Make Time For One Legendary Stephen King Cinematic Before It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment
HBO's Welcome to Derry contains numerous references to Stephen King's vast universe of narratives. Apart from the clear ties to the original story, the show showcases an explicit connection to The Shining via the appearance of the youthful Dick Hallorann. Currently, as the narrative progresses, It: Welcome to Derry is weaving in one more beloved tale from King which merits a revisit.
The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption
Although The Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, particularly in contrast with a lot of King's other writing, it is a haunting story of a innocently imprisoned individual condemned to live his remaining years inside a infamous penitentiary. And it's that very penitentiary that becomes central here, as the Shawshank facility holds significant lore throughout King's stories — a pattern which persists in Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories that reference Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Via these stories, we learn regarding the terrible life inside the state penitentiary plus several of those imprisoned within, such as the boyfriend of one belonging to Pennywise's initial targets, who had been convicted of armed robbery.
Thus far, however, the most we've learned about the prison has been via the perspective of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy winds up at the prison after his wrongful conviction, then finds himself assaulted and abused by other prisoners, while exploited by those in authority figures due to his financial knowledge. He requires nearly three decades to dig an escape route from Shawshank, prior to crawling "through a river of shit" to take back his freedom.
Shawshank's Role in It: Welcome to Derry
Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, viewers first learned about the prison's involvement via an initial preview for the show, where a prison bus was seen bearing the title painted on the side. During the second episode, it is revealed who is probably headed to Shawshank.
Though it is known he was not commit the child deaths initially, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. A teaser for episode 3, "Now You See It," shows a guard telling a jailed Hank, "Do you know what they do to child murderers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for the Character and Ronnie
Given that the actual murderer in the town is a primordial entity originating elsewhere hunting and killing children, Hank's chances of clearing his name do not look good. Even should he ends up in the prison and the audience don't follow him inside, understanding what is known about that prison makes it clear that his experience would be far from enjoyable.
More importantly, though, this development would endanger Ronnie. He acts as her protector. Horrible things are happening around Derry that nobody, child or adult, understands and Ronnie just has her recently formed circle of pals to depend on. She's going to need her father in the coming episodes, however should the prison system has any say, she may be without help.
One thing seems clear: Hank doesn’t have three decades to tunnel to freedom.
It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are currently available via the streaming service. New episodes air weekly on Sundays.
