Widow’s Bay review: Apple TV’s cursed island show is a blessing in this horror season

In India, or at least the Hindi-speaking part of the country, the moment someone mentions the horror-comedy genre in films and television, our minds go to the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe. The idea of this universe was to blend local folklore with situational comedy. On paper, it sounds great, but the execution has been middling at best. The horror is never scary enough, and the comedy often misses the mark. Which is why, when you start watching the recently concluded Apple TV series Widow’s Bay, you are amazed at the level that the world is operating at, while you are served Thamma.

Widow’s Bay, the 10-episode series starring Mathew Rhys, is set on an island of the same name, where Rhys’ Tom Loftis, the mayor of the town, is desperately trying to turn it into a vacation spot. They have the sights, but they also have the curse, which the locals believe makes the island haunted. On the surface, it’s a serene island town but its history has everything from cannibalism to murders.

Haunted island that’s home to ghosts of the past

The island is the Halloween equivalent of Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow where locals are just as quirky, but they come with the trauma of being haunted for generations. There’s a boogeyman on a murder spree, a local inn haunted by a masked clown, an old lady shapeshifter ghost who sits on the face of the man she is trying to kill, the ominous fog that swallows people, the torture chamber-like dungeon, an undead man who has been alive for over 300 years, and a sea that cannot be crossed by anyone who was born on the island. There are enough mysteries on this island to keep you on your toes but the characters who inhabit this world are straight out of an episode of The Office or Parks and Recreation, which brings in the comedy.

The mysteries of the island of Widow’s Bay unfold like Lost

Rhys plays Loftis like a local bureaucrat who is deeply aware of the unexplained hauntings of the town, but his logical brain cannot accept that ghosts, literal and metaphorical, surround him at all times. Single father to a teenage boy, Loftis feels like he is the only adult around who is working for the welfare of the town, until he comes face-to-face with the ghosts. His assistant Patricia, played by Kate O’Flynn, is a social outcast who desperately demands to be accepted by her peers. Wyck, played by Stephen Root, is the gruff old man who has lost friends here, and believes Tom to be an inept leader.

The comedy-to-horror ratio is just perfect

The situations are scary, and there’s an actual threat to residents’ lives at all times but the people here live their lives just like they would in any other town. The laughs don’t neutralise the fear, and they don’t even try to cut through the tension of the situation. The comedy-to-horror ratio is just perfect as they don’t walk in each other’s lanes. When you are deeply terrified by what’s unfolding on screen, be assured that there won’t be a character cracking jokes to ease you into the situation. The local town office becomes the center for workplace comedy, and Tom’s home life as a single father brings in the emotional quotient, especially after we are told about the tragic death of his wife, who is also a big piece of the puzzle that Tom is trying to solve.

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Widow’s Bay is not second screen material

Almost every episode has its stand-out moments – Tom’s stay at the haunted hotel, the threat of the ‘Sea Hag’ who marks her prey, Patricia’s Sunset Cocktails party, the mushroom trip, the 300-year-old undead man who gains his strength at sea, and the secret of Ruth’s bloodline – are all sprinkled across the show in such an organised fashion that you reminisce the good old days of shows like Lost that managed to juggle between the present and past horrors effortlessly.

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Widow’s Bay is not a second-screen show, and not because it demands that you keep your eyes on the screen for the fear of missing anything, but because it’s genuinely interesting enough that you want to give it its proper due.

Kate O’Flynn, who plays Patricia, is a scene stealer here.

Horror-comedy is a tough thing to crack but Widow’s Bay hits the nail on the head because it treats its characters and situations seriously. Neither is serving the genre, so it allows people and situations to be what they are, as the scene demands. There’s no forced laughter or forced scares, so when even in the most mundane scenes, there’s a slight sense of humour or dread, it keeps you in the moment.

Created by Katie Dippold, who has previously been on the writing team of Parks and Recreation, and also worked extensively with Paul Feig, Widow’s Bay has already been greenlit for a second season. And despite solving the problems at hand this time around, there’s enough juice left to squeeze out in the sophomore season.