How Widow’s Bay pulled off the best slasher since 2018’s Halloween

In Widow’s Bay episode 7, Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) lastly lifted the curse that had been hanging over his New England island city for hundreds of years. Sadly, no one instructed his assistant, Patricia (Kate O’Flynn).

With three episodes remaining, Widow’s Bay followers in all probability may have guessed that the curse wasn’t lifted simply but, however what happens in Episode 8, “Your Baggage,” nonetheless comes as a shock. The episode consists of the Boogeyman, a Michael Myers-esque monster who used to hang-out the locals years in the past, all of a sudden reemerging and chasing Patricia round city for practically half-hour straight.

The result’s each scary and humorous in a novel means that Widow’s Bay at all times manages to nail. However for series creator Katie Dippold, a slasher story was virtually an excessive amount of to incorporate within the present’s jam-packed first season.

“I did not know for positive if it was proper to carry the Boogeyman into this season,” Dippold tells Polygon, “but it surely simply felt like it could be time.”

The explanation why finally got here down to 1 factor: Dippold wished to put in writing one other Patricia episode. (An earlier episode, the place Patricia unintentionally throws a cult-suicide celebration after utilizing a demonic ebook to plan the occasion, is one other standout in a present filled with them, and audiences have already honed in on O’Flynn out as breakout star of Widow’s Bay.)

“I wished to do an episode that was simply watching this 40-year-old girl run across the neighborhood being chased by this man,” Dippold says. “That appeared like a enjoyable problem.”

The episode additionally options a number of moments that lean into Patricia’s social nervousness, notably when she flees the Boogeyman and winds up at a ebook membership gathering of all her outdated highschool classmates that she deliberately wasn’t invited to.

“Patricia’s at all times afraid of being disregarded,” Dippold says. “She’s much less afraid of dying and extra afraid of nobody giving a shit if she dies. [Editor’s note: Relatable] And she or he’s extra afraid of nobody believing her and her story about what occurred with The Boogeyman.”

Finally, for Dippold, that is what Widow’s Bay is absolutely all about. The present’s monster-of-the-week format may be what retains issues attention-grabbing, but it surely’s all in service to the solid of weirdos who name this cursed island their residence.

“As a lot as we’re going into the totally different horror tropes, I actually wished it to all be in regards to the characters.”

Widow’s Bay is streaming on Apple TV.