🔗 Share this article Don't Miss This Legendary Stephen King Movie Prior to the Series' Next Episode The series It: Welcome to Derry is filled with connections to the author's wide-ranging library of stories. Beyond the obvious ties to the original story, the series also features an explicit link to King's famous novel through the appearance of a young future chef of the Overlook Hotel. Now, as the story unfolds, Welcome to Derry is weaving in another classic King story that deserves another look. The Powerful Tale of The Shawshank Redemption While Shawshank Redemption isn't typically classified as a horror film, especially compared to much of King's other writing, it is a haunting tale about an wrongfully convicted man sentenced to spend the rest of his life inside a infamous prison. And it's that very institution which is central in this context, as the Shawshank facility possesses considerable lore throughout King's fictional world — a pattern which persists within Welcome to Derry. Some of the tales which mention the prison include Dolores Claiborne, Needful Things, Apt Pupil, 11/22/63, and It. Via these narratives, we discover about the awful life inside Shawshank State Prison and several of the inmates there, such as the partner of a belonging to Pennywise's early victims, who had been convicted for robbery with a weapon. Thus far, however, the majority we have discovered about the prison was through the eyes of Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption, portrayed by Tim Robbins in that 1994 movie. Andy winds up in Shawshank after being wrongly convicted, and finds himself beaten and abused by fellow inmates, while taken advantage of by those in authority figures for his financial knowledge. He requires him 28 years to tunnel his way out of the prison, prior to crawling "through sewage" to reclaim his liberty. Shawshank's Appearance in It: Welcome to Derry In relation to It: Welcome to Derry, audiences first learned of Shawshank's involvement from an initial preview for the series, where a correctional transport appeared bearing the title displayed on its side. During the second episode, we learn which character is likely headed to the prison. Though it is known he was not commit the murders of children in the first episode, the character Hank Grogan (Stephen Rider), father of Ronnie (Amanda Christine), is arrested for those offenses. The preview for the next episode, "Now You See It," reveals a guard telling Hank in his cell, "Do you know what happens to kiddie killers at that prison?" The Consequences for Hank and His Daughter Considering that the real murderer in Derry is a primordial entity originating elsewhere preying on and murdering children, Hank's prospects of clearing his name appear slim. Even should he ends up to Shawshank and the audience do not see him there, knowing what we do regarding Shawshank makes it clear that his experience would be far from enjoyable. Crucially, however, this situation would endanger Ronnie. He acts as her protector. Terrible events are happening around Derry that nobody, young or old, comprehends and Ronnie just has her recently formed of friends to rely on. She's going to need her dad in the coming episodes, however should Shawshank has any say, she could be without help. One thing is apparent: Hank doesn’t have three decades to tunnel to freedom. It: Welcome to Derry the first two episodes are currently available on HBO Max. Additional installments are released each week on Sundays.