You Should Watch This Classic Stephen King Film Before the Series' Upcoming Installment

The series Welcome to Derry is packed with references to Stephen King's wide-ranging library of stories. Apart from the clear links to It, the show also features an explicit link to King's famous novel via the appearance of a young Dick Hallorann. Currently, as the narrative unfolds, Welcome to Derry is integrating another classic King story that deserves a revisit.

The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption

Although The Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, particularly compared to a lot of the author's additional work, it is a gripping story about an wrongfully convicted man condemned to live his remaining years in a notorious penitentiary. It is this specific institution that becomes important here, as the Shawshank facility possesses considerable lore across King's fictional world — a pattern which persists in Welcome to Derry.

Some of the tales which mention the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Via these stories, we learn about the awful life at Shawshank State Prison and several of the inmates within, including the boyfriend of one of Pennywise's early targets, who had been found guilty for robbery with a weapon.

Thus far, though, the most we've learned about the prison was through the eyes of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. Andy winds up in Shawshank after being wrongly convicted, then finds himself beaten and abused by other prisoners, and taken advantage of by those in authority figures for his expertise in finance. It takes him 28 years to dig an escape route of the prison, before crawling "through a river of shit" to take back his freedom.

Shawshank's Role in It: Welcome to Derry

Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, viewers initially discovered about the prison's inclusion via an early trailer for the show, in which a prison bus was seen with the name displayed on its side. During the second episode, we learn which character is probably destined for Shawshank.

Though we know he did not commit the child deaths in the first episode, Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for the crimes. The preview for episode 3, "Now You See It," shows a guard telling Hank in his cell, "Are you aware what happens to child murderers at that prison?"

The Implications for Hank and His Daughter

Considering that the actual killer in Derry is an ancient power from another world hunting and murdering kids, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence do not look good. Even should he does go to Shawshank and viewers do not see him inside, knowing what is known about that prison indicates that his experience would not be enjoyable.

Crucially, however, this situation would endanger his daughter. Hank is her protector. Terrible events are occurring around Derry which no one, child or adult, understands and she only has her new group of friends to depend on. She will require her dad in the coming episodes, but if Shawshank has any say, she could be out of luck.

A single fact is apparent: Hank doesn’t have 28 years to tunnel to freedom.

It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now via the streaming service. New episodes are released each week each Sunday.