You Should Watch This Legendary Stephen King Movie Prior to It: Welcome to Derry's Upcoming Installment

The series Welcome to Derry is filled with nods to Stephen King's vast collection of tales. Beyond the clear links to It, the series showcases an explicit link to The Shining via the cameo of a young Dick Hallorann. Now, as the narrative progresses, Welcome to Derry is integrating one more beloved King story which merits a revisit.

The Haunting Story of The Shawshank Redemption

While Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as horror, particularly compared to much of the author's additional writing, it remains a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted individual sentenced to live the rest of his life in a infamous prison. It is this specific institution which is important here, since Shawshank State Prison possesses significant history throughout King's fictional world — a pattern that continues in Welcome to Derry.

Among the stories that reference Shawshank include Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Via these stories, we discover regarding the awful life at the state penitentiary plus several of the inmates within, such as the partner of a of Pennywise's initial victims, who was found guilty for robbery with a weapon.

Thus far, though, the majority we've learned concerning Shawshank has been via the eyes of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in that 1994 film. The character Andy winds up in Shawshank following his wrongful conviction, then experiences assaulted and raped by fellow inmates, while taken advantage of by those in authority figures due to his expertise in finance. It takes nearly three decades to tunnel an escape route of the prison, prior to crawling "through a river of shit" to take back his freedom.

The Prison's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry

In relation to the series, viewers first learned about the prison's involvement via an early trailer for the show, where a prison bus appeared bearing the title displayed on its side. In episode 2, it is revealed which character is probably headed to the prison.

Though we know he was not commit the child deaths in the first episode, Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), gets taken into custody for those offenses. A teaser for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," shows a guard telling a jailed Hank, "Do you know what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?"

The Implications for Hank and His Daughter

Given that the real murderer in Derry is a primordial entity from another world preying on and killing children, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence do not look good. And even if he does go to Shawshank and the audience don't follow him there, understanding what is known about that prison indicates that his time there would be far from enjoyable.

Crucially, though, this development could threaten his daughter. Hank is her protector. Horrible things are occurring in the town that nobody, young or old, understands and she just has her new group of friends to rely on. She's going to need her dad as the story progresses, however should Shawshank plays a role, she could be out of luck.

A single fact is apparent: Hank lacks 28 years to dig his way out.

Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are currently available via the streaming service. Additional installments air weekly each Sunday.