Superstitions aren’t to be taken lightly in Widow’s Bay, a quaint New England island where strange things go bump in the night, tall tales often turn out to be true, and local customers are rooted in historic evils.
All in all, it’s about as cursed as it gets, but don’t tell that to its mayor, who in Apple TV’s new comedic horror series (April 29) is convinced that it’s on the cusp of becoming a big-time tourist destination—regardless of mounting macabre evidence to the contrary.
Striking an ideal balance between the quirky and the creepy, Widow’s Bay is a genre-straddling saga about one man’s efforts to cope with a regional legacy that refuses to align with his plans for the present.
With a terrifically amusing Matthew Rhys leading a great cast, and showrunner Katie Dippold (The Heat, Ghostbusters) imagining a wealth of surprisingly silly and sinister scenarios, it’s a charmingly ghoulish saga about a locale beset by the sins of the past. It’s also, to date, the best new show of the year.
Though Widow’s Bay normally bestows upon men in his position the title of “Lord Island Protector,” Tom Loftis (Rhys) goes by mayor, and he’s determined to have the island community reach its full potential by transforming it into “the next Martha’s Vineyard.” To fulfill this quest, he’s convinced a New York Times travel writer (Bashir Salahuddin) to visit and write a (hopefully positive) piece that will attract vacationers and, in turn, prop up the modest economy.
Alas, nothing is right in this enclave, be it middle-of-the-night earthquakes that knock out the power or a monthly wall calendar about wolves whose July photo, puzzlingly, features a snapshot of an overturned car on the side of the road.
In his undertaking, Tom is aided by his right-hand woman, Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), and frustrated by his teenage son Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick), whose habit of sneaking out and causing problems frustrates his father.
Most troublesome, however, is Wyck (Get Out’s Stephen Root), a Widow’s Bay native who, on the morning of the reporter’s appearance, decides to proclaim that the entire island must be shut down lest people get killed—an urgent warning motivated by the fact that, the night prior, a fisherman went missing in mysterious fog that Wyck declares “a haunt.”
Wyck’s belief in the supernatural isn’t far removed from the exhibits about cannibalism and witch trials at the historical museum run by Gerrie (Nancy Lenehan), and neither he nor Tom even knows about the subterranean electric-chair chamber and ominous giant metal double doors that are spied at the premiere’s conclusion.
Tom refuses to buy into the old wives’ tales that dominate the area, putting him at perpetual odds with Wyck. Nonetheless, he’s not completely in denial, since he knows—from personal experience—that there’s something to the widely held idea that anyone born on the island who tries to leave is destined for the grave.
Widow’s Bay moves briskly, courtesy of snappy direction (from Atlanta’s Hiro Murai, Friendship’s Andrew DeYoung, and Sam Donovan), which places a premium on unsettling compositions and unexpected reveals. Sharp writing that interjects droll humor into even the grimmest of situations, a discordant score that amplifies the off-kilter vibe, and runtimes that by and large never exceed forty minutes complete the picture.
From the outset, the show radiates confidence, introducing various characters, dispensing key backstory details, and dropping intriguing clues as Tom races this way and that in a frantic attempt to keep his dream for Widow’s Bay alive.
Despite Tom’s best intentions, he’s challenged every step of the way, most notably by Wyck, who becomes convinced that the island’s sole inn is haunted. Tom’s objection to this notion lands him a night in the establishment, and the trauma of that evening—as well as a later romantic prospect that goes dreadfully wrong—slowly pushes him toward accepting the reality of Widow’s Bay.
Be it killer clowns or sea hags who sexually feast on their prey, Rhys’ protagonist is plagued by a constant stream of horror-movie madness, and the headliner hilariously evokes the way that each new nightmare slowly chips away at Tom’s determination and convictions.
Root is right in his element as the grizzled Wyck, a familiar sort of old-timer who’s not nearly as kooky as he sounds, and O’Flynn is spot-on as Patricia, a weirdo whose awkwardness belies unforeseen courage.
Widow’s Bay is populated by one strong character actor after another, be it Dale Dickey as Tom’s secretary Rosemary or Somebody Somewhere’s Jeff Hiller as government employee Dale. Dippold gives them all small moments to shine amidst an avalanche of unreal dilemmas, the finest of which involves Patricia using a self-help book to stage a public sunset-cocktails shindig, all while contending with a bully who doesn’t believe that she was nearly a victim of the infamous Boogeyman serial killer who terrorized Widow’s Bay decades earlier.
Widow’s Bay pays homage to various horror subgenres without ever feeling like it’s ticking boxes or showing off. More impressive, it’s routinely suspenseful without sacrificing its wittiness—the result of direction that’s equally adept at staging for tension and cutting for laughs. Even when it rewinds the clock to reveal the origins of Widow’s Bay’s unholiness, its tone is consistent and sharp, with director Ti West (X, Pearl) and two well-known actors (not to be named here) lending the action a menacing The Witch-grade eeriness.
Building to revelations that put Tom in a bind and, ultimately, saddle him with an onerous moral quandary, Widow’s Bay never spins its wheels during its maiden ten-episode run, and its poise is such that it even manages to drop hints about grander secrets that will no doubt dominate any possible second season.
One can only hope that such a follow-up materializes, since it’s all too rare to find a series capable of making one truly laugh and gasp within the same episode. That Dippold’s latest does both, frequently in immediate succession, is proof of its excellence—and confirms that even if its setting isn’t as warm and cozy as Cape Cod, it’s a superb place to visit.
