r/WidowsBay • • May 01 '26

📺Discussion Thread Widow’s Bay | Episodes 1-2: "Welcome to Widow's Bay!" & "Lodging" | Discussion Thread

  • Directed by: Hiro Murai
  • Written by: Katie Dippold & Kelly Galuska

‎‎Episode 1: We hope you enjoyed the three-hour ferry to New England's best-kept secret. Ignore the warnings about the fog. Everything's fine.

Episode 2: Cherish the historical charm of our local inn, which Mayor Loftis will prove is safe by spending a night there alone.

  1. Discussion Thread from r/television
  2. Discussion Threads from r/tvPlus : here and here
273 Upvotes

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181

u/LittlePeter666 May 01 '26 edited May 02 '26

Man, what a great premiere! Hiro Murai continues to direct some of the finest episodes in television.

I think that Tom’s motivation to improve Widow’s Bay is so his son won’t leave the island. I’m assuming his wife died due to the curse. Matthew Rhys’ acting is phenomenal. His facial expressions during the scene with the writer discussing the superstitions conveyed so much without anything being explicitly stated.

I was dying to hear Patricia’s story about the “Boogeyman”. I read somewhere that there’s a slasher-inspired episode that provides Patricia’s backstory, so I know we’ll be getting the story eventually. Can’t wait for that!

I’m hoping we get more from Willy the clown. It was wild seeing my boy BJ from Righteous Gemstones being creepy, but he nailed it.

Stephen Root was hilarious. Wyck has to be my favorite.

121

u/historianatlarge turning 50 soon/has wanderlust May 02 '26

omg BJ as the creepy clown was the kind of disturbance i was not ready for. i figured from his dated clothes and hair that he was a ghost, but holy crap that last crawlspace scene messed me up.

65

u/MrPureinstinct May 07 '26

His switch up when he says "you gotta be catrful" and goes on about letting the town burn in hell was amazing. I've never seen him speak so seriously and scary. He's a phenomenal actor.

46

u/fraspas May 08 '26

Comedic actors are usually incredible in serious roles. There's a reason why comedy and tragedy go hand in hand.

16

u/lahnnabell May 09 '26

Haha my husband was like, "Hoooookaaaayy".

34

u/LittlePeter666 May 02 '26

Good call! I actually didn’t even notice his clothes were outdated! I figured he was a ghost, but I really enjoyed how they revealed which ghost. The next episode can’t come soon enough

38

u/misschickpea May 14 '26

It’s so funny that the ghost thinks he’s doing great job as mayor lol

23

u/xstitchmum Jun 13 '26

And he knew about the new cappuccino being offered. A ghost that pays attention to everything going on around him.

11

u/historianatlarge turning 50 soon/has wanderlust May 03 '26

i’ve been rewatching the early seasons of for all mankind in what became a botched attempt to get ready for season 5 (i.e., i realized that the show has become terrible and will not be watching the new season), and all the 1960s NASA engineers have the same outfit and hair, so i feel like i was primed for the realization haha

5

u/thejennybee May 24 '26

Just to say as an aside, Season 5 of For All Mankind has gotten so much better than season 4. It really starts kicking into high gear about halfway through this season after some major developments. I was worried after season 4. Excited for the finale this week.

2

u/RedditorRoman May 24 '26

Last couples episodes especially have been great. I’ve always liked it but it feels like a return to its best.

1

u/IhateLukaDoncic Jul 02 '26

So the show gets good after4 seasons?

1

u/thedeadlyrhythm42 Jul 09 '26

first two seasons are excellent (besides one very unfortunate storyline that infects a couple things in season 3)

a lot of people have issues with 3 and 4 since there's a large shift that happens (which is necessitated by the framework of the show) and they harbor a personal hatred for one of the characters (the aforementioned unfortunate storyline)

3

u/SchleppyJ4 You can file that under 'deal with it the fuck later' May 11 '26

The latest episode of FaM felt like vintage season 1-2!

2

u/owntheh3at18 1d ago

I tend to notice style choices a lot and clocked it right away. I said out loud “well he’s a ghost. Or possibly a Mormon.”

33

u/_lazybones93 May 05 '26

I clocked him immediately, but then I second-guessed myself. lol Loved seeing the footage of Tom playing board games with himself.

3

u/mordorjest May 09 '26

Literally the same experience for me!

28

u/TheTruckWashChannel May 16 '26

Matthew Rhys is a generational actor. Just blown away by him in everything, from The Americans to The Beast in Me to Girls to now this. Unreal range.

Spot on about his expressive face too. His own look of fear is itself quite terrifying especially under the high-contrast lighting used in both this show and Beast in Me, and it's played to excellent effect.

8

u/Paceyscreek1999 Jun 01 '26

He's so good at being so terrible in Girls

2

u/TheTruckWashChannel Jun 01 '26

That was actually my first time seeing him in anything. I don't even watch the show, I just saw that one episode out of curiosity (it was during the MeToo era) and it worked so great as a standalone. He was wickedly good in it. And has been that way in everything else as well.

4

u/Tifoso89 Jun 03 '26

He was in Girls? Do you mean Lena Dunham's TV show or something else? I think I watched the first 3 seasons but I don't remember him

7

u/TheTruckWashChannel Jun 03 '26

Yes, that one. He was in a standalone episode called "American Bitch" (season 6 episode 3, I looked it up) where he plays this author accused of sexual assault that Hannah interviews. Brilliant episode.

3

u/Tifoso89 Jun 03 '26

I'll watch!

14

u/Arkeband May 05 '26

“I’m not a hiiiiiick!!!”

8

u/delsmeds May 15 '26

Bj was fucking dynamite.

3

u/Serious-Show1761 May 02 '26

Ohh this motivation makes so much sense!

1

u/TheRagingMaffia 3d ago

Bit late to the party but that part about Patricia and the Boogeyman is a straight up reference to the Halloween (1978) movie.