Aaron Ploof
The following recap contains spoilers for Widow’s Bay S1E2, “Lodging” (written by Kelly Galuska and directed by Hiro Murai)
In the unsettling second episode of Widow’s Bay, titled “Lodging,” our hapless “hero,” Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), encounters a series of eerie elements: an ominous game called Teeth with pliers inside, a strange retro board game named Daddy’s Home, and a terrifying Clown Ghost. What ties these experiences together? They all occur during Tom’s overnight stay at the local Breakwater Inn.
The trouble begins when Tom insults Wyck by calling him an “f-in hick” in front of several townspeople as Wyck is cuffed by the local police. Wyck has been trying to nail a plank over the inn’s entrance, loudly declaring it off-limits due to reports of haunting. The innkeeper, Kurt (Neil Casey), refuses to shut down the inn, having invested a significant amount of money into it. He’s eager for the tourism that Arthur’s positive write-up is expected to bring. As we learned in the first episode, Tom is willing to overlook his unsettling experiences to promote the town. Arthur’s recommendation in the New York Times has piqued interest, even after Tom’s strange encounter with Shep.
Tom’s skepticism is evident; when several restaurant patrons challenge him to stay at the inn, he accepts the dare after some persuasion. The other men even offer to cover his stay. They caution him about a murderous clown and a ghostly figure named Ugly Hortense, a young bride left at the altar. To complete the challenge, Tom is given a checklist: stay in the Captain’s Room, venture into the crawlspace, and say “Ugly Hortense” to a mirror three times to summon her ghost.
Before heading to the inn, Tom speaks with the local priest (Toby Huss), who advises him to keep his bell tied up so his son, Evan, cannot ring it. However, when the priest checks on the bell, he finds it securely locked. He also discovers a note instructing him to follow specific steps if the bell rings unexpectedly while still locked away, although the audience is not privy to these cryptic instructions.
Meanwhile, at the inn, Tom is disturbed by spooky paintings, particularly one that depicts a person drowning in the ocean. Kurt introduces him to the honor bar, which is monitored by a camera to ensure guests’ honesty. However, Kurt is so frightened of the inn that he doesn’t dare stay the night and leaves Tom alone to sleep there.
Tom begins working through his checklist with a camcorder, filming anything unusual. Initially, nothing alarming happens, and he refuses to enter the crawlspace. He heads to the bar for a drink, though Kurt reminds him to log his drinks. Soon, the atmosphere turns creepy. Tom discovers several games on a bookshelf, including Run, Teeth (containing only a set of pliers), and Daddy’s Home. Things escalate when he turns on the TV, where a man welcomes him to Widow’s Bay and beckons him to follow, only to retreat out of frame.
From the moment William (Tim Baltz) appears in the episode, it’s clear to me that he is a ghost. I’m sure other viewers picked up on this quickly, especially those familiar with horror films. The two men engage in a game of Daddy’s Home, with some game pieces resembling a belt and a can of alcohol. They discuss their pasts until William suddenly becomes hostile toward the town’s citizens, startling Tom. However, this moment quickly passes, and William encourages Tom to finish his checklist and enter the crawlspace. This scene seemed lifted straight from The Shining, what with a ghost and alcohol being served to someone staying at an inn/hotel.
William’s ghost (complete with clown costume and makeup) scares the shit out of Tom in the crawlspace, only for Tom to wake up the next morning in his bed. Kurt, Wyck, and a police officer show up. They argue about what just happened, with Wyck aware that something definitely went down. The video taken from the parlor shows Tom playing the board game by himself, and no one is aware that William stayed the night last night. Ghost sighting confirmed!
Kurt enters the Captain’s Room to settle the matter, with the door closed. While on one side of the door, it only takes a few seconds; years pass inside the room. Twice this goes down, and both times Kurt looks worse for wear. The second time, the room is so old that mold has actually begun to grow on the walls. Poor Kurt comes out shaken, but nothing can shake Tom’s resolve.
Indeed, despite the deepening fear that is growing inside of Tom and his now not-so-skeptical nature, he insists on bringing tourists to the town. We may have seen a similar mayor in a certain water predator Spielberg movie, long, long ago…
As for predictions, I’m expecting the Daddy’s Home board game to be a bit of thematic foreshadowing for where the storyline goes from here. Toxic masculinity, perhaps? Coupled with the feminist hints in the first episode, there could be something here. I expect Tom and the rest of Widow’s Bay will ultimately pay the price for his stubbornness. A few more ghosts are bound to pop up, maybe even Ugly Hortense. But who knows where the show will go from here. I’ll be watching to see it all unfold, no matter what befalls this unfortunate island town.
