We are NOT fans of horror or even the horror-adjacent, but we loved Widow’s Bay (why can’t I type an i without the dot, like in the show’s logo?). Finished it, then watched a few other shows and I looked up a few options for what to get hooked on next… and my wife says “I’d like to watch Widow’s Bay again.” 
ps, they need a second season, just to feature Jeff Hiller ( Somebody, Somewhere) more. A wonderfully quirky actor given too little to do in Widow’s Bay.
“Dead. Dead. Lesbian.”
“You can’t say that!”
“What, I can’t say lesbian now?”
“Just…don’t say it like that.”
“Dead. Dead. Lesbian.”
Same with me! I think the goofy characters give it plenty of appeal. Plus I’ll watch almost anything with Stephen Root. And I think Jeff Hiller is coming around to be that kind of character actor for me too.
Not being a horror fan, I was really surprised at how many of the horror homages I caught during the show. Like, as I was watching I could tell. And I haven’t seen more than a couple of the movies referenced yet I’ve been around long enough to have seen enough clips and trailers to get the gist.
Here’s a Buzzfeed article that outlines them (and maybe some that are a stretch)
He was great, but I suspect that one reason Hiller was cast was his eerie resemblance to Stephen King.
There’s a British murder mystery show from last year called Cooper And Fry that, though it’s not really like Widow’s Bay, it does have a lot of “creepy local lore and weird things in the woods” central to its plots. Every scene was like the Pub scene in American Werewolf In London. If you’re looking for something to tide you over it might be worth a look.
I’ve seen the first three episodes. So far I can’t say that I’m overwhelmed, but there are a lot of clever bits and I’m looking forward to the rest of it. I did recognize some of the riffs on other movies. I appreciate the tip or I might have missed it.
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I just finished this up and enjoyed it quite a bit. Perhaps not as much as some here and not 19 Emmy nominations worth, but it was a fun ride and I’ll definitely watch the next season. The characters were really quirky and great, and it achieved a difficult balance of creepy/scary but funny. There were a couple of minor things I didn’t love, but I won’t get into them. I did have a question, though, that I’m hoping some observant Doper can answer:
At the end of the 8th (I think) episode, we weirdly cut back to the Inn, where the manager is rudely kicking out some unhappy guest. What the hell was that about? Did we see this guest before and was there any significance to that? It seemed completely random and pointless to me. At the end of that scene, the camera zooms in on the painting, which shows a drowning girl, which we later learn to be Frances in the genealogy lesson. Was the scene just a framing device for that painting reveal? If so, why then?
I’m not sure about the guest. I think it was a way to show the painting, which had a specific detail:
There is a hand reaching out to save the girl. This was to show that they didn’t all drown and how the Warren bloodline continued.
https://i.imgur.com/IMz4PAA.png
(I guess Discourse can’t show images in spoilers. The link is to the painting.)
I tend to think you’re right about the painting being the purpose of that scene, but it didn’t work for me. The scene felt out of place/out of sequence and really unnecessary.
On a related note, all the art we see throughout the show is delightfully terrible. The art department did such a good job making the portraits, etc. ham-handed, childish, drab and ugly. Excellent production design and execution.
I think the point of the scene was to show that tempers are flaring, guests are unhappy with the amenities, and residents are getting tired of tourists. When everyone gets locked in the bunker, you already know everyone is on the edge emotionally.
That does make sense, but why place it as a cliffhanger at the end of Episode 7, when the emergency bunker storyline doesn’t happen until Episode 9? It seems weirdly out of place to me.
Unrelated, if you do a Google search for Widow’s Bay, you get this notice:
“Did you mean: the next martha’s vineyard and definitely not cursed”
Episode 4, “Beach Reads”, will probably be the make or break as to whether you decide you love the series or not. Not to spoiler, but if Kate O’Flynn winds up winning an Emmy, that episode will probably be the reason why.
I’ve just watched episodes 4 and 5, and I think there’s a significant uptick in dramatic quality at this point, in both those eps. Now I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of it. I may binge-watch the remaining 5 episodes tonight. They’re an odd length – roughly 35-36 minutes each, so less than 3 hours for the rest of it.
I see from IMDb that episode 4 is the highest rated, but all of the last four episodes are rated 8 or higher, and the series overall has a rating of 8.2, which on IMDb is a stellar rating.
I laughed out loud in episode 2 when the hotel owner just opened the door that Wyck had tried to nail shut - Wyck had just nailed a board to the door, and not the doorframe.
Also, “Sorry, just forgot my purse!” in episode 8.
(two more episodes to go for me - since AppleTv was down yesterday)
It’s filled with great moments. Just shutting the door on the old guy once he starts telling another long boring story was one of my favorites.
The shaman advising the mayor to avoid looking in mirrors, then shutting the door, which reveals a mirror on its back
