Widow’s Bay Got 19 Emmy Nominations – Here’s Why That’s So Deserved

The Emmy nominations dropped this week. And while it was largely expected that The Pitt and Hacks would dominate this year’s nod list, there was one show nudging towards the top of the pile that has so far been a bit of an underlier: Widow’s Bay.

Created by former Parks and Rec writer Katie Dippold, produced by Hiro Murai, and starring Matthew Rhys and Kate O’Flynn, the series is a perfect mix of Stephen King small town horror, dry comedy, and Lost-esque mystery in delicious 30 minute chunks.

Ahead of this week’s nomination announcement, people wondered whether the show would even be recognised at all.

Sure, it’s been receiving rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. Yes, it boasts 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But the show has yet to receive the universal acclaim of The Pitt. It’s not as instant recognisable as something like The Gilded Age or The Bear.

But thankfully that didn’t matter, because Widow’s Bay picked up a staggering 19 nominations, with nods in everything from the Outstanding Comedy Series category to Best Actor in a Comedy Series to casting to cinematography to directing.

 

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The show even beat Apple TV’s Pluribus, a series that was slated to be the platform’s major offering of the year in the midst of the Severance draught.

And if you’ve seen Widow’s Bay, all of this will make sense.

Rhys plays Tom Loftus, the skeptical yet easily thrown mayor who finds it difficult to lean into the town’s ever growing superstitions, only to discovers that Widow’s Bay is being subjected to a haunt spanning hundreds of years and plenty of ghouls.

Working alongside him are Patricia (Kate O’Flynn) and Wyck (Stephen Root), locals more familiar with (and accepting of) the town’s history, equal parts eager to face the horrors as they come. And oh, they do come.

It’s also really, really funny. Balancing comedy and horror is no mean feat, and too often ends in something that isn’t all that funny and isn’t at all scary.

Widow’s Bay perfects blending the two, presenting scenes that are genuinely unnerving, a horror that is unique while still paying homage to the scares that have come before, while expertly achieving laughs that actually feel earned.

There’s a sense of actuality in Widow’s Bay. It’s a town that feels lived in, with characters that feel authentic, and small town lore than feels completely accurate for a place so remote, its residents so insular.

Of course it has its pitfalls. Certain episodes could do with being a little bit longer, the climax a little less hasty.

There’s an entire episode mid season dedicated to the town’s origin, and even though guest stars Betty Gilpin and Richard Linklater earned Emmy nods for their roles, it takes you out of the drama, situating you in a place 400 years away from the characters we’ve come to know and care about.

Still, as a series it’s solid. So solid that I started my first rewatch immediately after the credits rolled on episode 10, not content to forgo my Widow’s Bay fix until season two eventually lands on screens.

Which it will. Apple TV already confirmed that the show’s story will be continuing. And with so many nominations already under its belt, it’s fairly likely we’ll be returning to the next Martha’ Vineyard for years to come.