You Should Watch One Iconic Stephen King Cinematic Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment
HBO's Welcome to Derry contains numerous nods to the author's wide-ranging universe of narratives. Apart from the clear ties to the original story, the show also features an explicit link to The Shining via the cameo of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the story progresses, Welcome to Derry is weaving in another beloved tale from King that deserves a revisit.
The Powerful Story of The Shawshank Redemption
While The Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as horror, especially in contrast with much of the author's additional writing, it is a gripping tale of a wrongfully convicted individual condemned to live the rest of his life inside a infamous penitentiary. And it's this specific institution that becomes important in this context, since the Shawshank facility possesses considerable lore throughout King's fictional world — a pattern that continues within It: Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories that reference the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Via these stories, we discover about the awful conditions inside Shawshank State Prison plus several of the inmates there, such as the partner of a of Pennywise's early victims, who was convicted for robbery with a weapon.
Thus far, though, the most we have discovered concerning Shawshank was through the eyes of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, played by Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy ends up in Shawshank after being wrongly convicted, then finds himself assaulted and abused by fellow inmates, while taken advantage of by those in officials in power due to his financial knowledge. It takes nearly three decades to tunnel his way out of the prison, prior to making his way "through sewage" to reclaim his liberty.
Shawshank's Appearance in Welcome to Derry
Regarding the series, audiences initially discovered about the prison's inclusion via an early trailer for the show, where a correctional transport appeared with the name painted on the side. During the second episode, we learn who is probably headed to the prison.
Though we know he was not responsible for the murders of children initially, Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. The preview for the next episode, "the upcoming installment," reveals a guard informing a jailed Hank, "Do you know what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for the Character and Ronnie
Considering that the actual murderer in the town is an ancient power originating elsewhere hunting and murdering children, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence appear slim. And even if he does go to Shawshank and viewers do not see him inside, knowing what we do regarding Shawshank makes it clear that his experience would be far from pleasant.
More importantly, however, this situation would endanger Ronnie. Hank is her guardian. Terrible events are happening around Derry that nobody, young or old, understands and she just has her recently formed circle of pals to depend on. She's going to need her dad as the story progresses, however should the prison system plays a role, she may be out of luck.
A single fact seems clear: Hank doesn’t have three decades to dig his way out.
It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now on HBO Max. New episodes air weekly each Sunday.
