Don't Miss This Legendary Stephen King Movie Before It: Welcome to Derry's Next Episode
The series Welcome to Derry contains numerous connections to Stephen King's extensive universe of narratives. Beyond the obvious links to the original story, the show includes an explicit connection to The Shining through the appearance of a young Dick Hallorann. Now, as the narrative progresses, It: Welcome to Derry is weaving in another classic tale from King which merits another look.
The Powerful Story of The Shawshank Redemption
Although The Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, especially compared to a lot of King's other writing, it is a haunting tale of a wrongfully convicted man sentenced to live the rest of his life inside a infamous prison. It is that very penitentiary which is central in this context, as the Shawshank facility holds considerable lore throughout King's stories — a pattern which persists in Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories which mention the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these narratives, we learn regarding the terrible conditions inside Shawshank State Prison plus some of those imprisoned there, such as the partner of one belonging to Pennywise's initial targets, who had been convicted for robbery with a weapon.
Thus far, though, the most we have discovered concerning Shawshank has been via the perspective of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy ends up in Shawshank following being wrongly convicted, then experiences assaulted and abused by fellow inmates, while exploited by the authority figures due to his expertise in finance. It takes him 28 years to tunnel an escape route of the prison, prior to crawling "through sewage" to take back his liberty.
Shawshank's Role in It: Welcome to Derry
In relation to the series, audiences initially discovered of Shawshank's involvement via an initial preview for the series, where a prison bus was seen with the name painted on the side. In episode 2, we learn which character is likely headed to the prison.
Although it is known he did not responsible for the child deaths in the first episode, Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. A teaser for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," shows an officer informing a jailed Hank, "Do you know what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for Hank and Ronnie
Given that the actual murderer in Derry is a primordial entity originating elsewhere preying on and killing children, Hank's chances of proving his innocence appear slim. Even should he ends up in the prison and the audience don't follow him inside, knowing what is known about that prison indicates that his experience would be far from pleasant.
More importantly, though, this development could threaten his daughter. He acts as her guardian. Terrible events are happening in the town which no one, child or adult, understands and she just has her new group of friends to depend on. She's going to need her father as the story progresses, however should 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.
Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are streaming now on HBO Max. New episodes are released each week each Sunday.
