Widow’s Bay ended its first season on Wednesday on Apple TV, and in its finale, titled We Hope You Enjoy Your Time, the layered horror-comedy revealed a big trick up its sleeve. From the show’s outset, Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) works tirelessly to rebrand his rickety coastal town into the next Martha’s Vineyard. As the episodes progress, the program shows just how cursed this small fishing village is — and why tourists really shouldn’t vacation there.
Widow’s Bay has been plagued by a centuries-old curse that keeps those born on the island from being able to leave, because if they try, they die. Moreover, there’s a torture chair located in the bowels of Widow’s Bay’s storm shelter that indicates the island’s history is even more disturbing than I’d ever imagined. And I say this knowing full well that there was a maniacal boogeyman, a killer clown and a Wicker Man-style death party featured throughout the season.
With the news that Widow’s Bay has been renewed for a second season, it’s imperative to unpack the important details from the finale. I should state that there are major spoilers ahead. If you’re not caught up on Widow’s Bay’s Season 1 finale, tread lightly.
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The season’s penultimate episode, Emergency Shelter, found a supernatural nor’easter bearing down on the island. After all his hard work to attract tourists to Widow’s Bay, Loftis succeeded. Now, it seems all of that could come crashing down unless he can figure out a fix.
The curse keeps a’ cursing
Hamish Linklater guest stars in Widow’s Bay.
Tom, Patricia (Katie O’Flynn) and Wyck (Stephen Root) happened upon a disturbing answer to their problems last week. It turned out there was indeed one more living descendant of Richard Warren (Hamish Linklater), the man who brought the curse to the island roughly 300 years ago: the decrepit man Tom and Wyck helped kill in episode 7.
It’s Ruth (K Callan), of all people, the kind lady who worked in the mayor’s office. Discovering her connection to Warren puts the trio in a bit of a pickle. Patricia is against the idea of offing her; Wyck, being Wyck, has no qualms about putting the woman out of her misery. Tom ends up taking Wyck’s side and, with some knowledge about medications Ruth shouldn’t mix, he heads to her home to do the deed.
I was expecting Ruth to reveal herself to be a monster, the same way Ingrid Kersh did in It: Chapter 2. Yet once Tom arrives at her home, he’s met with kindness and an offering of tea and, while he waits 27 minutes for the drink to finish brewing, he sits down for an uncomfortable conversation with her.
I had an inkling the story would take this twist. As predictable as it was, it still landed with an emotional wallop. Rhys’s talent as an actor really helped land the reveal that his dead wife, Lauren, was Ruth’s secret daughter — meaning Tom’s son, Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick), is another living descendant of Richard Warren.
K Callan stars in Widow’s Bay.
One down, one to go
Talk about a bombshell. Tom had done his darnedest to put this curse behind him and make plans to take Evan off the island to enjoy a Red Sox game. He never quite explained to his son that there’s a curse: If he takes him off the island, he’d die. Now that he’s discovered Evan’s true lineage, Tom’s got a complicated job ahead of him. He’s going to want to keep his son alive, no matter what, even if the answer to all their problems dictates killing him.
After Tom receives this news from Ruth, he does his best to rouse her and get her to a doctor since, yep, he really did drug her tea. Then, Sheriff Bechir arrives and shoots Ruth without hesitation. His reason? To save his unborn child from a cursed life of being stuck in Widow’s Bay for the rest of its life.
Tom didn’t tell Bechir the new information about Evan — even with a gun pointed at him. Now, his mission has evolved from turning Widow’s Bay into a prime tourist attraction to keeping his son alive, no matter the cost.
Kingston Rumi Southwick stars in Widow’s Bay.
Things are getting cult-y
All while Tom and Bechir were at Ruth’s, dealing with that mess, Patricia and Wyck were doing their best to keep the townsfolk and group of tourists in the storm shelter from panicking. Office employee Dale (Jeff Hiller) throws a wrench into those plans when he discovers some old orientation videos — reminiscent of the ones the crew found in Lost — that guide viewers through the process of sacrificing people to the island.
“Life for life, the island will make its needs known,” the man in the tie says to the camera. Images of undressed people with bags over their heads are shown, all while he pleasantly informs the viewer that the more afraid the sacrifice is, the better they will taste to the island.
At the very same time, Evan and his friends decide to go exploring and find a way out of the shelter’s main area. Where do they end up? A terrifying little room furnished with what looks like an old torture chair that faces two big, heavy doors.
Before they can tinker around, a man finds the kids and ushers them out. But he isn’t so lucky. A door slides shut, trapping the man inside. And as soon as that happens, the storm stops, the power comes back on in the shelter and Ruth, miraculously, comes to — even with a gunshot wound to the head.
The island got its meal.
Where do things go from here?
The episode ends with Tom getting into his car with Evan to drive away. Many questions linger.
The biggest conflict I can see playing out next season is Tom’s drive to keep Evan safe, which means covering up the true lineage he discovered. How will Patricia or Wyck react when this information is eventually uncovered? More importantly, what will Sheriff Bechir do when he realizes that, after all this, he still won’t be able to take his child off the island?
Throughout this season, Widow’s Bay has sprinkled intriguing breadcrumbs throughout the story, hinting at all sorts of supernatural weirdness connected to a deeply rooted curse. The revelation of a government-sanctioned program to sacrifice citizens to keep the island happy opens a whole other can of worms. What was the deal with that torture room? And how do people get fed to the island? Moreover, how can this be stopped?
Here’s to hoping Widow’s Bay sticks around for a while, because there’s still a lot more going on under the surface that we need to discover. Until then, I’ll be counting down the days until the show returns for Season 2.
