Ever since 2017, there has been a hole in the television schedule that’s shaped like Twin Peaks. David Lynch and Mark Frost’s groundbreaking supernatural mystery redefined what television could be upon its debut in 1990, bringing full-blown surrealism into the living rooms of unsuspecting ABC viewers. The prequel Fire Walk With Me — the most harrowing entry in Lynch’s legendary filmography — cemented the show’s cult following, and the long-anticipated third season, aired 25 years later as promised, provided the mind-expanding climax to the director’s career.
Though many have tried to emulate its mixture of horror, humor, and stealthy social commentary, there simply can’t be another Twin Peaks. It would take a generational talent like Lynch and about a decade of intensive transcendental meditation practice to even come close. The latest contender to the throne is Apple TV’s Widow’s Bay.
Widow’s Bay is an island community somewhere off the coast of New England whose roots trace back to the Puritans. Compared to most of the island’s longtime inhabitants, Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) is a relative newcomer. He sees big potential in the quaint fishing village; after all, Martha’s Vineyard is old hat. Tom thinks the upcoming visit by a New York Times travel writer (Bashir Salahuddin) is his chance to put the Bay on the map.
As Wyck Crawford (Stephen Root) points out, the reason why Widow’s Bay has never attracted a big tourist crowd is because it’s been cursed for the last 400 years or so. This is not a good place for visitors. Spooky stuff is constantly happening on Widow’s Bay. Phantom church bells ring. Monsters appear out of the fog. Supernatural nor’easters carry away the unwary. And, worst of all, if you’re born on the island, you can’t leave or you will die. This is a problem for Tom’s son Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick), whose mother succumbed to the island’s curse while she was giving birth. Tom can’t quite bring himself to believe the locals’ ghost stories, but he has never let his son leave the island, either. Evan, for his part, just wants to be a normal teenager and hang out with his stoner friends.
He’s not the only one trapped in Widow’s Bay by a quirk of fate. Tom’s executive assistant Patricia (Kate O’Flynn) grew up on the island, but she never became a book club wine mom like her classmates because she was the only person to survive an encounter with The Boogeyman (Airon Armstrong), a local serial killer, and no one believes her story of how it happened.
Over the course of the 10-episode season, The Boogeyman returns, supernatural storms ravage the island, tourists meet grisly fates, and the 400-year-old founder of Widow’s Bay (Hamish Linklater) returns from the dead. Tom freaks out, while the locals take it mostly in stride. Sure, weird stuff happens, but it’s just another day in Widow’s Bay.
The assembly of talent both on and off screen (including director and executive producer Hiro Murai) makes Widow’s Bay exceptional. Creator Katie Dippold broke into the biz as a writer on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Parks and Recreation, so while the show aims for a Peaks-like tonal mixture, it achieves greatness by leaning farther in the comedic direction. While it never achieves Lynchian gravitas, it mines laughs from its well-developed characters and offers many scenes which are quite scary. If you’re a Twin Peaks fan, or just like good television, Widow’s Bay can scratch that itch.
