Don't Miss This Iconic Stephen King Film Before It: Welcome to Derry's Next Episode
The series It: Welcome to Derry is packed with connections to Stephen King's extensive universe of narratives. Beyond the clear links to the original story, the series showcases a direct link to The Shining through the cameo of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the story unfolds, Welcome to Derry is integrating another classic tale from King that deserves a revisit.
The Powerful Story of The Shawshank Redemption
While The Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as horror, particularly compared to a lot of King's other work, it is a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted individual sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a infamous penitentiary. It is that very institution that becomes important in this context, since Shawshank State Prison possesses considerable lore across King's stories — a pattern which persists in Welcome to Derry.
Some of the tales that reference the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Via these stories, we learn about the awful conditions inside the state penitentiary and several of those imprisoned there, including the boyfriend of a belonging to Pennywise's early victims, who had been convicted for robbery with a weapon.
So far, however, the most we've learned concerning Shawshank was through the eyes of the protagonist from Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. Andy winds up in Shawshank after his wrongful conviction, then experiences assaulted and raped by fellow inmates, while taken advantage of by the authority figures for his financial knowledge. It takes nearly three decades to dig his way out from Shawshank, prior to crawling "through a river of shit" to take back his freedom.
Shawshank's Role in Welcome to Derry
Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, viewers initially discovered about the prison's involvement from an initial preview for the series, where a prison bus was seen with the name displayed on its side. In episode 2, we learn who is likely headed to Shawshank.
Although we know he did not responsible for the murders of children in the first episode, the character Hank Grogan (played by 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 a jailed Hank, "Do you know what they do to child murderers in Shawshank?"
The Implications for Hank and His Daughter
Considering that the real killer in Derry is a primordial entity originating elsewhere preying on and killing kids, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence appear slim. Even should he does go in the prison and the audience do not see him inside, knowing what is known regarding Shawshank indicates that his time there would be far from pleasant.
Crucially, however, this situation could threaten his daughter. Hank is her protector. Terrible events are happening around Derry that nobody, child or adult, understands and Ronnie only has her new group circle of pals to rely on. She will require her father in the coming episodes, however should the prison system has any say, she could be without help.
A single fact seems clear: Hank lacks 28 years to dig his way out.
Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now on HBO Max. Additional installments air weekly on Sundays.
