Don't Miss One Legendary Stephen King Movie Before the Series' Upcoming Installment
HBO's It: Welcome to Derry is packed with connections to Stephen King's extensive collection of tales. Beyond the obvious links to It, the series includes a direct link to King's famous novel through the cameo of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Now, as the narrative progresses, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating one more beloved tale from King that deserves another look.
The Powerful 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 work, it remains a haunting tale of a innocently imprisoned man sentenced to spend his remaining years in a notorious prison. It is that very penitentiary that becomes important in this context, as Shawshank State Prison holds considerable history across King's stories — a pattern which persists in It: 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 narratives, we discover about the terrible conditions at the state penitentiary and several of the inmates within, such as the partner of one belonging to Pennywise's initial targets, who had been found guilty for robbery with a weapon.
So far, however, the majority we have discovered about the prison was via the eyes of the protagonist from Shawshank Redemption, played by Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy winds up in Shawshank following being wrongly convicted, and finds himself beaten and abused by fellow inmates, while exploited by those in officials in power for his financial knowledge. He requires nearly three decades to dig his way out from Shawshank, before making his way "through a river of shit" to reclaim his freedom.
The Prison's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry
Regarding the series, viewers initially discovered about the prison's involvement from an initial preview for the series, where a prison bus appeared with the name painted on the side. During the second episode, we learn which character is probably destined for the prison.
Though we know he was not commit the child deaths initially, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. The preview for the next episode, "Now You See It," shows an officer telling Hank in his cell, "Are you aware what happens to kiddie killers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for Hank and Ronnie
Given that the real killer in Derry is a primordial entity originating elsewhere hunting and murdering children, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence appear slim. And even if he does go to Shawshank and the audience don't follow him there, knowing what we do regarding Shawshank indicates that his time there would be far from pleasant.
Crucially, though, this situation could threaten Ronnie. He acts as her protector. Horrible things are occurring around Derry which no one, young or old, understands and she only has her new group of friends to depend on. She will require her father in the coming episodes, but if the prison system plays a role, she could be out of luck.
A single fact seems clear: Hank lacks 28 years to tunnel his way out.
It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are currently available via the streaming service. New episodes air weekly on Sundays.
