Widow’s Bay
Do you believe in the scary legends of your island or can you turn it into a prospering tourist destination? Mayor Tom Loftis thinks he knows the answer, but what if he is wrong? That is the premise of a show that knows equally how to scare you and how to make you laugh. If you ask critics, the emmys or the kind of people that use Apple TV you will have heard of this show as “one of the best of the year” so I thought: “Why not give it a chance?”
I like this show enough to write about it and to recommend it but struggle a little with finding a good spin on it - which is probably because I start to note down my thoughts after only two episodes. But I have an idea that would do the show justice: making short spoiler filled episode by episode commentary. This makes sense since it is a case of the week show and every episode has a unique mystery even though there is an overarching story.
If you still wonder whether to give this show a go: It's a bit of Lovecraft, a bit of Steven King and a little bit of a workplace sitcom (much like parks and recreation) if you like either of those: Just watch it!!!
Episode 01:
A New-York-Times reporter visits the island “Widow's Bay” hoping to give his readers a new recommendation for an undiscovered tourist destination. This is exactly what major Tom Loftis has dreamed about. In his view the island is dying and needs a new perspective for the future much to the disagreement of some older natives. They have seen signs that the curse of Widow’s Bay is reawakening and want to sound the alarm.
This episode is exactly what it sounds like: A massive introduction to cast and island itself. Along with that it gives us a sweet short scare and a way to interpret every supernatural as “the horror is just in the majors head who secretly believes the things he claims to be sceptical about.”
While this may not be an all time classic pilot, it still is a great tone setter and introduction that just is really enjoyable. If there are things to be criticised it’s how important that journalist is introduced to us given how little his presence mattered when he was on screen.
Still a funny, stressful, wholesome and fairly round set up for the rest of the show.
(07/10)
Episode 02
The fog from yesterday seems to be forgotten as the article from the Times turned out to be as glowing as Tom hoped it would. There is just one catch: In order to prove the inn not to be haunted, the town folk make him spend one night in the “Captain’s Suit”.
What follows is a cleverly spooky encounter at night. Filled with a lot of “blink and you miss it moments”, it rewards active watching and gives you the lingering feeling of something being very wrong here.
I loved everything about it and still don't know whether I should believe supernatural things to happen on Widow’s Bay.
(9/10)
Episode 03
By now the whole monster of the week thing feels a little like routine for our lovely mayor. Spooksters coming in and going to haunt Tom. With every little spook tho it gets harder to explain everything away with rationality. Today's monster is more over the top than the ghost of the Inn, but commands the screen with a haunting tension. Aside from that we get touching insides in the backstory of our widow from Widow's Bay and form unlikely alliances.
Then it all ends on a cliffhanger…
If I did not want to write down my thoughts after every episode, I would have started to press play instantly.
(8/10)
Episode 04
I don't want to ruin this experience with mere words.
(10/10)
Episode 05
So this is the drug-trip-episode. On the one hand a trip-episode always felt gimmicky and at this point like a trope to me. On the other hand this trope is a trope that I tend to enjoy because it is a gateway to go a little more untraditionally in your narrative toolsets and you also get to talk about the deeper psychology of your tripping characters.
That all being said, for this trope they feel to have found a new perspective. It is directed way more grounded than most drug-trips are shot for TV. The trip itself is also weaved cleverly into the mythology of Widow’s Bay and once more gives us a few good glimpses into the complexity of our cast.
Overall a simple but very enjoyable episode, feeling like it is supposed to prepare us for something bigger.
(8/10)
Episode 06
I kinda want to call this one the Robert Eggers Episode, but I feel like this would describe it more as what I would have wanted it to be, then what it actually was. We go back around three hundred years in time and get to find out a lot of lore about the island that was hinted at before. My biggest fear did not come true: Neither did they really demystify anything nor did they really overexplain the origins of their haunting.
However, in addition to what I was happy to not have gotten from this episode, there was not that much in general that this episode had to offer. It reminded me a little of “The Witch” by Robert Eggers with less authenticity and less atmosphere. It gave us glimpses into a puritan Christian settlement without having a lot to say about this culture. There were two fractions. One of which was assumed to be working with a devil and this one had apparently forged a pact with “the island” so everyone could survive. His death might have doomed the others, but ultimately it was his own fault for not communicating more openly, I guess. The lore was interesting and handled well, however without more context and on first watch this episode felt a little unnecessary to me.
(5/10)
Episode 07
The founder has returned from the dead. Or rather he was never dead to begin with. This may or may not have been the successful justification for the episode before since both episodes offer context that pay off in the other episode. Overall it felt like the least spectacular episode, especially since it did not have a particular strong climax. But it was still great. On the boat we had some Jaws vibes and the mythology of this island just keeps growing. Also once again it ends on a pretty clever note subverting the climax that I previously mentioned as the weak point of this episode. So the subversion kind of makes the weakness of the showdown feel justified.
Overall a pretty strong episode with a lot of tension and a little less spectacle.
(8/10)
Episode 08
Only at Widow’s Bay can you have a father wholesomely reconnecting with his son while his friend has to face the demon she was haunted by during her teenage years. Both story arcs have been carefully built up for a couple of episodes now and bloomed up with so much power. The contrast between the two stories let them only shine brighter, while in itself they already were great.
While as an experience I still think I prefer episode 04 slightly this feels like the highpoint of the show's overarching story so far.
(9/10)
Episode 09
During a generational storm we got the story told of who done it. And by who done it I mean who passed the cursed genes down in Widow’s Bay. One of the funniest episodes while also being pretty tense. This episode way less concerned with telling a short one episode horror story but I guess that makes sense since we are riding quickly to the season's finally.
Everyone: Buckle your seat belts!
(08/10)
Episode 10
I think the season finale can stand on its own two feet and much like episode four it does not really need any commentary from me.
(10/10)
Now with that all being said: It is a great show, first funny than scary than gut punching. I am a masochist, I love myself some good gut punches.
I do have to say that I hope we will never get a second season. By the time this season has ended the island is scarier than it ever was and personally I would like to leave it at that.
Short: Just the perfect show for the spooky season:)