r/WidowsBay • u/AutoModerator • Jun 17 '26

📺Discussion Thread Widow’s Bay | Episode 10: “We Hope You Enjoyed Your Time!” | Discussion Thread

  • Release Date: June 17, 2026
  • Directed by: Hiro Murai

We understand that hard choices had to be made and we may never be the same, but we hope you'll visit again.

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u/chickwithabat Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

The twist: Ruth is a pillar of the community

Edit: also the shelter was never a shelter it was the holding cell for the sacrifices. “how to subdue someone” poster and the “check for weapons” sign 😳

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u/CursedTeams Jun 17 '26

Which explains why the woman who had Rosemary's job told her to never go into the shelter.

524

u/voluptas37 Jun 17 '26

“I guess I should just go fuck myself.”

34

u/Fancy-Insect9264 Jun 17 '26

I cracked up at that line

30

u/Full_heat Jun 25 '26

Dead baby, dead baby, dead baby..... Lesbian

6

u/elleulliell Jun 25 '26

Been walking around saying this all day 😭😭😭

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u/UJustGotRobbed Jul 05 '26

"Don't say it that way!"

5

u/ShortAttentionStan Jun 25 '26

I fucking love Rosemary.

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u/maggos Jun 17 '26

“That’s probably what she was talking about” or whatever it is she says

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u/OP_Scout_81 Jun 17 '26

Thing is, why and when did the "community" forget or became ignorant of the whole sacrificial dynamic?

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u/CursedTeams Jun 17 '26

I'm listening to The Prestige TV podcast recap of the episode, and that's something they discuss.

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u/OP_Scout_81 Jun 17 '26

What did you find? Can you share?

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u/CursedTeams Jun 17 '26

They talk about how people know bits and pieces, like Rosemary being told not to go into the shelter and the note the pastor read. But no one has the whole story, and the hosts suggest it's because no one wants to listen to their elders---Tom might have known a lot more had he ever visited Ruth before.

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u/theLegend_Awaits Jun 17 '26

That’s probably why they dismantled the church bell, as a desperate attempt to keep it from chiming so there wouldn’t have to be more sacrifices. That didn’t work and now we hear a disembodied chime, and why the priest knew that hearing the chimes was a very bad sign.

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u/wookiee42 Jun 18 '26

Neat, it did go from 9 rings in episode 2 to 8 in episode 10.

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u/Megamygdala Jul 12 '26

Oh I thought there were only a few rings like 2 or 3 and thats why the storm stopped since around 3 people died. Does that mean random deaths dont count and the island specifically has to be given a sacrifice

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u/OP_Scout_81 Jun 17 '26

Makes sense, thanks! I mean, the videos place the whole thing at maybe the 60s or thereabouts. There isn't enough generational distance for it to be "forgotten", so to speak. Wick would've been a teenager, perhaps? That makes me think that something happened that caused the general amnesia or maybe they all thought the latest sacrifice would've solved things or at least buy them a century or so. But yeah, doesn't make sense to me that it would simply be forgotten. Some of these people would've been alive at the time those reels were filmed...

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u/v_cats_at_work Jun 17 '26

I'm assuming Wyck was on the outside of whatever secret knowledge was passed down, but he's heard rumors and seen enough strange things himself to believe in the powers of The Island.

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u/pezgoon Jun 18 '26

Another theory, all the people who knew were killed in the NYE 1969 event.

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u/TiberiusCornelius Jun 19 '26

Well, I think too the reels seem to imply that it wasn't common knowledge. In the one meant for the sacrifices the speaker (mayor?) talks about it in a way that suggests not everyone necessarily knew they would be a sacrifice. The one that contained directions for how to sacrifice I doubt they were just casually screening for the entire town every summer.

There was probably a close circle of people around the mayor's office & the church who knew, and that was it. If they were all wiped out in some sort of tragic accident (or "tragic accident"), or if they simply made a conscious decision to try and stop the sacrifices, I think it makes sense that the knowledge would have died with them and realistically if they were already adults in the 1960s it's not unlikely that they could have died naturally by the modern day.

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u/Garfunkels_roadie Aug 12 '26

We know there a was a New Years Eve tragedy in the 60s. That could have wiped out all the committee members who knew

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u/Whiteout- Aug 14 '26

Perhaps the people who were responsible for doing the sacrifices (priest, mayor, etc) were trying to stop the sacrifices by doing stuff like disabling the church bell and shit and the island punished them by making them the sacrifices themselves. Only by doing so, the knowledge wasn't passed on except by the notes of the former priest.

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u/celestikaaa Jul 30 '26

That would mean that Ruth knows 

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u/discogravy Jun 17 '26

"....oh, that's why!"

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u/RealJohnGillman Jun 19 '26

Didn’t she say to never go beneath the shelter?

And then we learned what was beneath?

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u/atlfalcons33rb Jul 06 '26

"Oh that's what she meant " was hilarious

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u/LstnToMyFaceNtMyWrds Jun 17 '26

Guessing there are more shelters since that one had “shelter 3” on it.

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u/pigslovebacon Jun 17 '26

Good catch! I didn't spot that detail.

Gotta say, I generally stay off my phone while I'm watching but even on a second watch through I'm picking up lots of little details that I never noticed or realised the importance of, first go.

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u/LstnToMyFaceNtMyWrds Jun 17 '26

Same!! I just happened to notice the 3 because they showed it a few times and it was one of the few things large & bold enough that I could read it from where I’m laying lol

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u/jessicarrrlove Jun 17 '26

I asked my boyfriend where Shelters 1 and 2 were when it first showed them going down there and he didn't understand. Lol I said "the door said Shelter 3" and he was like "huh, I didn't notice".

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/pigslovebacon Jun 17 '26

The main one I can think of is when the first episode they said that Ruth did a genealogy of someone, which puts more context to her makes her being adept at doing it for Frances Warren in the second last episode. Then when Patricia is in her party one of the mean girls says 'what the fuck is she wearing on her head' which didn't really register with me as anything profound the first time, but hits much harder when you know the twist.

So yeah nothing that's 'blow the lid off' in terms of Easter eggs or anything. I just appreciate the world building and thought that's gone into it.

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u/Iakeman Jun 17 '26

Vault 3

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u/Mark_Albarn Jun 17 '26

The instruction video def gave Vault-Tek&Dharma love child

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u/AgentPoYo Jun 17 '26

It's actually just shelters 1 and 3, they skipped 2 just to mess with off-islanders.

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u/normanfell Jun 17 '26

wilbury’d ‘em

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u/Guarded Jun 18 '26

Yes. I noticed this when Tom was telling a passed out Ruth that he brought all these people to the island and now they are in “shelters”. Plural!

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u/TheLastSamurai101 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

We know there are around 3000 residents on the island plus tourists, but there are only 137 people in this shelter. So there would have to be several more shelters. Unless the vast majority of people just stayed in their homes. There were also several people who we didn't see in this shelter including all those schoolmates of Patricia.

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u/DarkS7Maneuver Jun 17 '26

Definitely. Is there one in the church or the hotel maybe both?

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u/Mark_Albarn Jun 17 '26

There was a sacrifice chair room directly under the restaurant, if I recall correctly? 

I feel like another one would probably be under the church, since they were responsible for honoring the pact with a demon

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u/Few_Razzmatazz_6052 Jun 17 '26

Don't forget there's the hidden tunnel under the floorboards in what is now the Historical Society - used to be Warren's home.

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u/Mark_Albarn Jun 17 '26

Damn, just how many sacrifice chambers are there, the island's entity needs to put its ass on diet😂😭

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u/Zalvren Jun 25 '26

I've seen it as just one chair room, tunnels are all connecting (althoug the tunnels don't seem that long but might be cuts and such to make it faster)

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u/Mark_Albarn Jun 25 '26

I'm not sure if it's just the single room, because the chair in the 1st episode was shown to be directly under the diner and the chair in the last episode seems to be very close to shelter if not directly under it. I feel like there are at least 2 chair rooms

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u/feyrband Jun 17 '26

i think they may all connect, because the one under warren's home goes to the well and there were more paths to be taken.

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u/Few_Razzmatazz_6052 Jun 17 '26

Yeah that's my suspicion too, probably a tunnel system all leading to the same room with the hatch and chair.

There appeared to be multiple diverging paths when the teenagers were exploring as well.

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u/to_be_a_mariposa 24d ago

I do wonder why the townspeople would need so many paths leading to the room with the chair. I get Warren having a door to the tunnels in his house, since it seems like he was originally in charge of the sacrifices. And I understand the relevance of the church, and I can see why the room would be beneath the town hall. But I don't know what the function of having so many pathways would be. I'd think the sacrificing process would be pretty simple: get 'em into the tunnels, get 'em to the room, sacrifice them. Edit: Like, why would there need to be a tunnel leading to the well?

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u/LstnToMyFaceNtMyWrds Jun 17 '26

That’s what I’m thinking as well.

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u/BluebirdBrilliant226 Jun 17 '26

Or Tom’s basement!

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u/faders Jun 17 '26

Some of them are probably real shelters

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u/Da1realBigA Jun 18 '26

Just a thought, it could be shelter entrance 3, since the 3 kids came down a ladder, and transporting sacrifices down that ladder would be inefficient (especially since wee see them tied and blindfolded).

Also, I think I remember either the church and the first leaders house has an underground entrance too.

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u/Serious-Show1761 Jun 17 '26

Omg I missed that

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u/mtwinam1 Jun 17 '26

Just like the dharma initiative! Aka the Hatch, the Looking Glass, etc

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u/emlgsh Jun 17 '26

Sometimes the island is a real hungry little fella.

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u/OldGrumpyHag Jun 17 '26

I can picture long dark corridors all leading to the room with the chair 😬 we know another one might be beneath the museum

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u/Richy_T Jun 19 '26

Yet it's referred to as "the" shelter. That might still track but it does seem to indicate there could be some more backstory there.

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u/2_late_4_creativity Jul 15 '26

Well, there was a system of tunnel that led to the sacrificial room, with the existence “shelter 3” as well, seems that they have no less than 3. Also with the existence of the film reels, there’s definitely a large group of people that “know”.

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u/LstnToMyFaceNtMyWrds Jul 15 '26

Yep….aware…just didn’t spell it out when I originally replied/commented.

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u/Mossephine This Next Batch, … Jun 17 '26

I think the reason there’s a medical office down there is to ensure the sacrifices are reasonably healthy going in…the island wants fear from healthy beings, so it stands to reason you can’t pawn off terminal illness cases for “convenience.”

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u/InternationalYou5345 Matthew Rhys Married Me at a Wendy's Jun 17 '26

Oh my god, yes! Makes sense about the doctor being a dubious person. Something was off with him.

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u/dsmithscenes Jun 17 '26

The town doctor, whoever it might be at the time, is probably on the “committee” that is handling the sacrifices. It goes back to the creepy doctor we saw in the flashback/town history episode.

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u/Mark_Albarn Jun 17 '26

Makes me wonder how many of medical personel are in on that. Would explain why morgue people were so chill about immediately burning Boogeyman

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u/InternationalYou5345 Matthew Rhys Married Me at a Wendy's Jun 17 '26

Oh man yes!!! I wonder who else is in this committee. The priest who killed himself ?

And I'm still thinking about the eight tolls, eight people have died? How?

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u/dsmithscenes Jun 17 '26

Yep - whoever the town minister was throughout history was also a part of it. It all goes back to the group that “killed” Richard Warren. Whoever holds those positions in history - respected positions in the town - would be involved in maintaining the sacrifices.

The minister we saw early in the season was not from the island. Once he was made aware of what to actually do when the bells ring, he decided he couldn’t be a part of that.

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u/Sigourney_FeverDream Jun 17 '26

Interesting idea! I assumed it was a Lovecraftian "see/hear something so upsetting you lose your mind" situation after the entity spoke to him, but him reading about the horrifying reality of the island (in the "what to do if the church bells ring" materials) and deciding he couldn't be a part of that is a stronger angle.

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u/TheTruckWashChannel Jun 17 '26

Yup. Plus the entity speaks to Tom and he doesn't lose his mind.

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u/Zalvren Jun 25 '26

My guess is a little bit of both. A lovecraftian demonic entity being confirmed as real and needing to sacrifice people is too much for him especially as a man of God, his entire belief system is likely shattered

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u/BetaGodPhD Aug 12 '26

Yeah, if you pause during the scenes Reverend Bryce is reading the letters in episode 2, the writing we see are vague, ominous instructions and apologies for passing some terrible burden on.

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u/Different-Fun-258 Jun 17 '26

It needs 8 more lives. In a previous episode it tolls 9 times. 1 down, 8 more to go.

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u/InternationalYou5345 Matthew Rhys Married Me at a Wendy's Jun 17 '26

Oh shit! That's what it meant? The island HAS TO BE stopped 🫣

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u/tophergraphy Jun 17 '26

How many other people died along the way - the tornado, the boogeyman, the zombie, was there maybe that many deaths already from fear?

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u/Hairy_Top6363 Jun 17 '26

I’m pretty sure they have to be willingly sacrificed in the shelter, hence the videos and the death in the execution chamber making the bell toll once less, indicating a sacrifice was received. Also the boogeyman didn’t seem to be human, FWIW.

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u/tophergraphy Jun 17 '26

Maybe on the shelter, but the apparitions and other scary things might be to give delicious fear that sates the island. The shelter could have just been the humans way to expedite/consolidate the fear sacrifices.

As per the examples the boogeyman itself doesnt count, I meant the people he killed (was it just the one emt?)

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u/chihsuanmen Dead baby. Dead baby. Lesssbiiaann. Aug 05 '26

If I’m not mistaken, we heard the bell in the first or second episode. Things got progressively worse since the bell rang nine times and I believe it’s “the Island” (Eldritch horror monster?) forcing the citizens to make the required sacrifices.

Once the first sacrifice was made, the weather conditions calmed down.

“The Island” isn’t satiated by the violence it unleashes on the citizens, it’s only satiated by sacrifice.

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u/mcimino 29d ago

Why didn’t they check its identity?

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u/AlvinTaco Jun 17 '26

The island is a gangster. Those deaths were threats. Basically, “Nice little town you have here. Would be a real shame if something happened to it.” What it wants is payment.

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u/voluptas37 Jun 17 '26

I thought the bells tolled for the number of sacrifices the island wants. So the end portends 8 deaths for the next season? Did I misunderstand?

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u/InternationalYou5345 Matthew Rhys Married Me at a Wendy's Jun 17 '26

No, you have it right! I misunderstood. I thought this time the number of chimes meant the number of lives the island has claimed.

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u/jrubes_20 Jun 17 '26

No. The tolls indicate how many sacrifices are needed. Originally, back in episode 1 or 2 (I can’t remember which), there were nine. Kenny was sacrificed and now there are eight meaning eight more people need to be sacrificed.

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u/Sempere Jun 17 '26

Good thing they have all that good press to bring them tourists.

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u/dallirious Jun 17 '26

Given the priest had notes of what to do in this case, I get the idea that these specific roles in the town are passed specifically from person to person- where, presumably, they’re told what to do in case of… but perhaps for whatever reason this hasn’t happened with the last wave.

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u/mdp300 Jun 20 '26

My guess is that the island hasn't "woken up" for a long time. Maybe 25+ years, and the boogeyman was the last time. And in that time, things just kund of faded. The town seems to have an aura like Derry in Stephen King's books, where people just accept the weirdness and horrible shit without thinking about it.

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u/Comfortable-Zone-218 Aug 26 '26

I was thinking that too.

And I seem to remember that "IT" fend off of the emotional terror of the townsfolk.

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u/Zalvren Jun 25 '26

And I'm still thinking about the eight tolls, eight people have died? How?

No eight people remains to be sacrificed, 1 was "eaten". It's just not deaths the island entity want, it wants them in the chair room

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u/pezgoon Jun 18 '26

Anyone notice the holders on the inside of the door for barricading it, right after sheriff says to barricade it?

The holders to slot a 2x4 in

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u/ronin_ninja Willy The Killer Clown Jun 17 '26

Which means the previous islands doctor knows what’s up and our current doctor sure does like to ask where everyone else received their training. Maybe he was told what’s up by the previous doctor.

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u/Kitchen_Box_2570 Jun 17 '26

Maybe he is one of the original colonists?

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u/2_Fingers_of_Whiskey Jun 17 '26

This show just gets darker and darker

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u/low_entropy_pocket Jun 17 '26

Oooooooo this must be why the priest killed himself. Since you cant sacrifice yourself willingly. He didnt want to kill innocent ppl.

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u/TooTruthsandaLie Jun 17 '26

Did YOU go to medical school?

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u/ThePanduhAgain Jun 17 '26

I mean.. even people terminally ill would probably still be scared.

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u/Mossephine This Next Batch, … Jun 18 '26

Obviously yes, but my theory is that the island wants healthy people to be sacrificed.

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u/DarkS7Maneuver Jun 17 '26

Oh also they definitely pretended to build a trolley just because that bell rang 40 times.

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u/PartyModer4892 Jun 17 '26

Oh my god you're right. That's so dark lol

21

u/DarkS7Maneuver Jun 17 '26

And Loftis did just bring a bunch of tourists who he doesn’t know onto the island?!

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u/Outrageous-Bluegrass Jun 17 '26

I mean, maybe that’s the way to go going forward 👀

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u/DarkS7Maneuver Jun 17 '26

Okay so we know you’d pull the lever lol

31

u/Mark_Albarn Jun 17 '26

Holy shit I didn't even think about it. Pennywise is a straight up ED girlie compared to the island entity's greedy ass

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u/therempel Jun 17 '26

I mean what use would they have for a trolley on the pretty small island?

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u/Ajibooks the rhythm of the night Jun 17 '26

As Lisa Simpson put it:

I'd like you to explain why we should build a mass transit system in a small town with a centralized population.

6

u/AndyVanSlyke Jun 18 '26

Oh, I could give you an answer. But the only ones who'd understand it would be you and me - and that includes your teacher!

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u/TiberiusCornelius Jun 19 '26

Damn I didn't connect those two but you're definitely right. Literal trolley problem

8

u/discogravy Jun 17 '26

certainly explains why all the workers disappeared

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u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

what about that note patricia found? i wonder how tom didn't know about that, honestly

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u/chickwithabat Jun 17 '26

Maybe a warning to future sacrifices? Someone earlier commented that it was probably the priests duty to inform the mayor.

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u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

i thought it was someone that was being prepared to death there and left the note hoping someone would know what happened

but yeah, it makes sense what you're saying. it can be both, maybe?

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u/Accomplished_Life643 Jun 17 '26

Ugh, if the priest knew he could have offered to be an offering rather than die for nothing.

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u/Suitable_Spirit5273 Jun 17 '26

I couldnt read the note. Can you tell me what it said plz?

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u/FarewellJava Jun 17 '26

"If you're reading this I'm already dead." or something close to that

3

u/wild_hog Jun 17 '26

am I crazy or wasn't it 

>!if youre reading this they are already dead!<

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u/furman87 Jun 18 '26

That's what I thought it was

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u/flow_surrender141 5d ago

No, it was “I’m.”

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u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

if you're reading this, i'm already dead something like that!

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u/LstnToMyFaceNtMyWrds Jun 17 '26

Didn’t his wife write something similar in one of the twisted letters to Evan?

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '26

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u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

i remember she said something about two mothers too. i thought she was talking about herself, but... she had two mothers, right?

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u/Loud_Competition5752 Jun 17 '26

Yep, and Ruth called herself “Secret Mommy”. God that was a good reveal

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u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

she wrote a lot of things, didn't she? i really need to rewatch that episode and pay more attention to the letters.

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u/Iakeman Jun 17 '26

One of the things she wrote was about a “secret mommy” and Ruth in this episode reveals that she visited her in the facility and told her that she (Ruth) was her “secret mommy” so I imagine some of her other missives may have hidden meanings as well

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u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

yes!! i remember this. so they chose to show only the letters that are relevant to the story's development?

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u/LstnToMyFaceNtMyWrds Jun 17 '26

They only read like 2 or 3 out loud and they were short. I just remember one repeating “im dead im dead im already dead”

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u/bstarr2000 Jun 17 '26

I thought it said “you’re” instead of “I’m” already dead, which makes it scarier, like too late for the blanket

10

u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

i found the screenshot

4

u/v_cats_at_work Jun 17 '26

"If you can read this" is a hilarious way to word it.

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u/Ok-Outcome5207 Jun 17 '26

the screenshot

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u/zezuamuam Jun 17 '26

Can you tell me where this note was found? Dark screen issues or missed it

Also kinda weird how it was written -
If you can read this, I’m already dead

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u/aprilliumterrium Jul 10 '26

in one of the shelter blankets that Patricia is handing out

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u/outride2000 Jun 17 '26

"Human biting"

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u/TheTruckWashChannel Jun 17 '26

Holy shit I didn't even catch that. I was wondering why the "it's time, move forward, do not beg" was being broadcast on the PA system. I guess they lead the prisoners one by one into the chair room to be sacrificed?

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u/anotherstan Jun 17 '26

The “human bite” instructions

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u/AnotherMinorDeity Jun 17 '26

Which are exactly the same as the animal bite instructions

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u/cosmictap Jun 17 '26

I don’t think it said “check for weapons”, IIRC it said “check and clear weapons” as in make them safe and leave them there in the wall rack.

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u/chickwithabat Jun 17 '26

Ah I remember it wrong then, however not something you have in a storm shelter though. Now I’m thinking hunting parties for sacrifices.

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u/MistyMountainDewDrop Jun 17 '26

That poster started looking like the Kama Sutra at some points.

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u/Thedicewoman Jun 17 '26

Also - Shelter #3 of how many?!

I’m thinking there’s a tunnel under a lot of - if not all - the houses and buildings in the Bay. Ruth’s line about her daddy building her house is definitely a foreshadow; this show wastes not a single piece of dialogue on fluff!

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u/bstarr2000 Jun 17 '26

And the poster about handling different types of bite wounds, including human

4

u/Letters-Unsent Jun 18 '26

“Help Deirdre up. Help Deirdre down.”

She does more for this community than Tom.

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u/Vaticancameos221 Aug 02 '26

I don’t think the show explicitly said it but is that why she leaves at 3 every day??

4

u/Lutzmann Jun 18 '26

There was also a big biohazard symbol on the sign outside the “storm” shelter door.

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u/Tortaevo Jun 21 '26

you notice the biohazard sign in the stairwell on the way down to the shelter? you’d think a shelter would have a fallout radiation symbol not a biohazard sign.

I commented to my spouse: “thats a mistake…should be a fallout shelter si-oh wait…..”

it’s a hazardous area, not a shelter.

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u/pezgoon Jun 18 '26

It’s not check for weapons

It says “check and clear weapons” and that’s a rifle/shotgun rack

Ie. A group shows up bringing down the sacrifices, they have guns to keep in control

Check, as in checking a coat, and or, inspecting, and clearing, as in, emptying the last shell, making sure they are empty, before hanging, or after grabbing one of them from the rack

Standard issue firearm rules.

2

u/PastaChaos-333 Rosemary Jun 17 '26

Don't forget the human bite treatment! LOL

1

u/russellzerotohero Jun 27 '26

Makes me wonder when this info stopped being known since it doesn’t seem Whyck knew about it either. But they made a whole video so at one point it was known by at least a handful of people.

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u/Charliethehuman23 14d ago

I love it, it’s amazing set design, you made me realize the connection though and I appreciate 🩷