Ghosts haunt Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay”—and not just the supernatural presences wreaking havoc on the titular New England island, either. Look closer. Behind every actor on creator Katie Dippold’s spooky comedy, great performances from the horror canon lurk. A huge part of the show’s appeal lies in its being genre savvy. In each episode, Dippold and her creative team play with familiar motifs from scary movies, especially Stephen King adaptations and the broader world of New England folk horror.
To celebrate the show’s recently announced second season, let’s appreciate how the “Widow’s Bay” cast channels icons to create a unique black magic.
Kate O’Flynn as Patricia Moyer
Start with a queen who’s usually too polite to scream. Kate O’Flynn stole viewers’ hearts as Patricia Moyer, the socially awkward civil servant with a badass streak. Into one timid, fastidious package, she layers a few different archetypes.
Patricia says she was the lone survivor of a serial killer decades before; her peers think she’s lying for attention. To play a weird outcast, O’Flynn assumes a perpetually defensive posture and a resigned, almost deadpan sadness in her voice. Then there are her wide, traumatized eyes. They broadcast unease. Think of Shelley Duvall using the same tool as Wendy Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of King’s “The Shining.”
Whenever Patricia interacts with the now-adult mean girls from her past, O’Flynn directly echoes Sissy Spacek’s performance in “Carrie.” Originally created by King, Carrie also found herself excruciatingly ostracized by her peers in Brian De Palma’s 1976 film version. O’Flynn’s just-kinda-off Patricia borrows brilliantly from Spacek’s gawky, cringing turn. Without delving too far into spoiler territory, Patricia also unwittingly taps into supernatural forces at a social event in Episode 4, “Beach Reads.” While the plot details diverge, O’Flynn acts out beats that mirror Spacek’s in “Carrie.” Deluded euphoria at finally being accepted. Full-pitch panic when she realizes the sick truth.
Patricia truly became a fan favorite for filling the “final girl” archetype. Episode 8, “Your Baggage,” digs deeper into her past when that pesky slasher the Boogeyman returns. As the masked figure lumberingly pursues Patricia, O’Flynn taps liberally into the fight-or-flight instincts of Laurie Strode, Jamie Lee Curtis’ original final girl from John Carpenter’s “Halloween.”
The Final Girl Guide: 7 Iconic Examples + Tips on Playing Horror’s Heroic Archetype“Widow’s Bay” has beaucoup fun playing on the trope, too. O’Flynn allows Patricia’s steely competence to shine through; hilariously, she’s every bit as indefatigable as her pursuer. O’Flynn’s single-minded focus evokes Curtis’ battle-hardened take on Laurie from later “Halloween” sequels.
Matthew Rhys as Mayor Tom Loftis
Matthew Rhys brings a similar, brilliant texture to Mayor Tom Loftis. At the outset, Tom fulfills the genre role of skeptical outsider. Unlike most of the characters, he wasn’t born on the island and doesn’t buy into all this stuff about sea hags and damned bloodlines.
In the first episode, “Welcome to Widow’s Bay,” Rhys barely conceals the tourism-thirsty mayor’s exasperation at the community’s supposed superstitions. Sounds a little like Gillian Anderson’s drily logical Dana Scully on Chris Carter’s “The X-Files,” right? And like Scully, Tom slowly accepts that the truth is out there—but that doesn’t mean he has to like it.
Matthew Rhys Still Isn’t Sure He’s Mastered the American AccentRhys plays his character’s plunge into the island’s strange past with kicking-and-screaming bewilderment. At times, his performance feels like a direct homage to Sgt. Neil Howie, another stuffily incredulous authority figure swept into the occult traditions of an isolated village, played by Edward Woodward in Robin Hardy’s “The Wicker Man.”
Stephen Root as Wyck Crawford
To round out the core “Widow’s Bay” triad, Stephen Root’s town curmudgeon Wyck Crawford epitomizes another beloved horror archetype: the old man who knows stuff. Root delivers lines in a gruff Maine dialect and moves like a fisherman with barnacles on his joints. He plays the character’s wisdom as hard-won and long-ignored. Fred Gwynne’s turn as Jud Crandall in “Pet Sematary,” a King adaptation directed by Mary Lambert, is an obvious touchstone for Root’s work. Haunted. Agitated. Steeped in his hometown legends.
But return to the “long-ignored” aspect. Root gives Wyck the short fuse of a marginalized trauma survivor who doesn’t waste time convincing people. His rough condescension toward doubtful Tom feels awfully comparable to Linda Hamilton’s pre-apocalypse warrior Sarah Connor in James Cameron’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” At the very least, the two would have a lot to talk about over beers.
To really understand how previous genre performances inform “Widow’s Bay,” though, you’re gonna need a bigger boat. Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws,” that giant of coastal horror, is a Rosetta stone for understanding the characters of “Widow’s Bay.” Wyck nods to Ahab-esque shark hunter Quint, played by Robert Shaw. Every time Kevin Carroll’s Sheriff Bechir Clemmons tries to keep all these idiots safe, it echoes Roy Scheider as Chief Martin Brody. And so on.
Finding reference points for a role can be an essential part of an actor’s process. The “Widow’s Bay” ensemble demonstrates how to work with the text, not against it.
