Make Time For This Classic Stephen King Film Prior to the Series' Next Episode
The series It: Welcome to Derry is packed with nods to Stephen King's vast universe of narratives. Apart from the clear ties to It, the show showcases an explicit connection to The Shining through the appearance of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the narrative unfolds, Welcome to Derry is integrating another classic King story which merits another look.
The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption
While The Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as horror, particularly compared to much of the author's additional writing, it remains a haunting story of a innocently imprisoned individual sentenced to live the rest of his life in a infamous prison. And it's this specific institution which is central here, as the Shawshank facility holds considerable history throughout King's stories — a tradition which persists in It: Welcome to Derry.
Some of the tales which mention Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Through these narratives, we discover about the terrible conditions inside Shawshank State Prison plus several of the inmates there, including the partner of one belonging to Pennywise's early victims, who had been found guilty for robbery with a weapon.
Thus far, however, the most we've learned concerning Shawshank has been via the eyes of the protagonist from Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by the actor Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. Andy winds up in Shawshank following being wrongly convicted, and experiences assaulted and abused by fellow inmates, and taken advantage of by those in authority figures due to his financial knowledge. It takes him 28 years to dig his way out of the prison, before crawling "through sewage" to take back his freedom.
Shawshank's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry
Regarding the series, viewers initially discovered about the prison's involvement via an initial preview for the series, where a prison bus appeared with the name painted on the side. During the second episode, we learn who is likely headed to Shawshank.
Although we know he was not responsible for the murders of children in the first episode, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for the crimes. The preview for the next episode, "the upcoming installment," shows an officer informing Hank in his cell, "Are you aware what they do to kiddie killers in Shawshank?"
The Consequences for the Character and His Daughter
Considering that the actual killer in the town is an ancient power from another world hunting and killing children, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence do not look good. Even should he ends up to Shawshank and viewers do not see him there, understanding what we do about that prison indicates that his experience would be far from pleasant.
More importantly, however, this development could threaten Ronnie. He acts as her guardian. Terrible events are occurring around Derry which no one, child or adult, understands and she just has her recently formed circle of pals to rely on. She will require her dad as the story progresses, but if 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.
It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now via the streaming service. Additional installments air weekly on Sundays.