Granted, there’s probably at least one person who says that any given Apple TV show is the best. But if you’re not watching Widow’s Bay, you are really, really missing out.
You should really give it a chance
About a decade ago, I decided to go in blind on most shows and movies. Sometimes, all it takes is the poster to get me hooked, and I’ll actively avoid anything else related to it until I watch it.
Sadly, that wasn’t the case with Widow’s Bay. Since we cover Apple TV news on 9to5Mac, I ended up watching a couple of teasers and getting marginally acquainted with it ahead of the show’s premiere.
And if I’m being honest, I didn’t really think much of it. The teasers reminded me of something CGP Grey told Brady Haran a long time ago on Hello Internet, when they were discussing something related to Star Wars.
He said something to the effect of obviously knowing that everything about Star Wars was made-up, but it felt like they were just making things up to juice the franchise, rather than making them because they wanted to tell something new.
This notion has proven increasingly true in recent years, and not just when it comes to Star Wars. It feels overwhelmingly true that most streaming services are just banking random, uninteresting stories to keep users subscribed, in a quantity-over-quality fashion.
I got inklings of that when I saw the poster for Widow’s Bay and one of its teasers, which is why I didn’t watch it for a few weeks after it premiered. But I did decide to give it a chance about a month after it premiered, and hoo boy, was I wrong.
Everything about Widow’s Bay is just fantastic. I suggest you stop reading right here and find the time to watch at least a couple of episodes, but if you don’t mind reading just a little bit of what it is about, it is what would happen if Stephen King had decided to write a masterpiece inspired by a mash-up between the early seasons of Lost, and the best episodes of Parks and Recreation and The Office. (If that sounds ridiculously off-putting, that’s on me.)
There’s really no proper way to describe its genre. Comedy horror sounds dull, but that is exactly what it is. I’ve laughed out loud watching it as much as I did watching any random Ted Lasso episode, while at the same time feeling really invested and tense in the story and the mythology of the show.
Every actor just nails it. They should really skip a Best Supporting Actor dispute for this year’s Emmys, and just give the award to Hamish Linklater (The Big Short). And maybe do the same for Matthew Rhys (The Post) and Kate O’Flynn (Happy-Go-Lucky) in their respective categories.
It has been a while, possibly since Severance, that a first season managed to build such an intriguing and exciting universe in such little time.
And even if the show takes an unlikely turn for the worse and botches the landing as it closes out the season, Widow’s Bay will still stand as possibly the most confident, surprising, and wildly entertaining first season Apple TV has ever delivered.
You can watch the trailer for Widow’s Bay below, but I suggest you don’t:
Apple TV is available for $12.99 per month and features hit TV shows and movies like Severance, The Studio, The Morning Show, Shrinking and Silo.
Worth checking out on Amazon
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