🔗 Share this article You Should Watch This Classic Stephen King Cinematic Before the Series' Next Episode The series It: Welcome to Derry is packed with connections to Stephen King's wide-ranging collection of tales. Beyond the clear links to It, the show also features a direct link to King's famous novel through the appearance of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Now, as the story progresses, It: Welcome to Derry is weaving in another beloved tale from King which merits another look. The Powerful Story of The Shawshank Redemption While Shawshank Redemption may not be classified as a horror film, especially compared to a lot of King's other work, it remains a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted man sentenced to spend his remaining years inside a infamous penitentiary. It is this specific institution that becomes central in this context, since the Shawshank facility possesses significant history across King's stories — a tradition which persists in It: Welcome to Derry. Among the stories which mention the prison include Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Via these narratives, we discover about the terrible conditions inside Shawshank State Prison plus several of those imprisoned there, such as the boyfriend of one belonging to Pennywise's early targets, who was convicted for robbery with a weapon. So far, however, the most we've learned about the prison has been via the perspective of Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption, played by the actor Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. The character Andy winds up in Shawshank following his wrongful conviction, then experiences assaulted and raped by fellow inmates, and taken advantage of by those in officials in power for his financial knowledge. It takes him 28 years to dig his way out of the prison, prior to crawling "through sewage" to take back his freedom. Shawshank's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry In relation to It: Welcome to Derry, audiences initially discovered of Shawshank's inclusion from an early trailer for the show, in which a prison bus was seen with the name displayed on its side. In episode 2, it is revealed which character is likely destined for Shawshank. Although it is known 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. The preview for episode 3, "the upcoming installment," reveals a guard telling a jailed Hank, "Do you know what happens to child murderers in Shawshank?" The Consequences for Hank and Ronnie Given that the actual killer in the town is a primordial entity from another world preying on and murdering children, Hank's prospects of proving his innocence do not look good. Even should he ends up in the prison and viewers do not see him inside, knowing what is known about that prison indicates that his time there would not be enjoyable. More importantly, however, this situation would endanger Ronnie. Hank is her protector. Horrible things are occurring around Derry which no one, young or old, understands and Ronnie only has her new group of friends to rely on. She will require her dad as the story progresses, but if the prison system plays a role, she could be out of luck. One thing seems clear: Hank doesn’t have three decades to tunnel to freedom. It: Welcome to Derry episodes 1 and 2 are currently available via the streaming service. Additional installments are released each week on Sundays.