The Shawshank Redemption · written by Frank Darabont · 1994

In the storm, Andy breaks out of the sewer and washes into the creek.

Scene 206 of 249 · ≈ 1 min on screen · Act three

Five-Act Structure: Climax
Red

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:41 into a 1:57 film

The story so farBefore scene 206

After a banker is wrongly imprisoned for murder, he uses patience, expertise, and friendship to survive Shawshank and build a path to freedom.

Scenes 1–8
Andy’s former life and conviction frame a banker whose apparent control has vanished.
Scenes 9–10
Inside prison, Andy needs a way to survive without surrendering the inner self he is trying to protect.
Scenes 11–30
Andy enters Shawshank and confronts its violence, hierarchy, and rules.
Scenes 31–154
He adapts through Red’s help, builds the library, and slowly earns trust while preparing for freedom.
Scenes 155–156
Tommy reveals that another inmate confessed to the murders, offering Andy a route to prove his innocence.
Scenes 157–166
Norton refuses to help and has Tommy killed, costing Andy the legal hope he had found.
Scene 176
The morning count reveals Andy is gone, confirming that the hidden plan worked.
Just before
Scene 203
Andy squeezes through the shaft, nearly falling when a rat darts at him.
Scene 204
Andy enters the cramped sewer pipe and crawls toward its outlet.
Scene 205
In the storm, Andy breaks out of the sewer and washes into the creek.
Scene 206
This scene

206EXT -- FIELD -- NIGHT (1966)

Rain is falling in solid sheets. Shawshank is half a mile distant. BOOM DOWN to reveal the creek...and PUSH IN toward the mouth of the sewer pipe that feeds into it.

RED (V.O.)

Five hundred yards. The length of

five football fields. Just shy of

half a mile.

Fingers appear, thrusting through the heavy-gauge wire mesh covering the mouth of the pipe. Andy's face looms from the darkness, peering out at freedom. He wrenches the mesh loose, pushes himself out, and plunges head-first into the creek. He comes up sputtering for breath. The water is waist-deep. He wades upstream, ripping his clothes from his body. He gets his shirt off, spins it through the air over his head, flings the shirt away. He raises his arms to the sky, turning slowly, feeling the rain washing him clean. Exultant. Triumphant. A FLASH OF LIGHTNING arcs from horizon to horizon.