“Widow’s Bay” Should Be Your Next Watch
“Bad things happen here.” That’s not exactly what one might want to read about a potential seaside vacation spot. When you think of beachy towns like Martha’s Vineyard or Hilton Head, no immediate bad thoughts pop into your head. The same cannot be said for the titular fictional island of Widow’s Bay. The latest series of Apple TV+, Widow’s Bay is a horror-comedy created by Katie Dippold about a town that’s cursed, and whose residents believe bad things will continue to happen there.
Widow’s Bay is a beautiful town 40 miles off the New England coast. It has the sort of old Americana charm that makes for a perfect summer travel destination. The only problem is that no one visits as a tourist much to the chagrin of Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys). Unlike many of the island residents, Tom did not grow up there, which makes him an outsider in their eyes. Perhaps it’s this separation between Tom and the island that makes him skeptical about the supposedly supernatural goings-on. When Tom’s tourism marketing efforts finally pay off, he’s forced to reckon with the reality that maybe those old ghost stories have some truth to them, no matter how absurd they sound.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
Widow’s Bay will premiere with the first two episodes of the series on April 29. In the first episode, we see Tom bending over backward to impress a travel writer who has come to the island to write a profile. Episode two really leans into the horror aspect of the series by forcing skeptical Tom to spend the night in the supposedly haunted inn that tourists are quickly booking for the summer. These two episodes do a magnificent job of introducing the audience to the stylings of the rest of the season. Widow’s Bay rides a fine line of genuine, cosmic-y horror with dry comedy.
In the fashion of television series like Gilmore Girls and Parks and Recreation (on which creator Katie Dippold was a writer), Widow’s Bay captures small-town eccentricities. Not just with the people, although there’s a lovely cast of weirdos to tickle the audience’s funny bone, but with the lore that exists about this little island. Are the old stories of cannibalism true? Or is it that the secluded nature of this island has led to the development of legends with very little basis in reality? When is a curse just a series of coincidences? It’s these opposite ends of the spectrum that Widow’s Bay enjoys playing with, leveling and skewing to create a riotous and creepy balance.
There will always be something a little strange about insular small towns. And they’re even stranger if they’re separated from the rest of the world by 40 miles of ocean. Widow’s Bay blends Stephen King with comedy that comes from people who know each other too well. One of the standout new series of the year, Widow’s Bay will keep you frightfully laughing all the way through.
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