You Should Watch This Legendary Stephen King Movie Prior to the Series' Upcoming Installment
HBO's Welcome to Derry contains numerous references to the author's vast universe of narratives. Beyond the obvious links to the original story, the show includes a direct connection to The Shining through the appearance of a young Dick Hallorann. Currently, as the story unfolds, 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 a horror film, particularly compared to a lot of the author's additional writing, it remains a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted man condemned to live his remaining years inside a notorious prison. It is that very penitentiary that becomes important here, as Shawshank State Prison holds considerable history throughout King's stories — a tradition which persists in Welcome to Derry.
Some of the tales which mention Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these stories, we learn regarding the terrible life at the state penitentiary and several of those imprisoned within, including the partner of a belonging to Pennywise's early targets, who had been found guilty of armed robbery.
Thus far, though, the majority we've learned about the prison was through the eyes of the protagonist from Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 movie. The character Andy ends up at the prison after being wrongly convicted, and finds himself assaulted and abused by fellow inmates, and exploited by the authority figures due to his expertise in finance. He requires him 28 years to dig an escape route of the prison, prior to crawling "through a river of shit" to reclaim his liberty.
The Prison's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry
Regarding the series, viewers first learned of Shawshank's involvement via an initial preview for the show, where a correctional transport was seen with the name painted on the side. In episode 2, it is revealed who is likely headed to the prison.
Although we know he was not responsible for the murders of children in the first episode, the character Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. The preview for the next episode, "the upcoming installment," shows an officer informing Hank in his cell, "Are you aware what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?"
The Implications for Hank and His Daughter
Considering that the actual murderer in the town is an ancient power from another world hunting and killing kids, Hank's prospects of clearing his name do not look good. And even if he ends up to Shawshank and the audience don't follow him there, understanding what we do about that prison makes it clear that his time there would be far from pleasant.
More importantly, however, this situation could threaten Ronnie. Hank is her guardian. Terrible events are occurring around Derry that nobody, child or adult, comprehends and Ronnie only has her new group circle of pals to rely on. She will require her father as the story progresses, however should Shawshank has any say, she may be out of luck.
One thing is apparent: Hank doesn’t have three decades to tunnel his way out.
It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now on HBO Max. Additional installments air weekly on Sundays.
