Apple's new supernatural thriller just got some Season 2 news that you're going to want to know
Widow's Bay scores a renewal
I'm a big fan of Apple TV – there's a list of reasons why it's been sitting pretty for a long while at the top of our list of the best streaming services, and one of the biggest is the boldness of its commissioning decisions. Sure, you get some interesting series coming to Netflix and Prime Video, but not with the hit rate that Apple boasts.
It seems like every month it has something new to offer that does things genuinely differently, and not just if you consider how many cultish shows it develops, whether they're sci-fi inflected or just a little paranormal. It has traditional thrillers and crime dramas, too, but I just love how willing Apple seems to be to take punts on edgier, more niche material.
That approach has brought it huge hits like Severance, and also some more modest successes, which is how I'd describe Widow's Peak, which is on the cusp of its first season's finale right now (it airs on 16 June). The show stars Matthew Rhys as the beleaguered mayor of a small coastal town, but its trailers really underplayed how weird the show actually is.
Now it's getting a second season, which is great news, and which has been confirmed by a short trailer making the announcement:
It's brief, and obviously contains no actual new footage, instead cleverly reworking a moment from the show, but it's still great news for those who've been enjoying its weird, paranormal mix of genres. I've seen some people saying it's a bit like if Twin Peaks had a kid with Parks & Recreation, which is quite the enticement, and its mixture of scary thrills with deadpan black comedy has been a word-of-mouth hit.
Crucially (from Apple's point of view, you'd imagine), the show's also gone down really well with critics, who have left it sitting on a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%. While audiences haven't quite matched that, 93% on that front is still an excellent showing, and the two scores together suggest that people who take a gamble on the show almost certainly enjoy it a lot.
We'll find out if Apple can convert that into a proper fanbase with a second season in due course, although don't hold your breath for it to arrive any time before late 2027 if we're being optimistic.
