Make Time For One Legendary Stephen King Film Before It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment
The series It: Welcome to Derry is packed with nods to Stephen King's extensive universe of narratives. Beyond the obvious ties to the original story, the series includes an explicit connection to The Shining via the appearance of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the narrative unfolds, It: Welcome to Derry is weaving in another classic King story that deserves a revisit.
The Haunting Tale of The Shawshank Redemption
While The Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, particularly compared to a lot of the author's additional writing, it is a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted individual condemned to live his remaining years inside a notorious penitentiary. And it's this specific institution which is central in this context, as Shawshank State Prison possesses significant lore throughout King's stories — a tradition which persists in Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories that reference Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Through these stories, we learn about the terrible conditions inside Shawshank State Prison plus several of the inmates within, such as the boyfriend of a of Pennywise's initial victims, who had been found guilty of armed robbery.
Thus far, however, the majority we have discovered concerning Shawshank was through the perspective of the protagonist from Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 movie. The character Andy ends up at the prison after his wrongful conviction, and experiences assaulted and abused by other prisoners, while taken advantage of by those in officials in power due to his financial knowledge. He requires nearly three decades to tunnel an escape route from Shawshank, prior to crawling "through a river of shit" to take back his freedom.
The Prison's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry
In relation to the series, audiences first learned about the prison's involvement via an initial preview for the show, where a correctional transport appeared bearing the title displayed on its side. During the second episode, it is revealed which character is probably headed to the prison.
Although we know he was not commit the murders of children initially, the character Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for the crimes. The preview for episode 3, "Now You See It," shows an officer telling Hank in his cell, "Do you know what they do to kiddie killers at that prison?"
The Implications for the Character and His Daughter
Given that the actual murderer in the town is a primordial entity from another world preying on and killing kids, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence appear slim. And even if he does go to Shawshank and viewers do not see him there, knowing what is known about that prison makes it clear that his experience would be far from enjoyable.
Crucially, however, this situation could threaten Ronnie. He acts as her protector. Horrible things are happening around Derry that nobody, young or old, understands and she just has her recently formed of friends to depend on. She's going to need her father as the story progresses, but if the prison system plays a role, she could be out of luck.
A single fact seems clear: Hank lacks 28 years to dig to freedom.
Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now via the streaming service. New episodes air weekly each Sunday.
