🔗 Share this article Make Time For This Legendary Stephen King Film Before It: Welcome to Derry's Next Episode The series It: Welcome to Derry contains numerous nods to Stephen King's extensive collection of tales. Apart from the clear ties to the original story, the series includes an explicit connection to The Shining through the cameo of a young Dick Hallorann. Now, as the story progresses, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating another classic tale from King that deserves another look. The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption While Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, particularly compared to much of the author's additional writing, it remains a haunting tale of a wrongfully convicted man sentenced to live his remaining years inside a infamous prison. And it's that very penitentiary that becomes important here, since Shawshank State Prison holds considerable lore across King's stories — a pattern that continues within It: Welcome to Derry. Some of the tales that reference the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Via these narratives, we learn about the awful life inside Shawshank State Prison and some of the inmates there, such as the boyfriend of one belonging to Pennywise's early targets, who was found guilty for robbery with a weapon. Thus far, however, the majority we have discovered concerning Shawshank has been through the eyes of Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. The character Andy winds up at the prison following being wrongly convicted, then experiences beaten and abused by fellow inmates, and exploited by those in authority figures for his financial knowledge. It takes him 28 years to dig an escape route of the prison, prior to making his way "through a river of shit" to reclaim his liberty. The Prison's Role in It: Welcome to Derry Regarding the series, audiences first learned of Shawshank's inclusion via an early trailer for the series, in which a prison bus appeared with the name painted on the side. During the second episode, we learn which character is likely destined for Shawshank. Although it is known he was not responsible for the murders of children initially, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), dad to Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. A teaser for episode 3, "Now You See It," shows an officer informing a jailed Hank, "Do you know what they do to kiddie killers at that prison?" The Implications for Hank and His Daughter Given that the real killer in Derry is an ancient power originating elsewhere hunting and murdering children, Hank's chances of clearing his name do not look good. And even if he ends up in the prison and the audience do not see him inside, knowing what we do about that prison makes it clear that his time there would be far from pleasant. More importantly, though, this development would endanger his daughter. He acts as her protector. Terrible events are occurring around Derry which no one, young or old, comprehends and Ronnie just has her recently formed circle of pals to rely on. She will require her dad in the coming episodes, however should Shawshank has any say, she may be without help. A single fact is apparent: Hank lacks three decades to tunnel to freedom. Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are currently available via the streaming service. Additional installments air weekly each Sunday.