You Should Watch This Legendary Stephen King Cinematic Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment
The series It: Welcome to Derry contains numerous connections to Stephen King's extensive universe of narratives. Apart from the obvious ties to the original story, the series also features a direct link to King's famous novel via the cameo of the youthful Dick Hallorann. Now, as the story unfolds, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating one more beloved King story which merits another look.
The Haunting Story of The Shawshank Redemption
Although The Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as horror, especially compared to much of the author's additional work, it remains a gripping story of a wrongfully convicted individual condemned to spend his remaining years inside a infamous penitentiary. And it's this specific institution that becomes important in this context, since the Shawshank facility holds significant lore across King's fictional world — a pattern that continues in Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories that reference Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these stories, we discover regarding the terrible life inside the state penitentiary and some of the inmates within, including the boyfriend of one of Pennywise's initial victims, who had been found guilty of armed robbery.
Thus far, though, the most we've learned about the prison has been via the perspective of Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy winds up in Shawshank after his wrongful conviction, and experiences beaten and raped by other prisoners, while exploited by the officials in power due to his expertise in finance. It takes him 28 years to dig an escape route from Shawshank, before crawling "through sewage" to reclaim his freedom.
Shawshank's Appearance in Welcome to Derry
In relation to the series, viewers first learned of Shawshank's inclusion from an early trailer for the series, in which a correctional transport appeared with the name displayed on its side. During the second episode, it is revealed which character is likely headed to Shawshank.
Although we know he did not commit the child deaths initially, the character Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for the crimes. The preview for the next episode, "Now You See It," reveals a guard 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 actual murderer in the town is an ancient power originating elsewhere hunting and killing children, Hank's chances of clearing his name do not look good. And even if he does go in the prison and the audience do not see him inside, knowing what we do about that prison makes it clear that his experience would not be pleasant.
More importantly, however, this development would endanger his daughter. Hank is her protector. Horrible things are occurring in the town which no one, child or adult, comprehends and she only has her new group of friends to rely on. She's going to need her father in the coming episodes, but if Shawshank has any say, she could be without help.
A single fact seems clear: Hank doesn’t have three decades to tunnel to freedom.
It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are currently available via the streaming service. Additional installments are released each week each Sunday.
