You Should Watch This Legendary Stephen King Cinematic Before It: Welcome to Derry's Next Episode
HBO's Welcome to Derry contains numerous connections to Stephen King's wide-ranging universe of narratives. Beyond the obvious links to It, the show showcases a direct link to The Shining via the cameo of the youthful future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the narrative unfolds, Welcome to Derry is weaving in one more beloved tale from King which merits a revisit.
The Haunting Story of The Shawshank Redemption
Although The Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as a horror film, especially compared to a lot of the author's additional work, it remains a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted man condemned to live the rest of his life inside a notorious prison. It is that very institution that becomes important here, since the Shawshank facility possesses considerable lore across King's stories — a tradition which persists within It: Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories which mention the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Through these narratives, we learn regarding the terrible life inside Shawshank State Prison plus some of the inmates there, including the partner of one of Pennywise's early targets, who had been found guilty for robbery with a weapon.
Thus far, though, the majority we have discovered about the prison was via the eyes of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 movie. The character Andy winds up at the prison after being wrongly convicted, then finds himself assaulted and abused by fellow inmates, and taken advantage of by those in officials in power due to his expertise in finance. He requires him 28 years to tunnel an escape route of the prison, prior to making his way "through sewage" to reclaim his liberty.
Shawshank's Role in Welcome to Derry
In relation to It: Welcome to Derry, viewers first learned of Shawshank's involvement from an initial preview for the show, in which a prison bus was seen with the name painted on the side. During the second episode, it is revealed who is probably headed to Shawshank.
Although it is known he did not commit the murders of children in the first episode, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. The preview for the next episode, "Now You See It," reveals a guard telling a jailed Hank, "Do you know what happens to child murderers at that prison?"
The Consequences for the Character and His Daughter
Given that the real killer in the town is a primordial entity originating elsewhere hunting and killing children, Hank's prospects of clearing his name do not look good. And even if he ends up in the prison and the audience do not see him inside, knowing what we do about that prison makes it clear that his experience would be far from pleasant.
More importantly, though, this development could threaten Ronnie. He acts as her guardian. Terrible events are happening around Derry that nobody, young or old, understands and she only has her recently formed circle of pals to depend on. She will require her dad as the story progresses, but if the prison system plays a role, she could be without help.
One thing seems clear: Hank lacks three decades to tunnel to freedom.
It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are streaming now on HBO Max. Additional installments are released each week each Sunday.
