By Jonathan Bilski
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| via Artist Sarah Sumeray |
Welcome and salutations to your time at Widow's Bay, a hidden gem off the coast. This New England town feels right at home on network TV of old, maybe because Kate Dipold, the show's creator, was a Parks and Rec writer. Oh, and she's got the horror cred as being the infamous only person dressed at The Babadook at Halloween party years ago. Or, maybe, because the townsfolk are played by every damn character actor you've seen on a million other shows. Or, maybe, it's just the simple premise, kind of similar to Parks and Rec, but y'know, a horror angle.
Ya, see the Mayor Tom Loftis, played by Matthew Rhys, wants his small island town to be a popular tourist vacation spot like Martha's Vineyard, but the townsfolk led by perfect salty town curmudgeon Wyck, played by Stephen Root, believes the Widow's Bay is cursed. The push-back has the mayor trying to get past all the shenanigans piling up...and possibly bodies. All in a sitcom-y comical fashion. Oh, and the mayor and us are starting to see something bad might be waking up on the island !?!
It's a great premise, with a great ensemble cast, that I'm only saddened by the fact will be only given 10 episodes. We're three episodes in as of writing this. And, I know I want more. More spooky comedy please, with What We Do in the Shadows gone, there's a hole in, not just my neck, but my heart.
What grabbed me was how the show took the premise of a cursed town with residents who lived through actual horrifying events. An amazing joke came at the expense of Tom's assistant, Patricia, played by Kate O'Flynn, going over a traumatic experience hiding from a serial killer incident on the island. Tom's response was that Patricia shouldn't worry anymore because the serial killer was only after teenage girl's and she was in her 40's now. Bam! That and so many other little stings and weird little lore drops about how the island is straight up cursed make it so worth a watch. And, so perfectly presently by the cast by people in the background, you've swear you've seen before, because you have in another show or movie.
The show has really only centered on the Mayor so far, but I wish we were given time to let more of the ensemble cast seep in and see what there up throughout the day. Don't waste so many great weirdos in the perfect setting. I'm dying for more episodes, so let's hope to see more and fined out a larger sense of what strange this is going on...underneath the town?
The Widow's Bay has new episodes coming out weekly on Apple TV.
