🔗 Share this article You Should Watch One Classic Stephen King Film Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment The series It: Welcome to Derry is filled with references to the author's wide-ranging library of stories. Apart from the clear links to the original story, the show showcases an explicit connection to The Shining via the appearance of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Now, as the narrative unfolds, Welcome to Derry is weaving in another classic King story which merits a revisit. The Haunting Tale of The Shawshank Redemption While Shawshank Redemption isn't typically considered horror, particularly compared to a lot of the author's additional work, it remains a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted individual condemned to live the rest of his life in a infamous penitentiary. It is that very institution that becomes central in this context, as the Shawshank facility possesses considerable lore throughout King's fictional world — a pattern which persists in Welcome to Derry. Among the tales which mention Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Via these narratives, we discover about the awful life at Shawshank State Prison and some of the inmates there, such as the partner of a of Pennywise's early targets, who was convicted for robbery with a weapon. Thus far, though, the most we have discovered about the prison was via the perspective of the protagonist from Shawshank Redemption, played by Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy ends up at the prison following his wrongful conviction, and finds himself assaulted and raped by fellow inmates, while taken advantage of by the authority figures for his expertise in finance. It takes him 28 years to dig an escape route from Shawshank, before crawling "through sewage" to take back his freedom. The Prison's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry Regarding the series, viewers initially discovered of Shawshank's involvement via an initial preview for the show, where a prison bus was seen bearing the title displayed on its side. In episode 2, we learn who is probably headed to the prison. Though we know he was not commit 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. A teaser for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," shows a guard telling Hank in his cell, "Are you aware what happens to kiddie killers at that prison?" The Implications for the Character and His Daughter Given that the real murderer in Derry is an ancient power from another world hunting and killing children, Hank's chances of clearing his name appear slim. Even should he does go to Shawshank and the audience don't follow him inside, understanding what is known about that prison makes it clear that his time there would not be pleasant. More importantly, however, this development would endanger his daughter. He acts as her protector. Horrible things are happening around Derry that nobody, child or adult, understands and Ronnie just has her recently formed of friends to depend on. She's going to need her father as the story progresses, however should Shawshank has any say, she may be without help. A single fact is apparent: Hank lacks three decades to dig to freedom. Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are streaming now via the streaming service. New episodes air weekly each Sunday.