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Widow’s Bay<\/span><\/p>\n Credit: Apple TV<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Widow\u2019s Bay<\/em> is not only one of the best TV shows currently streaming, it\u2019s one of the best shows of 2026. It\u2019s also one of my favorite horror-comedy series of all time, with one banger of an episode after another. While most of these hover around half an hour, the show is so smartly written and cleverly crafted, more than enough story is packed into each short installment. It\u2019s brilliant, and that makes Apple\u2019s announcement today all the sweeter: Widow\u2019s Bay <\/em>will return for a second season.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the moment audiences arrived in Widow\u2019s Bay, they\u2019ve been hooked on every eerie mystery, unexpected laughs, and cursed secret that Katie, Hiro, Matthew, and the entire team have created,\u201d said Matt Cherniss, head of programming, Apple TV, in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s become one of those shows everyone\u2019s talking about, and we\u2019re thrilled to see audiences continue to embrace it. We can\u2019t wait to return for another season.\u201d<\/p>\n Showrunner and EP, Katie Dippold, added, “Season two is about how everything is great on the island and there\u2019s nothing to worry about,” which is rather cheeky. Nothing to see here folks! Martha\u2019s Vineyard also has knife-wielding men in masks and creepy sea hags!<\/p>\n Widow\u2019s Bay<\/em> tells the story of a remote island village off the coast of New England that is haunted by a mysterious evil. We\u2019ve seen this evil manifest in various shapes, from demonic self-help books to terrifying clowns, and we\u2019ve even traveled back into the island\u2019s sordid past and its founder, Richard Warren (Hamish Linklater). <\/p>\n The first season has focused largely on the story of mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) as he attempts to transform the town into a tourist destination, but keeps finding himself confronted with inexplicable terrors and a deeper mystery about the island\u2019s curse.<\/p>\n Patricia (Kate O\u2019Flynn) has had some standout moments as well, including two of my favorite episodes of the season. Stephen Root plays Wyck, a true believer in the town\u2019s supernatural perils, who serves as something of a foil for Tom before they become unlikely allies. The entire cast is phenomenal, from Dale Dickey (who plays the hilarious genealogy expert, Rosemary) to Kevin Carroll (who plays the town\u2019s much-beleaguered sheriff).<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the bad news? We only have one more episode left of Season 1 and it\u2019s only half an hour long! <\/em>Then we\u2019ll have to wait who knows how long for Season 2. With the renewal just announced, there\u2019s no release date for us to look forward to yet, either. I just don\u2019t want this show to end, even though I\u2019m happily rewatching it as it releases each week.<\/p>\n On the bright side, Apple TV and Dippold have signed a multi-year deal, so hopefully we get more than just one more season. And if this show is anything to go by, hopefully Dippold\u2019s future work is just as entertaining.<\/p>\n My one concern is the Season 2 Effect. I can\u2019t even count the number of shows that begin with a really, really strong season and then either come out with a dreadful second season or just a . . . not nearly as good second season. Sometimes these are genuinely bad, like the second season of Yellowjackets.<\/p>\n Often, they just feel rushed or sloppier (Deadloch<\/em>) or lose a bit of their lustre (Severance<\/em>) or like the show should have been an anthology series instead (Stranger Things<\/em>) or just tonally all wrong (True Detective<\/em>). Many times, it\u2019s as though the first season has been planned out really carefully and then the creators and writers flounder with the second. <\/p>\n