You Should be Watching Widow’s Bay

Do you like Jaws? Do you like Parks and Recreation? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, then Widow’s Bay is the show for you.

Widow’s Bay on Apple TV is an intoxicating blend of dread and comedy, with Matthew Rhys as the skeptic turned believer mayor of the titular island town of Widow’s Bay. With a believable cast of characters that manage to feel less like caricature and more like a small-town neighbor, the series builds dread and suspense with each passing scene. Widow’s Bay is the perfect show for summer scares and some laughs to relieve the tension they bring, even Guillermo del Toro says it’s “one of the best streaming series in a long time”.

Widow’s Bay: Where Pawnee Meets Amity

Creator and writer Katie Dippold absolutely nails the woes of small town government. This comes as no surprise, considering her work on 31 episodes of Parks and Recreation. The cast of characters feel like real people you’d find in an isolated New England island town. In turn, we get to know the island of Widow’s Bay better through its inhabitants. Matthew Rhys plays the perfect mayor who just wants better for a fading town. He’s also kind of a dick, but, it fits the character so well it doesn’t really matter. Patricia fits the bill of a socially awkward and kind of unsettling townie working in the Mayor’s office. Wyck plays the picture perfect “town crazy” (who, spoiler alert: isn’t that crazy). Even smaller characters like Kathy the incompetent waitress, or Kurt the innkeeper help fill in the blanks of what the soul of this town looks like.

It would be easy to lean on horror character stereotypes, but thankfully, Dippold has each character let viewers see past the stereotypes, if only for a few moments. Wyck, the “town crazy” gets to be taken just as seriously as Tom, the mayor, and in turn Tom gets his moments of pure silliness interwoven with pure dread. Unreliable Rosemary gets to have her turn actually taking care of business (even if it’s not in the way we’d expect). We as viewers get to follow this cast of characters from the mayor’s office across the island as they deal with crises, from trying to impress a New York Times writer to event planning/production, and trying to fight their way through actual emergencies (that may or may not have paranormal causes).

As of writing this review, episode 4 has been one of my favorites because it deals largely with the socially awkward Patricia. It gives viewers great insight into both her character and her relationship with the other townsfolk as someone who was born and raised on the island. This episode also contains a split second cameo by a Stephen King book, a fine homage to a horror master.

“Amity” for a New Age

There are plenty of parallels and homages to be found within Widow’s Bay to Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, Jaws. Mayor Tom absorbs the characters of both Chief Brody and Mayor Vaughn. Loftis is an “outsider” much like Chief Brody in Amity, doing his best to deal with all the locals around him. But, like his mayoral counterpart in Jaws, he wants the tourists to come by the boatful to spend their money on all the island has to offer. Although Widow’s Bay is certainly not set up to seem “idyllic” the way Amity is (“Amity, as you know, means friendship”), it’s a refreshing look at the struggles a modern day island town may be facing when you remove the strange goings-on and eerie fog.

Widow’s Bay is also visually reminiscent of Amity Island, although with a darker visual palette. Amity is sun-kissed and bright, but Widow’s Bay has plenty of fog and gray to balance out the any sunnier scenes. There’s a conference room that looks SO similar to the one in Jaws I had to do a double take. Heck, even the posters use similar color schemes.

While the series is set in the present day, there’s a convenient lack of modern technology, explained by a “lack of signal” across the entire island, set up in the very first episode. No cell phones, but landlines aplenty. This also removes the common quibble with horror films of “why didn’t they just call/text them and warn them?” Landlines and outdated tech across the island add to the sense of suspense across the board. The settings showcased throughout the show feel genuinely lived in, from character homes to the local bar and beyond, to the old junkyard where teens hang out by the light of a bonfire. Homes have clutter, my favorite of which is a collection of creepy board games at the local inn.

Summer Scares and Suspense

Much like Spielberg’s Jaws, Widow’s Bay keeps viewers on their toes, and allows anticipation to keep building episode by episode. There are plenty of moments where seasoned scare watchers can pinpoint where something scary COULD happen, only to find that it doesn’t. Let’s face it, horror can be predictable. In Widow’s Bay, the balance of scare possibilities introduced vs unfulfilled keeps viewers in just the right mindset for ramping up the suspense.

For the scaredy cats among us (I include myself in this group), it’s still something we can handle. Although, I will admit to a few moments in episode two and three (both near the end of each) where I had to cover my eyes or watch through my hands. As with all things horror related, if there are any topics or tropes that you can’t handle, check online for any specific triggers before diving in. Feel free to leave a comment asking about any specific triggers or tropes, or DM me on Instagram, I’ll be happy to help where I can!

Enjoy Your Stay in Widow’s Bay

All-in-all, Widow’s Bay effortlessly walks the line between humor and horror, and I cannot wait to see what the final three episodes have in store.

Widow’s Bay is currently streaming on Apple TV. Episode 8 will release on June 3rd, Episode 9 on June 10th, and the finale, episode 10, on June 17th.

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