You Should Watch This Legendary Stephen King Film Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Next Episode
HBO's Welcome to Derry is packed with references to Stephen King's wide-ranging universe of narratives. Apart from the obvious links to the original story, the show includes an explicit link to King's famous novel through the appearance of the youthful future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the narrative unfolds, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating another classic tale from King which merits another look.
The Haunting Tale of The Shawshank Redemption
Although Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, especially in contrast with a lot of the author's additional work, it is a haunting story of a innocently imprisoned individual condemned to spend the rest of his life inside a infamous penitentiary. And it's this specific penitentiary that becomes central here, since the Shawshank facility possesses considerable lore throughout King's stories — a tradition that continues within Welcome to Derry.
Among the tales which mention Shawshank include Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these narratives, we learn regarding the awful life inside the state penitentiary and several of the inmates there, such as the partner of a belonging to Pennywise's initial victims, who was convicted for robbery with a weapon.
So far, however, the majority we have discovered concerning Shawshank has been via the eyes of the protagonist in The Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by the actor Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. Andy ends up at the prison following being wrongly convicted, and experiences beaten and raped by other prisoners, while exploited by the officials in power for his expertise in finance. He requires nearly three decades to dig an escape route from Shawshank, before crawling "through a river of shit" to take back his liberty.
The Prison's Role in It: Welcome to Derry
In relation to It: Welcome to Derry, audiences first learned about the prison's involvement via an initial preview for the show, where a prison bus was seen with the name displayed on its side. During the second episode, it is revealed who is probably destined for Shawshank.
Though we know he did not responsible for the child deaths in the first episode, the character Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. The preview for episode 3, "Now You See It," shows a guard informing a jailed Hank, "Are you aware what they do to kiddie killers at that prison?"
The Consequences for the Character and Ronnie
Considering that the real killer in the town is an ancient power from another world preying on and murdering children, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence do not look good. And even if he does go to Shawshank and the audience do not see him inside, understanding what is known about that prison indicates that his time there would be far from enjoyable.
More importantly, though, this situation could threaten Ronnie. He acts as her guardian. Terrible events are happening in the town that nobody, child or adult, comprehends and Ronnie only has her new group circle of pals to rely on. She's going to need her father as the story progresses, however should the prison system plays a role, she could be without help.
One thing is apparent: Hank doesn’t have 28 years to dig his way out.
It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are currently available via the streaming service. Additional installments are released each week each Sunday.
