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

The series It: Welcome to Derry is packed with nods to Stephen King's wide-ranging library of stories. Beyond the clear links to the original story, the show includes an explicit link to King's famous novel through the appearance of a young Dick Hallorann. Now, as the narrative unfolds, Welcome to Derry is weaving in another beloved tale from King that deserves a revisit.

The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption

While The Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as horror, especially in contrast with much of King's other work, it is a gripping story of a wrongfully convicted man sentenced to spend the rest of his life inside a infamous penitentiary. And it's this specific institution that becomes important in this context, since the Shawshank facility possesses considerable lore across King's stories — a pattern which persists in It: Welcome to Derry.

Among the tales which mention the prison include Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Through these narratives, we learn about the terrible life at Shawshank State Prison and some of the inmates there, such as the boyfriend of one of Pennywise's early victims, who had been found guilty of armed robbery.

Thus far, however, the majority we have discovered concerning Shawshank has been via the eyes of Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by Tim Robbins in the 1994 film. Andy ends up at the prison after his wrongful conviction, and experiences beaten and raped by fellow inmates, while taken advantage of by those in authority figures due to his financial knowledge. It takes nearly three decades to dig his way out from Shawshank, before crawling "through sewage" to take back his freedom.

The Prison's Role in Welcome to Derry

Regarding It: Welcome to Derry, audiences first learned of Shawshank's inclusion from an initial preview for the series, in which a prison bus appeared with the name painted on the side. In episode 2, it is revealed who is likely headed to the prison.

Though it is known he was not commit the murders of children initially, the character Hank Grogan (played by Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for the crimes. The preview for the next episode, "the upcoming installment," shows a guard telling Hank in his cell, "Are you aware what they do to kiddie killers at that prison?"

The Implications for Hank and Ronnie

Given that the real killer in Derry is an ancient power from another world hunting and murdering children, Hank's prospects of clearing his name do not look good. And even if he does go in the prison and viewers don't follow him there, knowing what is known about that prison makes it clear that his time there would be far from pleasant.

More importantly, however, this development could threaten Ronnie. Hank is her guardian. Horrible things are occurring in the town which no one, young or old, understands and Ronnie just has her new group of friends to rely on. She's going to need her dad as the story progresses, however should the prison system has any say, she could be out of luck.

One thing seems clear: Hank lacks 28 years to tunnel his way out.

It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are currently available on HBO Max. Additional installments are released each week on Sundays.