Make Time For One Iconic Stephen King Movie Before the Series' Upcoming Installment
The series Welcome to Derry is filled with connections to the author's extensive universe of narratives. Apart from the obvious ties to It, the series showcases an explicit link to King's famous novel via the appearance of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the story unfolds, It: Welcome to Derry is weaving in one more beloved tale from King that deserves a revisit.
The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption
While Shawshank Redemption may not be considered a horror film, especially in contrast with much of the author's additional work, it is a haunting story about an wrongfully convicted individual condemned to spend the rest of his life in a notorious prison. It is this specific penitentiary that becomes important here, as Shawshank State Prison holds considerable lore across King's stories — a pattern which persists in 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. Via these narratives, we discover regarding the terrible life inside the state penitentiary plus some of those imprisoned there, such as the partner of a of Pennywise's initial victims, who had been found guilty for robbery with a weapon.
Thus far, however, the majority we have discovered about the prison has been via the perspective of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. The character Andy ends up in Shawshank following his wrongful conviction, and experiences assaulted and raped by fellow inmates, and exploited by those in authority figures due to his financial knowledge. He requires him 28 years to tunnel an escape route from Shawshank, prior to crawling "through sewage" to take back his liberty.
The Prison's Appearance in Welcome to Derry
In relation to the series, viewers initially discovered of Shawshank's involvement from an early trailer for the series, in which a prison bus was seen bearing the title painted on the side. During the second episode, it is revealed who is probably headed to the prison.
Although we know he did not commit the child deaths in the first episode, Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. The preview for the next episode, "the upcoming installment," reveals an officer informing a jailed Hank, "Do you know what they do to kiddie killers at that prison?"
The Implications for the Character and Ronnie
Given that the actual murderer in the town is an ancient power from another world hunting and killing kids, Hank's chances of clearing his name appear slim. And even if he ends up in the prison and viewers don't follow him inside, knowing what is known about that prison makes it clear that his time there would be far from pleasant.
More importantly, however, this situation would endanger Ronnie. He acts as her guardian. Horrible things are occurring in the town that nobody, young or old, understands and she only has her recently formed of friends to rely on. She's going to need her father as the story progresses, however should Shawshank plays a role, she may be out of luck.
A single fact seems clear: Hank doesn’t have three decades to dig to freedom.
Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are streaming now on HBO Max. Additional installments are released each week each Sunday.
