Widow’s Bay Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Emergency Shelter

Critic’s Rating: 4.15 / 5.0

4.15

Did you expect to revisit the beginning of the Widow’s Bay curse? Me either, but I love it!

We still don’t know why nobody can leave the island or exactly what the curse entails, but we know that being born on the island has been a pain in the arse since it was founded.

Has the island also worked as some kind of birth control? Because with all the people stuck there, shouldn’t there be a much larger population?

Eh, it doesn’t really matter until you have to trace 400 years of family history. And I’m happy with those Widow’s Bay citizens we are slowly getting to know.

Every episode, there is another oddball character that comes out of the woodwork with something to say about the island and its history. Now, Patricia just closes the door in their faces. She was one of our characters of the week for a reason.

While the storm has been brewing inside of Tom for a while now, a literal storm was tearing apart his dreams of being the next Martha’s Vineyard, and he wasn’t happy about it. Who would be?

Patricia was his voice of reason. He had to sound the alarm. People were dying. They might die there. While on vacation. That’s hardly a selling point. Isn’t it better if they actually get home to visit again?

Tom’s reaction to the impending storm was to take it out on the island’s history, beginning with the portrait in his office. 

It’s not every day a large historical painting is heavy enough to practically suffocate you when it falls, but it’s also not every day you pull half the plaster off the walls with it, either.

Rosemary, ever the vigilant employee, almost left Tom to die under it. Until she tweaked her sciatica merely trying to budge it.

That scene is a perfect example of the subtle humor that permeates this series and has made it such a sensation this TV season. Near death? Whatever. Let’s snicker over it.

But as for that painting? It held the answer to the mystery of why the bloodline didn’t die off with Richard Warren’s family. 

Because his daughter, Frances Warren, washed ashore after their boat capsized at the end of Widow’s Bay Season 1 Episode 6, and she became Frances Fisher. (Not the actress of today, mind you). 

But 400 years later, tracing the family lines to find who is keeping the bloody curse alive would be a lot of work. Did you catch the allusion to the Holocaust, as Tom asks, “And then what? We round them up?” 

This shows us how Widow’s Bay can be both hilarious and tragic within minutes. How many other shows have that kind of range?

But he was right. What do they do if they track down the remaining members of Richard’s family? Do they hunt them one by one until they’re all gone? Is that who they need to become to survive?

It’s a pretty dire suggestion, and by the end of the episode, it becomes a turning point in this story.

But before they realized that 400 years wasn’t as hard to tackle as they imagined (again, this place is only so big, and they’re captives… how hard could it be?), Tom’s only recourse was to sound the siren. 

The storm, of both supernatural and natural origin, was coming, and the island was already rippling with supernatural activity. As mayor, it’s his job to keep his citizens and visitors safe.

Poor Bechir got the message from Patricial on Widow’s Bay Season 1 Episode 8. His wife cannot give birth to their baby on that island. So, in the middle of a storm, the poor bastard was trying to round up supplies to escape.

That was never going to happen.

That storm was brutal. Remember Todd the ‘schroom shaman from Widow’s Bay Season 1 Episode 5? He got swept up in the storm, which was enough to really shake Tom’s confidence. 

There’s nothing like seeing someone sucked into a funnel cloud to urge you to act.

Once everyone else was safely inside, the storm was swept aside as the island’s history took center stage.

Thank God the storm shelter is under city hall because Wyck and Rosemary had made short order of that problematic 400-year ancestry.

Rosemary felt so good about being this useful, and she made it as dramatic as possible, which pricked at Tom’s waning good nature and put Patricia on edge.

Personally, I found Rosemary’s commentary hilarious. She doesn’t have a politically correct bone in her body. And on an island like this, did we really expect the issues of the day to infiltrate anyway?

All of this led to the belief that the final survivor was Ruth. Ruth, who hadn’t made it to the shelter, was going to ride out the storm on her own at home.

Right away, Rosemary and Wyck thought, what the hell? She’s old. She’s unmarried and childless. She’s lived a good life, and taking hers won’t be that much of a hardship for the island.

Patricia took offense at their reasoning as well as their weakening morality. Does Tom really want his son to grow up somewhere that would do something like that?

But Wyck was right. If they took Ruth out of the equation, the storm would abate, physically and metaphorically. People would be free for the first time since the island was founded.

Those who lived there would have a future free of fear and captivity. At least, that’s the hope. Since it’s never been tested, they can’t really be sure. But are they sure enough to take a life to test the theory?

Tom has another gust of courage, and just before the credits rolled, he suited up and headed outside. He had already planned to ensure Ruth’s safety. Now he has a reason to visit. He can probably make her death look like an accident due to the storm. How lucky is that?

The wheels are in motion. Tom has the opportunity to save the day. Will he take it? I’m not so sure.

I mean, come on! Widow’s Bay is not a limited series. For reasons unknown to me, it isn’t renewed yet, but with the ever-increasing conversation around this little gem, it will be.

The last thing we want is for the island to actually become the next Martha’s Vineyard. When was the last time you saw a TV show or a movie about that little slice of life? Exactly.

Tom may not be able to finish the deed. Or the storm may stop before he feels he has to take nature into his own hands. If the immediate danger is over, why not let her die naturally?

Or what if the storm intensifies, Tom kills Ruth, and nothing changes? Either way, it’s likely the story has other secrets up its sleeve.

You don’t create a series this watchable that turns so many heads without leaving the best for last.

That’s right, visitors; we’re in for a humdinger of a finale. 

Do you have any predictions? I know you’re unlikely to share them with me here, but I would be so excited if you did.

Join me for the Widow’s Bay Season 2 finale next week, and I’ll have a little something extra tucked inside from one of the stars.

You’re going to want to see it!