Aaron Ploof
Season 1 of Widow’s Bay ends with a shock. Tom’s son, Evan, is the last descendant of the Warren bloodline. Consequently, Tom is faced with an existential crisis that will shake him to the depths of his soul. This sets up the perfect stage for Season 2. Let’s get into it, shall we?
The situation that Tom finds himself in at the end of the season is an extension of the Trolley Problem. Before, Tom had to choose between killing Ruth and letting everyone in Widow’s Bay die. Now, Tom is faced with an impossible choice: kill the person he loves most in the world or kill eight people.
What, kill eight people, you say? Yes, indeed. In the finale of the season, poor old Dale is subjected to the horrors found on those terrible film reels. They specifically outline the process that must be followed if the town is to quell the curse. The people must be fed to the monster dwelling beneath that trap door in the basement room with the chair. The film reels also mention that to appease the demon, a soul must be sacrificed for every separate ring of the bell. The episode ends with the bell ringing eight times, signaling that eight souls must be given over.
Which option will Tom choose? Or will there be a third choice that lets him escape this crucible? If I had to guess, we’ll probably see the latter, although the road there will be fraught with obstacles. One of the things a good horror story needs is hope. The hope for a somewhat happy ending for Tom hangs in the balance. I expect that if Tom does not kill Evan, something else might. Whatever that something is, we’ll have to wait and see.
There are several more plot points to follow at the end of the episode. One of these is the question as to whether Ruth survived her gunshot. When her foot starts to wiggle, Tom looks down at where she was hit with the bullet, and it looks as if it only grazed her face. He quickly asks Bechir to get her to a hospital, stat. Yet, after that scene, Ruth doesn’t appear again. Is she dead?
I assume it depends on what Katie Dippold wants to do with her character. That, and whether the actress who plays Ruth, K Callan, survives until the next season. Callan is 90 years old, which means she may not live long enough to be featured in the next go-round. I suspect that Dippold has two plans for her: one where she lives, and one where she dies.
Speaking of Ruth, she mentions that one of the previous individuals that she dated got bit by an animal and then became that animal. That calls to mind another scene in the episode, when Bechir notices a few signs on the wall while waiting for Chell to be checked on. A sign for first aid for bites is one of them.
Apparently, between the final moments when Ruth got shot, and the storm stopped, and the end of the episode, Chelle had her baby. This spells doom for the child, as s/he will never be able to leave the island unless the curse is lifted. Chelle doesn’t know about the curse yet, so Bechir will probably reveal it to her next season.
As for the monster that caused all this trouble, what is it truly? The speech that Wyck gave at the end of Episode 7 mentioned a monster pulling at his leg in the deep sea. Is this the same demon that dwells underneath the town’s surface?
These are the questions and trials that face our heroes in the second season of Widow’s Bay. I expect the follow up to be darker, more intense, and filled with even more ethical conundrums and philosophical explorations. You can expect to read more analyses when the next season starts.
See you then!
