Widow’s Bay Episode 1 Recap: The Dubious Hauntings

The horror-comedy show ‘Widow’s Bay’ is set in the titular town on a New England island, where most residents believe an age-old curse looms over their community. Still, their mayor, Tom Loftis, is a firm skeptic who is desperate to bring the town out of its underdevelopment by increasing local tourism. However, it’s hard to sell a place as the prime vacation spot when it’s perpetually infested with poor cell reception, no Wi-fi, and a local population that believes multiple superstitions and ghost stories about their own history. Even so, Tom manages to score an exciting meeting with a writer in a big publication, which promises to put his little town on the map. Unfortunately for him, the meeting falls on the same day a local sailor, Shep, goes missing, compelling the resident alarmist, Wyck, to sound the sirens. SPOILERS AHEAD!

A Disappearance, An Earthquake, and a Fog ‘

Mayor Tom Loftis’ day gets off to an awful start since it actually begins in the nighttime when an earthquake and a power cut stir him from sleep. To make matters worse, he finds out that his teenage son, Evan, had sneaked out of the house yet again. When morning comes, he’s instantly bombarded with one crisis after another. The entire town is struggling with the power cut. Fortunately for him, the light power comes back in the nick of time, securing the dinner reservation he had made at Salty Whale, the only fancy restaurant in the port town. Tom has a very important meeting with a travel writer, who works for the New York Times magazine, and has, for some reason, agreed to potentially do a profile on Widow’s Bay. Therefore, the mayor is eager for everything to go well.

The fact that Sheriff Bechir calls him with news of the disappearance of Shep, the sailor, certainly doesn’t help matters. Nor does the fact that Arthur, the writer, arrives earlier than expected and ends up at the town’s historical society, the quickest way to make oneself familiar with the Bay’s quirky history. Still, despite the lore-dumping, consisting of economically crucial whaling practices and even one instance of cannibalism in the 1700s, Tom manages to divert Arthur’s attention onto the correct path, leaving him to explore on his own. When he returns to the town hall to discuss Arthur’s visit with his team, they get an unexpected visit from Wyck, a town local, who is convinced that Shep’s disappearance is a direct result of the “curse” circling the town.

The Unauthorized Sounding of the Sirens

The news of Shep’s disappearance seemingly arrives as a confirmation of a theory that has been brewing in Wyck’s head for some time now. He firmly believes that the previous earthquake had been a sign of the island “waking up,” and that a dreadful curse will soon be upon the town residents. Furthermore, he insists that the intense fog brewing on the horizon is probably what took Shep, and by nightfall, it would have come for the rest of them. For the same reason, he insists that Tom ring the sirens and shut down the town’s port for good. Naturally, this remains in direct contradiction with the mayor’s plans of encouraging tourism.

The fact that Wyck only has his faith and a few stories of old to back his claims also doesn’t inspire much confidence. Therefore, Tom lies to him and the others about how Shep has already been found. When he returns home afterward, Evan seems to have finally returned as well, albeit with a cigarette in his hand. Inevitably, the father and son have a conversation about the teenager’s reckless and adventurous spirit, an apparent inheritance from his mother. Yet, before he can properly exhibit any parenting chops, his presence as a mayor is needed once again. As it turns out, Wyck has overridden his decision and sounded the sirens, signaling the port shutdown on his own. Once Tom and Patricia get there, the mayor has to make a pricey deal: five minutes of hearing Wyck out in exchange for the sirens’ shutdown.

A Disheveled Shep Walks Into the Bar

Tom’s agreement to talk to Wyck brings them into a bar where the latter tries to make his case about the town’s cursed status. Yet, aside from a few half-baked stories from history, he doesn’t have much to show for himself. When the mayor refuses to take him seriously, an argument breaks out between the two. Wyck reveals that he believes Tom isn’t brave enough to lead the town because he has always been a coward. However, before anything can be resolved, a startling revelation takes place. Shep, the lost sailor, walks into the bar and promptly faints onto the ground. Afterward, once he’s taken to the hospital, the doctor deems him completely fine, save for the fall at the bar.

As a result, they had pumped him up with painkillers that would keep him knocked out for some time. During this time, Tom goes to see Shep in his hospital room, where the patient gains momentary consciousness. Notably, when he opens his eyes, they’re glossed over in white, similar to the stories of zombie sailors Wyck shared when trying to prove the town’s curse. It doesn’t take long for Shep to attack Tom, and the latter catches a glimpse of these same eyes. Ultimately, Shep faints again before any real damage can be done to the mayor. Afterward, the sailor passes away under mysterious circumstances while Tom finds himself doubting his firm skepticism about Wyck’s theories.

The Fog Comes and Goes

In the aftermath of Tom’s encounter with Shep, he is understandably shaken up. Yet, he has a crucial dinner reservation to get to in order to seal the deal on a plan he has been working on for a long time. Over dinner with Arthur, the mayor receives the good news that the travel writer greatly enjoyed the town. Still, he was also intrigued by the number of superstitions that the town residents seemed to harbor. For instance, it’s a widespread belief in Widow’s Bay that anyone who was born in the town cannot leave the island without courting quick death. Although Tom contests this belief and claims his own son, born and bred in the town, has been to the mainland, it remains hard to tell whether or not he is telling the truth.

Either way, Arthur isn’t much interested in the truth and only finds the whole thing interesting. Whether or not the town is cursed, he believes that it could be a huge tourism spot, even giving Martha’s Vineyard a run for its money. Halfway through the meal, the mayor notices the heavy fog taking over the town. Therefore, when the electricity cuts off again, he goes frantic. If Wyck had been right about Shep, Tom couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if he was right about the fog as well. Consequently, when the diner patrons try to leave, Tom ends up making a big scene, blurting out that the fog will kill them all. The fact that the power comes back on shortly thereafter and the fog proves to be very undeadly leaves the mayor, unfortunately, looking like a fool.

Wyck Tries to Get the Local Inn Shut Down

Despite the unfortunate end to their dinner, Arthur still publishes his piece on Widow’s Bay, recommending it as a viable tourist spot. Thus, Tom is happy to run around town, ensuring that the community is prepared to accommodate the large population of tourists he’s sure will arrive soon. Inversely, Wyck remains determined to make sure that doesn’t come to pass. For the same reason, he attempts to nail the front door shut of the local inn, which many believe to be haunted, inevitably, when the inn owner, Kurt, and Tom can’t stop him, Sheriff Bechir has to step in and take him away. Still, Wyck continues to insult and demean Tom from the backseat of the cop car, which leads the mayor to call the other man a stupid hick.

Naturally, many in the town, especially those loyal to Wyck, take offense at the encounter. They make their displeasure known to the mayor when he drops by to pick up food from the local diner. Tom tries to explain his side of the story and ultimately fails when everyone continues to insist that the inn is well and truly haunted. As a result, he ends up accepting the townsfolk’s challenge to spend a night at the inn and interact with all the ghostly superstitions surrounding the place. In return, if he can prove there’s no supernatural activity in the inn, the town has to stop talking about their ghost stories and welcome his upcoming tourism plans.

Tom Encounters William at the Inn

When Tom agrees to stay a night at the inn, he initially remains worry-free about the whole thing. He stays at the Captain’s suite, considered to be the most spooky of them all, to the point where Kurt doesn’t even want to set foot in the place. Likewise, the innkeeper refuses to actually stay at the palace overnight, leaving the mayor all alone. At first, he tries to complete the tasks on his checklist, crossing off each superstitious belief with no fallout. However, soon enough, he begins to get spooked out, especially when he hears another presence in the inn. Nonetheless, this turns out to just be another guest, William.

The two lone guests eventually end up spending some time together, drinking at the honor bar, playing board games, and swapping stories. Tom tells the man about his taut relationship with his father, who was a Widow’s Bay local unlike his mainland mother. As a result of his parents’ separation, Tom spent his summers in the town, which he detested on account of his father constantly sharing scary stories about the place with him. In turn, a too-drunken William goes on a tangent about his apparent hate for the town. In the end, he encourages the mayor to complete the list and go into the inn’s creepy crawlspace to prove everyone wrong once and for all.

There’s Black Mold in the Walls

Tom’s decision to follow William’s advice turns out to be a big mistake. Once he actually makes his way into the creepy crawlspace, the other guest also arrives at the basement and attacks the mayor, as the clown killer, one of the many legends associated with the inn. Nevertheless, before he could kill Tom, the latter awoke the next morning in his suite’s bed. In the aftermath, he calls up Kurt and Bechri, who both conclude that no one else had entered the inn last night besides Tom. Even the CCTV footage shows Tom drinking in the inn all alone. Wyck manages to be in the right place at the right time and immediately calls the situation out for its seeming connection to Willie the Clown Killer.

When Tom and Kurt try to continue denying Wyck’s claims, he challenges the innkeeper to enter the Captain’s suite to back his claims with his actions. Jurt agrees to do the same, first for ten seconds and then for thirty. Surprisingly enough, at the end of the last round, the others entered the suite to find it entirely ramshackled, proving that something strange had happened. Yet, the mess also leads the Sheriff to make an unusual discovery. As it turns out, the walls of the suite are covered in black mold. Wyck argues that such short exposure to the mold would not have driven either Kurt or Tom crazy. Even so, as the innkeeper offers to fix it up before the tourist’s arrival, the mayor gets presented with a new dilemma: believe his own experiences and admit the town is haunted or seek out more digestible explanations?