“Widow’s Bay” Midseason Checkpoint

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Apple

“Widow’s Bay” from Apple TV+ is moving quickly! We’re past the midway point and I’m intrigued to see how you guys will reel in with the second half of this season. However let’s check in with episode four and five!

Honing in on episode four “Beach Reads” we have the focus pivot to Patricia (Kate O’Flynn). She is an outsider in Widow’s Bay and ends up encountering a self-help book that has a bit of an edge at the town’s mobile library. The book ends up bitting more than it can chew by manipulating Patricia into hosting “Sunset Cocktails”. This is supposed to serve as a larger plan to help her to reconnect with the woman who outcasted and humiliated her after Widow Bay’s murder of the Boogyman murders.

During the party you have Patricia being humiliated by the guess and questioning her encounter of the Boogyman from years ago. All this added ridiculed conceding alongside the self-help book causes Patricia dive further into panic and unusual behavior. One of those behaviours is being manipulated by the book to create a punch that causes her fellow partygoers to fall Into a trance and walk towards the ocean ultimately to their death,

However, you have Sheriff Bechir who arrives and is able to help Patricia realize that the self-help book is dangerous and mystical. It ends with Patricia burning the book just in time before her guests walk into the ocean. However, in Widow’s Bay there isn’t a neat bow that ties everything up. You have Reverend Bryce found dead in his chapel by what appears to be suicide, but we know everything should be questioned in Widow’s Bay.

However, we have to ask where is our favourite Mayor? Episode five titled “What to Expect on Your Trip” shifts the focus back to Mayor Tom Loftis after the discovery of Reverend Bryce’s death. The residents of Widow’s Bay grow more unease with what appears to be tragedy occurring more frequently on the island.

We have Mayor Loftis, Patricia and Wyck looking into Reverend Bryce’s death. This leads them to Todd O’Connor (played by the fabulous Chris Fleming) who is a dabbler of drugs and a shaman. He has a particular mushroom called “Truesight” that would help with investigating further into Bryce’s death. Truesight which is only known to Widow Bay will show the trio what they need to see rather than what they want to see.

This leads to Mayor Loftis being the victim of this mushroom and we get to experience this trippy mental nightmare landscape through the Mayor’s eyes and this is where horror and comedy blend intertwine seamlessly. This episode also gives a little more insight into the Boogyman lore through Evan, Mayor Loftis’ son: firstly he was difficult to kill, secondly the Boogeyman was buried by the townspeople beneath the Boogyman’s house in concrete, lastly that the anyone who enters the Boogyman’s house does not return.

Now focusing on Mayor Loftis once again we finally get some insight on his history with Widow’s Bay. During the vision while on Truesight we see that Mayor Loftis years ago tried to leave the island of Widow’s Bay because his wife Lauren was pregnant at the time and Loftis wanted his son Evan to be born off the island. However, when trying to depart Lauren lost her sight, collapsed and passed away very shortly after. This gives us insight on why we have conflict with Evan and Mayor Tom Loftis. As we wind down to the end of the episode we have an ominous dark presence/entity that appears to Mayor Loftis that will give us pause until next week’s episode.

The series is picking up steam quickly, but I highly recommend the watch. The second half of this season will be intense and we’ll be checking back in towards the end of show! Stay tuned until then!