MAN FOUND DEAD BY HORSE: Let’s talk about Widow’s Bay on Apple (Matthew Rhys, Stephen Root)

This show rules! please join me as we uncover all the ways in which the soon to tourist haven of Widow’s Bay is currently haunted, cursed and therefore awesome

only watched the first episode, but thought it was hilarious — looking forward to seeing where it all goes.

highly enjoyable show.

Episode 2 kinda scared me a little bit? In a fun way but ugh that crawlspace was a huge NOPE

Loved this - really funny and creepy at the same time

Hiro Murai is so good at finding that tonal balance

He’s so good at it!
I said on the rolling media thread that it has Atlanta & also a Twin Peaks vibe in regards to the perfect balance of drama/quirk/comedy — it doesn’t tip its hand & lets weird be weird & funny be funny but the viewer gets to do a little work deciding what lands, you’re not being handed every shining moment on a platter

Also a+ casting of Tim Baltz in ep2, he was excellent

this one is lots of fun so far!

Toby Huss is ALWAYS a joy.

Oh I was so happy when he showed up & loled so hard when I saw he was a priest <3

almost shat myself at the clown bit fs

moments like that lean a little bit too into American Horror Story camp camp for me.

Stuff like the innkeeper thinking he's been in the room for ages or whatever is a nice amount of creepy though.

It's so good. Delighted to see Matthew Rhys getting the chance to be stupid for once.

Loved the first two episodes

Caught up with all this over the past two days, including the new episode today, and yes to all of it. Real damn treat, everyone's sense of timing and low-keyness is brilliant. I've never seen Kate O'Flynn in anything so far as I know but damn, what a character she's playing.

Also, easily my favorite visual gag in this new episode: those board and card games, which along with the books all were perfect 'the type of stuff you find in an old hotel or inn that has never been updated or changed out for decades' set dressing.

Rhys’ facial expressions are so good, he is so great at looking genuinely pants-shittingly terrified

Also I love the hag shanty that Root sings in ep 3

My wife and I both cackled at the scene of him coming out of the ocean in ep 3.

I was honestly and properly creeped out by this episode. I am properly scared by supernatural things following me into my house!

But you invite ghostly remote figures into your house every time you fire up ILX! (I am a four hundred year old phantom.)

You see, you think this is funny because you do not have to go into the bathroom and check for sea hags in the middle of the night because I'm too scared to.

I thought the scares were a bit soft in the first episode - the opening on the ship, the white eyeball scene - but the second episode was properly scary/creepy. After the clown scene my partner waa "Well, I'm not watching that again - let's put the next one on."

So far this is right in my lane as far as horror goes - spooky suspense, not body-horror/terror. I like that you can think, "Well this is scary but they're hardly going to kill Matthew Rhys, are they?" I hope this never becomes one of those "any cast member could die at any moment" kind of shows.

In a way what's most unsettling is the disinterest in segueing between the funny bits and the scary bits - in the hotel episode, I kept thinking "Oh okay, it's fine - oh wait NO IT ISN'T".

I like that Rhys can show a real person (somewhere) behind the comic bits - I don't want every episode to become a comic route to his humiliation. Agree Kate O'Flynn is doing a proper out-of-nowhere (to me) great performance.

So I'm the only one that's disappointed that anytime something really bad seems to be happening, our hero just wakes up? I want blood!

Gotta get more tourists in first

really love the jaws vibe

Enjoying this but I think it works better when each episode is spaced out from week to week. I binged the first three episodes and chafed against the “monster of the week” element when watching in such quick succession.

phenomenal episode

Outstanding

Still loving this. It's (so far) kind of almost like an anthology series told from the perspective of Amity's Island mayor.

But slyly funny, of course.

is it a joke that the guy in the key art has a widow's peak? i don't have apple tv.

Yes enjoyed this episode. Glad it is pulling away from the mayor and putting other characters up front, and that perhaps things are looking a little more linked together - or at least more serialized

Ha, I kind of wish it stays sorta serialized but *doesn't* link together! Like, one bad, weird week, lol. Reminds me a bit of one of those shows about quirky/strange small towns, like "Eerie, Indiana." Of course the inspiration that continues to come to mind (for obvious reasons) is John Carpenter's "The Fog," though we have no idea where this show is going yet, let alone how it's going to get there.

Yeah I don’t think it necessarily needs to turn into Lost or something, but it will wear thin if every week something happens to Matthew Rhys. So I think it needs to choose a direction - either link it together so he has a story to move through, or jump around and give us multiple protagonists.

honestly, it would be fine with me if it doesn't all tie together

“Lucy Fours”

I for one welcome "monster of the week" television.

I would love if it were just unresolved monster of the week, and then, after the run, the town elders collectively sing a shanty and the curse or whatever goes dormant and Rhys sighs and says, "at least it's over now." And Root turns to him and intones, "no, it is just beginning." And Rhys blows him off and goes home and the door is open and he's suddenly scared and he's snooping around and he hears something in the kitchen and then ... it's just his son, with the munchies, raiding the refrigerator! Phew, right? He has a laugh and they both leave the room. And then the camera pans to the kitchen floor where we see wet footprints.

The Carrie references in this weeks episode were very good. And Katie O’Flynn/Patty was so good. Ie when she’s leaning on the fridge absolutely sobbing her heart out & goes into a fake yawn when the door suddenly opens

Omg Roz

LUCY FOURS

I didn’t even get that til you said it lol

Hahah same here. Jesus. (Ironically.)

The Carrie references in this weeks episode were very good. And Katie O’Flynn/Patty was so good. Ie when she’s leaning on the fridge absolutely sobbing her heart out & goes into a fake yawn when the door suddenly opens

Peak all around. Just that opening shot of her with the fixed stare, my god. Said it before but she is easily my breakout from this whole thing, though the entire city hall crew are the best.

My favorite 'wait a minute' moment was the mirror shot in the main room, where initially I thought "Oh so in reality they're just gaping at whatever insane shit she's really saying"...and then it turned out to be something else instead.

Anyway, best fly since Breaking Bad and best use of "The Rhythm of the Night" since Beau Travail.

Oh yes I caught that mirror shot too! So good

The Pattimobile alone. Like...of course. (And it's so great how the initial party scene and then the confrontation at the main party simultaneously makes you all "I totally get being the outsider at the party and awkward and etc" and then is also "But then again, that whole backstory IS pretty fucked up.")

Oh yeah my favorite visual gag this time out: the party illustration with the cocaine tray.

Mine: when she opens the book to the work section, and there's a small part for things you love about yourself and a huge one for things you hate

shoutout also to Rosemary for still being supportive even after seeing all the fucked up things Patti was doing ("YOU HAD QUALMS?" had me rolling)

The Carrie references in this weeks episode were very good. And Katie O’Flynn/Patty was so good.

yeah her resemblance to Shelley Duvall was likely a factor in her casting, but she's fantastic in the role too

Roz - re spoiler text - omg I ruefully laughed at that as soon as I saw it

Every nanosecond of her attending the drinks, and throwing the party and her trying so valiantly to overcome her own anxiety was SO good and absolutely triggering to watch, like watching live footage of my own social interactions
Brutal & incredible

lol @ the advertisement tied to This Is How We Do it

this was my favorite episode so far. What a great show. Wonder if it'll be a one and done or do more seasons?

sidebar -I rewatched the first eps yesterday & had THE craziest dream last night with creepy creatures & a runaway child living in my crawlspace!?? Oops

so do we think Patti was actually lying about the killer coming to her house? I assumed she was telling the truth

it'll probably turn out to be true

Ruth jauntily running up the stairs.

I loved that bit - Tom’s face when he realised Ruth was perfectly healthy and it wasn’t going to be a mercy killing

ohh that was the point of that? i thought it was just a funny bit

i liked all the red herrings. kept on waiting for ruth to go full horror movie scary grandma. i don't watch any horror movies but i love reading spoilers and watching their trailers and i feel like the horror grandma is a real trope lately?

I wonder if Ruth will turn out to have survived this shooting

I assumed she def did.

spoilers that I'm not gonna hide because why you reading this thread if you're not caught up?

We're lead to believe that Wick and Patricia assume the horror is over because Tom killed Ruth, when we can probably assume the haunting chilled out because of the sacrifice in the basement.

Tom and the Sheriff know that Ruth living or dying wouldn't change anything because she's not the last in the line.

I love the whole thing about the ringing of the bells equalling how many people need to be sacrificed, but haven't gone back to see what the crazy people on threads are doing regarding counting the tolls of the bell in the early episode against how many people have died through the show.

And the fact that it rang again at the end means it's not over?

So season 2 has the sheriff's kid being born, so he's invested in ending this and that becomes the plot device for season 2, how does mayor and sheriff and co fix things without killing Evan.

I feel like the show was made in such a way that if it didn't get picked up for a second season, they could've edited things differently to change the outcome of the final episode one way or another.

I love that we still have no idea exactly what's down there and I hope it's never revealed.

I absolutely love the revelation in this interview that Matthew Rhys drives his little studio golf cart past the studio tour and waves at all the tourists and shouts "It's me! Matthew Rhys! From The Americans! Remember me?" Excellent work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKexx931Edk

Roffle.

New interview with Dippold.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/katie-dippold-widows-bay-interview-1236623405/

so do all the deaths from season 1 count towards the 8?

Shep, Richard Warren, one of the EMS people killed by the bogeyman, the shaman, the guy locked in the basement by the teens...

I don’t think so
EMT etc are all incidental to other stuff on the island. they’re not actual “offerings”
Only the offerings sent down the hatch specifically count towards the bell toll

Yeah that was my read. I've seen other arguments for what Dan outlines but to my mind the whole idea of Widow's Bay as such is that there are all these other fuckeries and deaths happening but then there's always been the central overriding secret that requires specific sacrifice.

(I did love, BTW, that Ruth casually introduces other things that are now 'out there' in the wider universe of the place -- her dad disappearing into a lake, the date bit by an animal who became one, the disappearing workers in '42, etc.)

Everyone was so focused on the lineage aspect as far as getting off the island; it’s a whole separate issue imo vs feeding whatever the fuck is in that hatch

I LOVE THAT THERE IS A HATCH <3 my lapsed “Lost”-interest is being reactivated

I want to know how everyone on the fucking island seemingly forgot that this is something they were supposed to do, considering there was a public service film announcement made about it sometime in the 70's

I'm also glad this got renewed and I assume the creators were reasonably sure it would be too because this would have been a maddening series finale

Ahem: 50’s imo

so many people saying "they made a video" "he watched a video". Ugh.

Anyway somebody pointed out first episode had 9 bells, last one had 8. So maybe guy in electric chair room is just the first sacrifice.

but yeah that's some missing institutional knowledge there. Toby Huss had some of the instructions as well.

I guess the people with the institutional knowledge keep getting drowned/stabbed/metamorphosed or whatever, until people eventually forget.

I’m guessing the cowardly mayor was supposed to keep up with the schedule but then he bailed.

Insect Bite Spider Bite Snake Bite Animal Bite Human Bite

I love how that sign and others just get even more sinister upon reflection.

What was the other one? how to subdue someone or something like that

yikes on bikes

My personal shoutout for the finale is K Callan as Ruth. She acted this episode so beautifully, and like other “showcase” eps it seems like it was written & directed as a lowkey showcase for her acting talents. I was fully tearing up over sweet Ruth before she’d even boiled the kettle

Really excited for the possibilities with her character in s2

loved her response to the trolley problem lol

also the Tennessee William cross-stitch piece and how it got progressively more cramped cause the quote was too long. just incredible detail

I LOVE THAT THERE IS A HATCH <3 my lapsed “Lost”-interest is being reactivated

definitely got LOST vibes with the orientation film too. maybe the hatch has a smoke monster

Williams*

maybe sawyer is the horse.

Liked most of the final episode, and laughed a few times, but kinda wished they found some other way to end it (while simultaneously announcing a second season). I might have even accepted some variant of the "it's over ... or is it!?" trope. On the other hand, just compounding so much stuff at once is kind of a welcome subversion. It's sort of a ... non-cliff hanger?

One of my other favorite bits from the finale:

Have you ever heard of the…the trolley problem?

You mean back in '42 when we tried to build one and all the workers disappeared?

No. What? No. No.

I'm also totally putting Rosemary's "Well, I guess I'll go fuck myself" into rotation.

Yeah that trolley response was amazing. Very funny whilst also casually dropping more island lore into the mix.

Rhys also fantastic again this episode, especially his reaction when he finds out who the last living descendant is.

Great interview w Dippold & Murai on Thursday’s ep of Ringer’s The Watch podcast w Andy Greenwald & CR

Rhys’s Criterion closet video is very cute, especially the moment when he reaches up on the top shelf and [in delightful camp Welsh] goes “ooooh, Spartacus”.

I thought the implication of Rhys throwing the necklace in the water was that Ruth was dead :(

The gloomy old guy who got the door shut on him halfway through his speech was A++ every time

I think throwing away the brooch is to try to put anyone (or Beshir) off the scent that there’s any surviving Warren lineage. Destroy the evidence, delay the inevitable etc

I mean it prob won’t do much but it’s a very Loftis solution to a much bigger problem lol

On an unrelated note I vote PJ Glanville to be the next offering down the hatch. that child is a menace!

I’m a bit worried about talk of fleshing out the lore and broadening the scope of the series. That is usually TV code for backfilling every single detail and ensuring that great lines like “he was bitten by an animal and became that animal” have whole episodes devoted to them. I don’t want that.

yeah if they lean too much on the lore it's just gonna turn into the monster mash isn't it? also agree with ned that i hope we never find out what's in the hatch

hmm i guess the monster mash has already been done - cabin in the woods. anyway i prefer the focus stay on the characters first, that's why i'm watching.

Just started this yesterday, three episodes in. (Won't read back till I finish.) Good stuff--Jaws, The Shining, leads from two of my favourite series ever (The Americans and The Leftovers), lots of jokes.

Didn’t love everything about the finale - I wanted something neater with not resolution I guess - but still thinking about the Ruth/Loftis section - what a note-perfect, amazingly acted and created set of scenes. Rhys is a generous partner and the woman playing Ruth is just a terrific actor.

Agree re the avoidance of lore - that’s kind of what did for Severance’s second season. All screenwriters should be banned from Reddit during production.

*with more resolution

Even more intriguingly, Dippold says she has also started thinking about possibly expanding the world of Widow’s Bay beyond the series. “If people are leaning into this place, then you could potentially do other stories down the road of what has happened in the past,” she says. She notes that when she was on Parks and Rec, the writers would sometimes take what seemed to be a throwaway joke in an episode and then circle back to it months later and build an entire episode around it. In the same way, Dippold thinks a reference to “the ridiculous past that Widow’s Bay has” could be turned into either a stand-alone episode or a short six-episode miniseries: “Creatively, that sounds very fun to do.” Apple is game. “Katie’s spoken about this being a universe as much as a show,” Cherniss says. “So the more stories she has to tell with these characters and this world and this tone, the better.”

Meantime

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUfX45m5UBU

Hell yes

Just the thing you need to cool down.

Aw yeah

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/widows-bay-2026-emmy-nominations-1236641556/

Let’s fucking GO

I have no qualms about this.

Lol!

This show reminds me of Gravity Falls, which had a
good balance of lore vs monster of the week.

Dead baby, dead baby, leeeeeesbian ...

just watched all of this and loved it. agree re Ruth being great and the fun little jokes they had with her.

but yeah I don't think they need to Lil Sebastian the hatch monster or whatever. i like of love that the bogeyman is just this separate psycho who just... started again? then got killed almost instantly? and we don't know who it is?