Aaron Ploof
The following recap contains spoilers for Widow’s Bay S1E10, “We Hope You Enjoyed Your Time” (written by Katie Dippold and directed by Hiro Murai)
Season 1’s finale of Widow’s Bay provides an excellent conclusion to the show’s first run. It highlights thematic depth, explores a central philosophical idea, and presents dark, twisted material at the forefront of the narrative. The ending leaves viewers feeling deeply unsettled. It does all of this while still maintaining its trademark sense of humor.
Tom begins the episode by frantically flipping through Ruth’s medical files to find any justification for killing her off. In this instance, he wishes she had cancer. As he makes his way through her files, he notices a note in red pen next to two medication prescriptions: Oxycodone and Diazepam. The note urgently reminds the reader to make sure Ruth does not take these two together. This note will come into play later in the episode.
Tom drives silently to Ruth’s house. It’s obvious from Matthew Rhys’ excellent acting that Tom is deep in thought, steeling himself for the unspeakable act that he’s about to commit. He sits in his car near the entrance to Ruth’s house for several minutes. Tom and Patricia’s voices can be heard, arguing over whether Tom should do the unthinkable. He responds by telling Patricia to keep the visitors and the citizens of Widow’s Bay in the shelter and to keep an eye on his son.
As he approaches Ruth’s door, he notices a sign hanging in front: “Welcome to my Home,” it reads. The sign suggests Ruth’s innocence and sweetness. He calls for her, but she doesn’t respond. He knocks on the door, but no one answers. Slipping in, he finds her exercising on a treadmill. The kind old lady has gone two miles, proving that she’s still in excellent shape, despite being in her 80s. One can tell that these signs are already making it harder for Tom to do what he has to do.
Back in the underground shelter, things aren’t going well. Rations are looking thin. The crowds are getting louder and more rambunctious, and Rosemary lets slip a terrifying, darkly comic bit of info: the gal before her told her never to go into this shelter. Wyck asks for clarification, and Rosemary responds that the woman never told her why. Patricia hits back with a snappy retort: “Rosemary, how’s that story helpful right now?”
In a small room, Chelle (Sipiwe Moyo) is being checked on by a doctor, with Bechir close by. The doctor tells Chelle and Bechir it’s a false alarm. But one split second later, Bechir is yanked out the door and is told that the baby is coming tonight. This is unwelcome news for Bechir, especially since Tom is nowhere to be found. He corners Patricia and forces her to reveal where Tom is.
Elsewhere in the shelter, Evan’s love interest (along with a few other kids) is coaxing him to abandon his post, smoke some weed, and break his promise to stay put. He breaks it. I seriously thought that he would honor his word to his father this time. Honestly, I would have appreciated it and would have felt he had progressed in his arc if he did, but then we wouldn’t get the following reveal. The kids find the underground tunnel with the room that was revealed all the way back in Episode 1 and start messing around with the chair.
Let’s jump back to Tom and Ruth. Sitting in the kitchen, Tom sneaks a peek at Ruth’s calendar. It’s full. Amazingly full. Almost every day has something written it. Along with the exercise on the treadmill, this proves that Ruth is still robust and full of life. Not only that, but she’s also a dedicated friend. Every single day, she helps a woman named Diedre down her porch in the morning, and up her porch at night. Ruth writes stories too; she’s part of a writing club! The Romantic in me appreciated Ruth’s mention of how Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was written in the exact same way.
Tom eventually finds himself in the bathroom, where he locates the medicine that was mentioned in the notes. He’s experiencing serious doubt now, especially when it comes to Rosemary’s genealogy skills. It’s not shown, but it’s pretty much implied that he grabs meds from both bottles.
Ruth suggests tea. There are two different kinds: peppermint and chamomile. The peppermint is a pick me up, while the chamomile is calm and soothing. Tom picks and calm and soothing, but then immediately regrets it when he finds out it takes 27 minutes. Tom and Ruth look at Ruth’s past pictures. Apparently almost everyone made passes on her. Oh, and apparently one of Ruth’s former dating partners got bit by an animal and became that animal.
Tom notices a broach on the table. It’s the same one from Frances’s picture. It was passed down in the family. Tom and Ruth talk about the curse, and Tom sees a way out. What if he could get Ruth to willingly die?
And here’s where the core philosophical dilemma I mentioned in my last recap makes its appearance. It’s a classic: the trolley problem. If there was a train coming down the tracks and a lot of people are tied to one track, and only one is on the other, would you flip the switch so only one person would die? In this particular case, that one person is Ruth, an amazingly kind, personable, and sweet old lady. Of course, Ruth doesn’t pick up that she’s the victim, and Tom’s plan falls through. Point in fact, she actually refuses to solve the problem. She straight up admits that she wouldn’t even touch the switch. Instead, she decides not to touch the switch, as doing so would constitute her choosing to kill someone.
In this situation, Tom represents a utilitarian way of looking at the world. He believes he can manipulate the math of human lives to rewrite reality by killing Ruth. Ruth, meanwhile, takes on a sort of fatalistic absolutism. She believes her act would make her a monster. And in her moral absolute way of looking at the world, she surrenders to fate, refusing to use her will.
Nietzsche would argue that she robs herself of agency and does not use her power. Where Nietzsche would agree, is Ruth’s philosophy that life is beautiful, messy, and painful, and you have to take the good with the bad. This is the concept of amor fati, accepting reality as is. The saying she reads on the embroidery embodies this. But in the end, Tom attempts to kill Ruth anyway with dissolved pills. He confesses to his many sins (that of bringing tourists to the island) while he assumes she’s dead.
Back at the shelter, after wandering into a room, Dale discovers something truly horrific. Two reels: one for them, and one for you. Watching them reveals the horrifying truth: there is a monster underneath Widow’s Bay, and each knell of the bell toll (the one that the priest locked up) represents a need to feed on an individual soul to quell the curse. The shelter is the meat grinder and preparation room for these sacrifices.
Out in the main room, chaos has broken loose. The rations that Patricia and Wyck have given the citizens and guests are mostly expired. One man cries out that his is fine, and suddenly the whole room is on top of him. Dale bursts out and adds more fuel to the flame. “This place is a death trap!” he yells.
Tom checks on Ruth. She’s still alive, but she falls back asleep. Tom attempts to smother her with a pillow, but she awakens. Then the bombshell is dropped. Ruth reveals she had an affair with a married man. She gave birth to a woman, and that woman turned out to be Tom’s wife, Lauren. Which means that Evan is the last descendant. This is horrific news for Tom, but in the middle of hearing it, Bechir busts in and shoots Ruth.
Back in the shelter, Evan and company are still meddling in the secret room. Kenny busts in, tries to put a stop to their shenanigans, but gets locked in. Evan is on the outside, and after his friends leave, he hears a horrible scream. He goes back in, but Kenny has vanished. The trap door is open.
Suddenly, the storm stops. Both Tom and Bechir are struck by this oddity. Tom notices Ruth’s foot jiggle and looks at her ear. There’s blood, but the bullet only scraped it. Close call. Tom asks for Bechir to help him get Ruth to a hospital, but strangely enough, we don’t see her after this.
In the ending scene, there’s devastation from the storm all around the island. Houses are collapsed inwards, entire missing pieces of businesses have been ripped right out the ground. Eight bell tones ring. Tom exits the car and pitches the broach into the sea. He returns to Evan and drives away.
Check here next week to hear the implications of the finale, and what could possibly be in store for Season 2.
