Don't Miss One Iconic Stephen King Cinematic Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Next Episode

HBO's It: Welcome to Derry is packed with connections to Stephen King's wide-ranging library of stories. Beyond the obvious links to the original story, the series includes an explicit link to King's famous novel through the appearance of the youthful future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the story unfolds, Welcome to Derry is integrating another beloved tale from King that deserves a revisit.

The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption

Although The Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as horror, especially in contrast with a lot of King's other work, it is a gripping tale of a innocently imprisoned man sentenced to live the rest of his life in a notorious penitentiary. And it's that very penitentiary that becomes important in this context, as Shawshank State Prison possesses considerable lore throughout King's fictional world — a tradition that continues in Welcome to Derry.

Among the stories which mention the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Via these stories, we discover about the terrible conditions inside the state penitentiary plus several of those imprisoned there, such as the partner of a belonging to Pennywise's early victims, who was convicted of armed robbery.

Thus far, though, the most we've learned concerning Shawshank was through the eyes of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in that 1994 film. Andy winds up at the prison after being wrongly convicted, and experiences assaulted and raped by other prisoners, and exploited by those in officials in power for his expertise in finance. He requires him 28 years to tunnel an escape route of the prison, prior to making his way "through a river of shit" to take back his freedom.

Shawshank's Role in It: Welcome to Derry

Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, audiences initially discovered about the prison's inclusion from an initial preview for the show, in which a prison bus was seen bearing the title 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 (Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. A teaser for episode 3, "Now You See It," shows a guard informing a jailed Hank, "Are you aware what they do to child murderers at that prison?"

The Consequences for Hank and Ronnie

Given that the actual killer in the town is an ancient power from another world hunting and murdering kids, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence do not look good. And even if he ends up to Shawshank and viewers do not see him there, understanding what is known about that prison makes it clear that his experience would be far from pleasant.

Crucially, though, this development would endanger Ronnie. He acts as her guardian. Horrible things are occurring in the town which no one, young or old, understands and Ronnie only has her recently formed circle of pals to depend on. She will require her dad in the coming episodes, but if Shawshank has any say, she could be without help.

One thing seems clear: 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. New episodes are released each week each Sunday.