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

I enjoyed the non-standard way they handled someone tripping.

I have a question: something about the way Tom told the story of their courtship and Evan’s birth made me think that he is not Evan’s biological father? He says something about them getting together and then says “of course she was already pregnant” or “she was pregnant by then” and whatever way he said it made me think that the baby wasn’t his and he loved her so much he just accepted it anyway. Mister Trish thinks I imagined this, and maybe I did. Certainly it hasn’t come up again so far.

I wondered that too

Phew, at least I didn’t imagine it.

The careful wording definitely stood out to me

I liked the detail that they were on a boat trying to make sure he could be born off the island but they had to turn around.

Great interview w DP Christian Sprenger (longtime collaborator w Hiro Murai)

https://nofilmschool.com/christian-sprenger-widows-bay

she turns 50 soon. she’s got wanderlust

Usually I can't stand the Character Takes Drugs trope that too many shows and movies lazily enlist, but this was the rare exception, sometimes funny but mostly sideways-spooky, paranoia mixed deftly with legit reasons to be paranoid. My fave image was Tom, pale and covered with ketchup (we assume) that looks like blood splattered across his shirt, making him the very image of a zombie shambling toward the convenience store.

That said, his kid sucks, I hope he gets Sea Hagged.

Episode 6 is another banger!
About to watch ep 7 (they put up 2 eps this week)

Oh yeah, 6 and 7 are perfect complements. Best visual joke: Patricia’s notebook questions — god how I was cackling.

Even as an undead freak who eats Vienna sausages, Hamish Linklater is somehow still hot

It’s all in the rumble.

ARE YOU MAD AT SOMETHING I SAID

Hahah

So anyway my hunch about the mayor's wife is clearer but what I'm starting to wonder about a hair more now -- and this could just be character detail or a small red herring -- is why we've only heard and not seen the sheriff's wife. Could be nothing but in keeping with a stated decision in episode 7, I wonder a bit.

I am not ashamed to say that I have purchased this shirt

https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/92411837-you-had-your-qualms

"I forgot my purse."

xpost Amazing

I was dying at that.

Also hope they make a new academy award to honor Linklater and Betty Gilpin who knocked it out of the park.

Tbt to Halloween when I dressed as the babadook but my friend's house had more of a grown ups drinking wine vibe pic.twitter.com/PoGKUFeLLw

— Katie Dippold (@katiedippold) June 30, 2016

Gilpin's response when the pastor said something about "what about your children".

btw interesting that they didn't show kids dying or whatever when she took them away on the boat. I had a silly theory what if one of them survived and is the ancestor to Loftis. Linklater was saying something about being "the last of his bloodline" but what if he isn't, what if Loftis is somehow his descendent. So the curse would still exist. It's a stretch, just thought it really odd that they didn't show Sarah and the kids in the boat after leaving the island. I do love how they don't bother showing things at times though. The big reveal of Linklater still being alive, a lesser show might've made that a scary moment, the coffin opening etc. Instead it's just "uh yeah, he's upstairs".

Well I take your point but surely you caught the painting at the very end of the episode and the closeup and dramatic music etc -- we've seen the painting before and now it's clearer what it likely represents and who that is in the water separate from a boat -- but yeah, the 'upstairs' moment, pure genius.

yeah that makes sense.

Here’s a silly theory similar to mine.

https://dmtalkies.com/widows-bay-season-1-episode-7-recap-2026/

Interesting! I hadn’t thought of them specifically!

Meantime!

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a71423673/stephen-root-widows-bay-interview/

Stephen Root always makes me think of this column Roger Ebert wrote that was in one of his big books of movie reviews that I studied when I was a teenager. It was something about movie rules and suggested that any film with M Emmet Walsh or Harry Dean Stanton is worth watching. That's a law. At least that's how I remember it. That's how I feel about Root.

I did mention somewhere upthread that there was probably a reason that the actor playing Evan Loftis looks much more like Hamish Linklater than Matthew Rhys.

They also showed Warren looking at his daughter's doll in the history museum, but it's missing the brooch that Sarah pinned on it. My guess is whoever has the brooch is a Warren descendant.

Also it struck me that Sarah's escape on the boat with the kids is why the island ultimately came to be called Widow's Bay

xpost that's a really great interview with Root. It's actually crazy he's never been cast as the lead in anything at all, someone needs to rectify that real quick

I'm just catching up, but about ep 4:

...best use of "The Rhythm of the Night" since Beau Travail.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, May 13, 2026

totally agree

And as for this week: amazing way to make a single by THAT artist feel completely ominous and fucked up.

Also, A+ tribute to a particular film of course. While still having some perfect hilarity as it went.

Fucking A+ hell yes (with my hands over my eyes peeking thru my fingers)

Yeah the whole initial set up to the inevitable but perfect reveal was insanely good — I kept looking for said character in every corner of every shot just waiting for it.

It’s like they tell you what’s happening as soon as there’s the shot of Patricia through the window - but still thrilling to see them pull it off so beautifully with each unfolding sequence

This show is just the fucking best.

Although +1 to VG' s watching through fingers

And even though you knew it was coming, I still jumped out of my fucking skin when he first appeared in the doorway

Totally!!

absolutely loved the moment when Patty sees him in that upstairs window & yells to the bookclub girls GET OUT HE’s IN THE HOUSE & you think oh god they’re all getting murdered now & cut to him being pushed out of the upstairs window.
I laughed SO hard.

I wasn't sure if that's what happened or if he jumped through the window to go after her instead of them because she's the goal/wants to finish what he started.

Either way the whole thing in the house was HILARIOUS.

I think he jumped through to get her

also those ladies are bitches, i agree with her.

it's probably funnier if the women in the house banded together to push him out. i thought that could have been the implication since there's a shot of them all leaving the windows beforehand. but if it was, it wasn't the clearest.

in other news, sleep is where i'm a viking?

I thoroughly loved Patricia with the shotgun making sure the Boogeyman is dead AND the fact that he's dead and pretty much immediately taken to the hospital, apparently briefly examined and then cremated all without taking the mask off -- but of course.

that drove me crazy! take the mask off! I wanted to see what this dude looked like

She was so badass. When he was down and she came up and aimed the shotgun at him again I thought she was going to gorily finish him off with more blows which is exactly how every other horror movie, comedy or not, would’ve handled that. Cutting to her in the ambulance was hilarious.

Yes, I love how this show gives you something a little bit different, a bit extra.

every scene with Patricia was just so good. I love that she called the restaurant just to tell the person who got her order wrong... that they got her order wrong. don't need a refund or anything. (probably cause it was Kathy. It's always Kathy.)

so what do you guys reckon is in Tom's basement? When he saw Evan with the box, he initially asked "You went into the basement?" and then slight relief when Evan said he went through his trunk instead

Well there’s still that set of double doors way back at the end of the first episode opposite a chair in the tavern basement plus the similar (same?) set in the historical episode so I’m wondering if that’s all connected.

A new interview with our hero:

https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/tv-shows/widows-bay-episode-8-kate-oflynn-interview/

btw, Kate O'Flynn is completely excellent in the amusingly weird Channel 4 sitcom Everyone Else Burns, which is certainly available on Netflix Ireland and maybe Netflix wherever you are.