Within its first two episodes, released April 29 on Apple TV+, “Widow’s Bay” blends superstitions, curses and suspense in an often intriguing way.
However, I felt that the series’ various tonal shifts between episodes and its overreliance on cliffhangers left some room for improvement.
The series begins with the island’s mayor, Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), attempting to boost tourism by inviting a journalist to visit the town and write a good review. But the island town is haunted by a supernatural presence, one that grows stronger as storms ravage the town further.
In the beginning, I enjoyed the comedy aspects presented within the arguments between Tom, his employees and the rest of the town’s residents. Tom’s naivety about the island’s secrets and his need to attract tourists clash with the superstitious locals who know of the island’s curse. As the locals grow more stubborn, Tom’s desperate attempts to modernize the island become foolish. However, this comedy fades as the series goes on, still making appearances here and there.
One instance of this includes episode 8 “Your Baggage,” where Tom’s assistant Patricia (Kate O’Flynn) is stalked by a masked killer called the “Boogeyman,” one of the town’s legends that went on a murderous killing spree decades ago. This long, drawn-out chase scene is reminiscent of older slasher films such as those in “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” and the 15-minute chase scene in “Friday the 13th Part 3.”
This iconic chase scene’s comical tone is further exaggerated by the killer’s slow and steady walk, whereas Patricia maintains a full-on sprint throughout the conflict.
While these scenes were funny, what started to plague the show was its lack of payoff for unexplainable incidents.
For example, the premise of a killer clown is used while Tom is staying at the island’s reportedly haunted hotel. After getting chased into a crawlspace, Tom wakes up, meaning the clown was just a dream. A hallucination likely caused by the black mold growing in his room found later upon room inspection.
Therefore, the whole story arc where Tom stayed in this hotel for a night to prove to his island’s residents that it wasn’t haunted becomes useless. The only thing proved was that the building’s owner needs to work on upkeep.
My least favorite part of “Widow’s Bay” came from its need to constantly change its tonal direction.
I became least interested in the show during episode 6 titled “Our History,” which focuses on bringing us back to the island’s origin. While this episode explains how founder Richard Warren (Hamish Linklater) made a deal with the devil in order to save the town, I felt its place as an entire episode breaks up the pacing. When all the rest of the episodes were set in the present day, randomly dedicating one episode to the colonial period felt out of place.
Not to mention after this backstory, when Richard’s body is later dug up, he is very much alive. As his curse renders him immortal, the colonial townsfolk are forced to keep him in a coffin, containing his inner evil. I also felt like the choices they made to try and kill Richard by waking him up and taking him out of town felt illogical. I mean, if you uncover the tomb of an evil island’s founder, would you let him out? I certainly wouldn’t.
While “Widow’s Bay” ultimately ends on a cliffhanger, Season 2 is likely to bring an end to the curse. I look forward to what a potential upcoming season may mean for this series, especially when it feels like many aspects still need to be resolved.
