I finally finished this brilliant Apple TV show – it's unlike anything else I've watched
Widow's Bay was an absolute pleasure
I write about streaming pretty much non-stop here at T3, but that doesn't mean I have some hack that lets me generate new hours in the day to actually watch all of the shows and movies that get added each week. There's only so much time, after all, and that means I often watch shows a little while after they're added.
That's the case for Widow's Bay, the hit horror-comedy show that Apple released back in April this year. I heard great things about it, but just didn't have the time to watch it when it was being uploaded – I was still in the middle of finishing The Wire for the first time at that point.
October, though, provided the perfect prompt to make me dive into it. Spooky season might have technically now ended, with Halloween having already happened, but I'd say the dark evenings and long nights mean it's still a great time to enjoy this fairly unique show.
Widow's Bay is set on an isolated island 40 miles from the coast of New England, and stars Matthew Rhys as the beleaguered mayor trying to grow its fledgling tourist industry. He's battling against a superstitious population who are convinced the island is cursed, though – and it turns out they're not making up as much as he'd assumed.
Over the course of 10 episodes, you'll learn a whole heap about why the island is the way that it is, and it's not really a spoiler to confirm that there are indeed supernatural themes to the show. I say "themes", but they're really just out in the open.
What makes it such a joy to watch is the way it structures itself as basically an office comedy most of the time, bringing a more sardonic approach than Parks and Recreation, for instance, but in the same familiar broad setting. Then, a few times per episode, it'll veer hard into horror for some sequences.
That blend of genres is really quite rare, and the fact that the comedy writing and performances here are so strong is probably the most important part of the equation for me. It's unlike anything else I can remember watching recently, with perhaps the movie The Cabin in the Woods coming closest to a similar approach.
If you've been interested in it but haven't taken the plunge, take it from me – Widow's Bay is a great little winter watch, and there's no time like the present to try it out.
