🔗 Share this article

The series Welcome to Derry is packed with connections to Stephen King's vast collection of tales. Apart from the obvious ties to It, the show also features an explicit connection to The Shining through the cameo of the youthful future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Currently, as the narrative unfolds, It: Welcome to Derry is integrating one more classic King story which merits a revisit.

The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption

While Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as horror, particularly compared to much of the author's additional work, it is a gripping story about an wrongfully convicted man condemned to spend the rest of his life inside a infamous penitentiary. And it's that very institution that becomes important in this context, as the Shawshank facility holds significant lore across King's stories — a pattern which persists within It: Welcome to Derry.

Some of the stories that reference the prison are Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Via these narratives, we discover regarding the awful life at Shawshank State Prison and several of the inmates within, such as the partner of one belonging to Pennywise's initial victims, who was found guilty of armed robbery.

So far, however, the most we've learned concerning Shawshank was via the eyes of Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Redemption, played by Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. Andy ends up in Shawshank after his wrongful conviction, and finds himself beaten and abused by other prisoners, while exploited by the authority figures for his financial knowledge. He requires him 28 years to tunnel an escape route from Shawshank, prior to crawling "through sewage" to reclaim his liberty.

Shawshank's Role in Welcome to Derry

Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, audiences first learned of Shawshank's inclusion from an early trailer for the series, in which a prison bus was seen with the name displayed on its side. In episode 2, it is revealed which character is probably headed to Shawshank.

Although it is known he was not commit the child deaths 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 the next episode, "the upcoming installment," shows a guard telling a jailed Hank, "Are you aware what happens to kiddie killers at that prison?"

The Consequences for the Character and His Daughter

Given that the actual killer in the town is an ancient power from another world hunting and murdering children, Hank's chances of proving his innocence appear slim. And even if he ends up to Shawshank and viewers do not see him inside, knowing what is known regarding Shawshank makes it clear that his time there would be far from pleasant.

More importantly, however, this situation could threaten his daughter. Hank is her guardian. Terrible events are happening around Derry which no one, child or adult, understands and she just has her recently formed of friends to depend on. She will require her father in the coming episodes, but if the prison system has any say, she could be out of luck.

One thing is apparent: Hank doesn’t have 28 years to tunnel to freedom.

---

Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are streaming now via the streaming service. New episodes are released each week on Sundays.