You Should Watch This Iconic Stephen King Film Before the Series' Upcoming Installment
HBO's Welcome to Derry contains numerous connections to Stephen King's wide-ranging collection of tales. Beyond the obvious ties to the original story, the series includes a direct link to The Shining through the cameo of a young Dick Hallorann. Now, as the narrative progresses, Welcome to Derry is weaving in another beloved King story which merits a revisit.
The Haunting Story of The Shawshank Redemption
While The Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as horror, especially in contrast with a lot of the author's additional writing, it remains a haunting story about an innocently imprisoned individual condemned to live his remaining years inside a infamous prison. It is that very penitentiary that becomes central here, as the Shawshank facility holds considerable lore throughout King's stories — a tradition that continues within It: Welcome to Derry.
Among the tales that reference Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Via these stories, we discover about the awful life inside the state penitentiary and some of the inmates within, including the partner of a belonging to Pennywise's initial victims, who was found guilty of armed robbery.
Thus far, however, the majority we've learned concerning Shawshank has been via the perspective of the protagonist in The Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. Andy ends up at the prison after his wrongful conviction, and experiences assaulted and abused by other prisoners, and exploited by those in authority figures for his financial knowledge. It takes nearly three decades to dig an escape route from Shawshank, before making his way "through a river of shit" to reclaim his freedom.
Shawshank's Appearance in Welcome to Derry
Regarding the series, viewers initially discovered about the prison's inclusion via an early trailer for the series, where a prison bus appeared with the name displayed on its side. In episode 2, it is revealed which character is probably headed to the prison.
Though we know he was not commit the murders of children initially, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. A teaser for the next episode, "Now You See It," reveals an officer telling a jailed Hank, "Do you know what happens to kiddie killers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for the Character and Ronnie
Given that the real killer in the town is an ancient power from another world hunting and murdering kids, Hank's prospects of clearing his name appear slim. And even if he does go to Shawshank and the audience 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, though, this situation could threaten Ronnie. He acts as her guardian. Horrible things are occurring in the town which no one, child or adult, understands and she only has her new group of friends to rely on. She will require her dad in the coming episodes, but if the prison system has any say, she may be out of luck.
One thing is apparent: Hank doesn’t have three decades to dig to freedom.
It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are streaming now on HBO Max. Additional installments are released each week on Sundays.
