With the first season of Widow’s Bay now in the rear view, A.V. Club senior TV editor Erik Adams and TV critic Saloni Gajjar reflect on their time in “the next Martha’s Vineyard” and look forward to all the laughs and chills that await them when the Apple TV series returns for season two.
Erik Adams: I knew Widow’s Bay was my kind of TV the moment I laid eyes on it. Hard jokes, spooky atmosphere, visual panache to spare, created by Katie Dippold, starring Matthew Rhys, co-starring Stephen Root, minor role for Toby Huss—I was in the bag and only burrowed deeper as the first season progressed. What really surprised me is that it turned out to be so many other people’s kind of TV, too. I suppose Severance set the precedent for an Apple TV show this handsomely shot and sincerely strange to grow into a sleeper hit, but I was clearly underestimating the viewing public’s thirst for horror-comedy. Sure it’s no Stranger Things-sized hit, or even an Off Campus-level phenomenon, but it’s still been exciting every time someone has told me “Oh, I started Widow’s Bay and it’s as good as you said,” the past 10 weeks.
And so I’m eager to see where that conversation goes from here, now that a few—but not all—of the island’s secrets have been revealed. There’s some wonderful tension to the season finale, “We Hope You Enjoyed Your Time!,” and a real darkly comedic undercurrent, what with the way Rhys squirms through the grim duty of lifting a town-wide curse by murdering a sweet old lady (or so he thinks), and those too-cheerful, Scarfolk-coded industrial films laying out the true purpose of the storm shelter.
Saloni, how did you feel about the way the finale brought this first chapter of the Widow’s Bay saga to a close?
Saloni Gajjar: Yeah, like you, I was sold on the show immediately because of the pedigree of the people involved. I’m glad they haven’t let us down so far, including in a finale that satisfactorily closes a chapter while setting the stage for more mysteries (and sacrifices!)—all while sticking to the now signature creepy, charming humor. (I’ve been thinking about Ruth saying how her ex turned into an animal after being bitten by it, which I hope season two brings to life in a flashback somehow.)
One of my favorite parts of Widow’s Bay, though, is how the writers weave monster-of-the-week tales into an overarching plot so seamlessly: The sea hag or killer clown experiences gradually turn Tom into a believer, the Patricia-centric half-hours shed light on how the town has actually been struggling to move on from tragedies, and a couple of episodes dedicated to a buried-alive founder enlighten us about this cursed island’s past. So I liked that season one’s finale is less about what creature might come to the surface, and more about how Tom and everyone else grapple with the recent events internally. It felt like a quieter, more ruminative, necessary—although in no way less funny—way to wrap up the plot just enough.
What did you think, and were you expecting Ruth to reveal that she’s Lauren’s mom and Evan’s grandmom? I did see it coming because it makes Tom’s predicament a thousand times worse, but even while taking the predictable route, Widow’s Bay has so much fun with it, so I didn’t mind.
Photo: Apple TV
Erik: Here’s the thing about that reveal: I appreciate the way it ties some things together, like why Ruth would be so willing to watch after Evan on a regular basis. (While we’re talking about nonchalant K Callan line readings that the finale has the confidence not to underline: Her delivery of the bit about the rope ladder in Evan’s room killed me.) And I can respect it from a long-term storytelling angle, because not only does it complicate Tom’s arc, it also opens the path to a longer run for Widow’s Bay. As long as Evan is alive, there will be new and exciting supernatural terrors to confront and lampoon.
Yet I can’t escape this nagging feeling that this was the coward’s way out of not connecting Evan to the late Richard Warren in last week’s episode. I can’t say exactly when the hunch hit me, but somewhere in Rosemary’s family tree marathon, I had the feeling that the line of descendants was going to end with Tom’s son. And I was relieved that it didn’t, because Ruth was a surprising answer and an answer that made me think, “Oh, shit, we haven’t seen Ruth all episode.” And so I’m conflicted, because I want to see more Widow’s Bay, but I’m kind of disappointed that the show would walk things back like that.
How are you feeling about a second season, Saloni? I will admit that the sections of season one that leaned most heavily on Tom, Patricia, and Wyck ridding the island of the curse made me wonder if there was enough story to last beyond these first 10 episodes. But since the finale established that the horrors of Widow’s Bay are cyclical, and Dippold and the writers never tied themselves to one particular category of things that go bump in the night, it feels like there’s still a lot of (haunted) ground to cover here. What elements of season one give you faith that they’ll be able to pull it off?
Saloni: It definitely is a cop-out after last week’s way more unexpected Ruth reveal, but the more I think about it, the more it does make sense that they wouldn’t hinge the suspense on her because, well, she could die anytime to end the curse. So this nicely paves the way for, as you said, more deathly traps to emerge for the island’s residents and keeps Tom extremely involved in the long run. What I’m hoping is that with Evan being a sort-of witness to Kenny becoming an accidental sacrificial lamb, he’ll become part of the core crew and get closer to his dad while unearthing why he can’t ever leave Widow’s Bay.
I think this “twist” is an easy but sensible way into season two. And weirdly, I didn’t once think that the story needed to be contained and end in these 10 episodes simply because they’ve been planting seeds for the future by looking at the town’s past. There are enough mentions about how practically every generation has dealt with this centuries-old curse, including as recently as whenever the footage that Dale found was shot. (Side note: The scene of Jeff Hiller watching that old film was the most Lost that Widow’s Bay has been so far, and I mean that as a compliment.)
So the same elements that worked for me in season one—the specificity and eccentricity of Patricia and Rosemary, the visual gags, the creativity of the monsters (I just love that damn sea hag), incredible directors, Katie Dippold’s ability to balance sitcom humor and weird horror, all things Matthew Rhys—make me confident in Widow’s Bay’s ability to continue this story. That and the fact that eight bells ring to close out the episode because the island is still hungry after Kenny! (Nine bells ring at the season’s start.)
Erik: You know, the biggest surprise of this first season just might be that it made me believe in one-off flashback episodes again. As long as the show can keep coming up with blasts from the past that are as moody and freaky as Betty Gilpin’s trip into “Our History”—and filled with flourishes like whatever was done to Hamish Linklater’s voice in that episode and “Seasickness”—then Widow’s Bay will keep ringing my bell.
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