🔗 Share this article Don't Miss One Classic Stephen King Film Before the Series' Upcoming Installment The series It: Welcome to Derry contains numerous nods to the author's vast collection of tales. Beyond the clear links to the original story, the show showcases an explicit link to The Shining through the appearance of the youthful Dick Hallorann. Now, as the narrative unfolds, Welcome to Derry is weaving in one more beloved tale from King that deserves another look. The Powerful Story of The Shawshank Redemption While The Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, especially compared to a lot of King's other writing, it remains a haunting tale of a innocently imprisoned individual sentenced to spend his remaining years inside a infamous penitentiary. And it's this specific penitentiary which is central in this context, since the Shawshank facility possesses considerable history across King's stories — a tradition which persists in It: Welcome to Derry. Among the tales that reference Shawshank are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, as well as It. Through these stories, we discover about the awful conditions inside the state penitentiary and some of the inmates within, including the partner of one of Pennywise's initial victims, who was convicted for robbery with a weapon. Thus far, however, the majority we have discovered concerning Shawshank was through the eyes of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by the actor Tim Robbins in that 1994 film. The character Andy ends up at the prison after his wrongful conviction, then finds himself assaulted and raped by other prisoners, while taken advantage of by those in authority figures for his expertise in finance. It takes nearly three decades to tunnel an escape route of the prison, before crawling "through a river of shit" to reclaim his freedom. Shawshank's Role in It: Welcome to Derry Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, audiences initially discovered of Shawshank's involvement from an initial preview 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 the prison. Although it is known he was not commit the murders of children initially, Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. The preview for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," shows a guard telling a jailed Hank, "Are you aware what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?" The Consequences for Hank and His Daughter Considering that the real killer in the town is a primordial entity originating elsewhere preying on and murdering kids, Hank's chances of proving his innocence do not look good. Even should he ends up to Shawshank and viewers don't follow him there, knowing what we do regarding Shawshank makes it clear that his experience would not be enjoyable. Crucially, however, this development would endanger his daughter. Hank is her protector. Horrible things are occurring in the town which no one, young or old, comprehends and she just has her new group circle of pals to depend on. She will require her father in the coming episodes, however should the prison system plays a role, she could be out of luck. A single fact is apparent: Hank doesn’t have three decades to dig to freedom. It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are currently available via the streaming service. Additional installments are released each week each Sunday.