Don't Miss This Iconic Stephen King Movie Before It: Welcome to Derry's Next Episode
The series Welcome to Derry is filled with references to Stephen King's vast collection of tales. Apart from the clear links to the original story, the series also features a direct link to The Shining via the cameo of the youthful future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Now, as the narrative unfolds, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating one more classic tale from King that deserves a revisit.
The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption
While Shawshank Redemption isn't typically considered horror, particularly in contrast with much of King's other writing, it remains a gripping story of a innocently imprisoned individual sentenced to spend the rest of his life in a notorious prison. And it's that very institution that becomes important here, since Shawshank State Prison holds significant lore across King's fictional world — a tradition that continues in Welcome to Derry.
Among the stories that reference Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these stories, we discover about the awful life inside the state penitentiary and several of those imprisoned there, such as the boyfriend of one of Pennywise's early victims, who had been found guilty of armed robbery.
Thus far, however, the majority we have discovered concerning Shawshank was via the perspective of Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption, played by Tim Robbins in the 1994 movie. The character Andy ends up in Shawshank after being wrongly convicted, and finds himself assaulted and raped by fellow inmates, while exploited by those in officials in power for his financial knowledge. It takes him 28 years to dig his way out of the prison, prior to crawling "through sewage" to take back his liberty.
The Prison's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry
In relation to the series, viewers first learned of Shawshank's involvement from an initial preview for the show, where a correctional transport appeared bearing the title displayed on its side. During the second episode, it is revealed who is likely headed to the prison.
Although it is known he did not commit the murders of children initially, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. The preview for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," shows an officer telling a jailed Hank, "Do you know what happens to child murderers at that prison?"
The Consequences for the Character and Ronnie
Considering that the actual killer in Derry is a primordial entity originating elsewhere hunting and murdering children, Hank's prospects of clearing his name do not look good. Even should he does go in the prison and viewers don't follow him there, understanding what we do regarding Shawshank makes it clear that his time there would not be pleasant.
More importantly, however, this situation could threaten his daughter. Hank is her protector. Horrible things are occurring around Derry that nobody, young or old, understands and she just has her recently formed of friends to depend on. She's going to need her dad as the story progresses, but if the prison system plays a role, she may be out of luck.
A single fact is apparent: Hank doesn’t have 28 years to dig his way out.
Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are streaming now via the streaming service. Additional installments are released each week on Sundays.