There’s no synopsis or explanation of any kind that can prepare viewers for the weirdness of The Secret of Widow’s Bay, the new Apple TV series. Starring Matthew Rhys, a major television name and the lead in projects like The Americans and Perry Mason, the production blends genres like suspense and comedy in a plot that mixes together references to horror literature, with inspiration drawn from the tone of Stephen King’s stories. The result is a delight for anyone not looking for the standard story of more traditional TV.

The names involved in the production make it clear where the script’s humor comes from. The showrunner is Katie Dippold, from Parks and Recreation, and several episodes are directed by Hiro Murai, best known for the acclaimed series Atlanta. The full experience of those two works takes on very different contours in Apple’s series, since the story here follows an island in New England, in the United States, that appears to be cursed. The mayor, played by Rhys, is not only skeptical of the rumors but also intends to turn the place into a national tourist destination.

Loftis, the mayor, moves through this comic fantasy like a citizen who is, just like the viewer, lost amid so many strange and unexplainable events. He starts to believe when his family gets involved, and then all the supporting characters begin to move beyond the conspiratorial outline and into a realm of horror with spiritual touches. At a certain point, all of this turns into slasher suspense, period drama, and even environmental tragedy, all within the span of four episodes.

Widow’s Bay doesn’t concern itself with taking the absurdities seriously, not even the sickest details of the curse hanging over the island. The town’s population, in fact, lives with its secrets just as comfortably as the series lives with the script’s genre shifts. Dippold channels her comic streak into Patricia (Kate O’Flynn) and Loftis’s office, while the familial side of everyone around them takes on a drama light enough that comedy isn’t the only relevant trait of those characters.

The fact that it doesn’t cling relentlessly to the mystery itself gives Widow’s Bay a special lightness. On the other hand, not diving into every answer with the same determination as series like From or Lost may alienate a certain type of audience, since the plot isn’t wildly interested in the next plot twist, but rather in the next opportunity to create a situation strange enough to become unique. And it’s fair to say that, in this first season, the mission was accomplished with flying colors.

O Segredo de Widow's Bay

Created by: Katie Dippold

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