murders of children in the first episode, the character Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. The preview for episode 3, "Now You See It," reveals an officer informing Hank in his cell, "Do you know what they do to child murderers at that prison?"
The Implications for the Character and His Daughter
Considering that the real murderer in the town is a primordial entity originating elsewhere preying on and murdering kids, Hank's prospects of clearing his name do not look good. Even should he does go in the prison and viewers don't follow him there, understanding what is known about that prison makes it clear that his experience would be far from pleasant.
More importantly, however, this development could threaten his daughter. He acts as her guardian. Terrible events are happening around Derry that nobody, young or old, comprehends and Ronnie just has her new group circle of pals to rely on. She will require her father as the story progresses, however should Shawshank plays a role, she could be out of luck.
One thing is apparent: Hank lacks three decades to tunnel his way out.
Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are currently available on HBO Max. New episodes are released each week on Sundays.
