Widow’s Bay 1×9 and 1×10 Review: “Emergency Shelter” and “We Hope You Enjoyed Your Time!”

Widow’s Bay season 1 episode 9, titled ‘Emergency Shelter’, and episode 10, ‘We Hope You Enjoyed Your Time!’, brought the debut season to a predictable conclusion while setting things up for a second chapter.

For those wondering, yes, I’ve decided not to do a written review of episode 8, titled ‘Your Baggage’, because not much happened. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed watching ‘Your Baggage’ because it allowed Patricia to shine as she finally dealt with the Boogeyman serial killer from her past. Patricia was very smart in how she fought against an undead entity. That’s the type of survivor I want to see more of, especially because even fictional characters have consumed similar media to us. However, Patricia’s journey didn’t have much of an impact on the main narrative involving Tom and the others coming to the realization that the curse was still in play.

‘Emergency Shelter’ and ‘I Hope You Enjoyed Your Time!’ worked as a two-parter, with the locals and tourists being forced to hunker down in a shelter to avoid a devastating storm across the island. Because our trio failed to end the curse even after killing Richard Warren in episode 7, ‘Emergency Shelter’ spent most of its time going over the Warren family tree. Turns out, one of Richard’s daughters had survived the boat trip, and as a result, there were a bunch of people to follow through the decades to pinpoint the presently living descendants.

Even though a whole lot of talking was involved, I have to give kudos to actress Dale Dickey as Rosemary. She kept me hooked as she guided Tom, Patricia, and Wyck down the extensive Warren family tree. Dickey’s way of conveying Rosemary’s sense of humor did a lot of heavy lifting as we went through centuries of folks to see who was still around today.

In a sense, I think historian Gerrie Doyle should have been the character to do what Rosemary did, but I understand the writers not wanting to involve yet another character in the trio’s mission to lift the island’s curse.

The reveal that the sole surviving Warren descendant was Tom’s elderly secretary, Ruth Livingston, was surprising. Having said that, I couldn’t help but feel that the answer to ending the curse couldn’t be so simple. Ruth couldn’t be the be-all-end-all for such a story. Something was up. And indeed it was.

If you have been following my episode reviews, you are aware of how annoying I continue to find Evan. He’s such a poorly written character in an otherwise well-written show that I immediately theorized there was more to Evan than just being Tom’s disobedient teenage son the moment he appeared onscreen. So, if you, like me, looked at Evan as a walking-talking plot device, you could see the puzzle pieces fall into place as episodes 9 and 10 progressed.

Yes, Ruth was a descendant of Richard Warren’s daughter Frances. However, unknown to many, including the personnel keeping track of birth records, Ruth had given birth to a daughter. Said daughter ended up being… drumroll… Lauren, meaning that the other alive Warren descendant was… drumroll… Evan.

The reveal about Evan was so predictable that I couldn’t help but laugh. I just knew he was put in the story to serve a particular plot point, especially because Evan had nothing else going on for him. Frankly, Evan could have appeared in only the first and final episodes, and I doubt anything of note would have changed.

With Evan needing to be killed to end the curse, I liked the predicament Tom found himself in. It was an interesting way for the writers to turn the tables on Tom. He asked Ruth about her answer to the ‘Trolley Problem‘, with Tom’s stance being how it should be okay to sacrifice a single person to save a bunch of others. However, Tom’s going to be singing a different tune now that his own son was required to be taken off the board to end the curse.

I liked Ruth’s answer to the ‘Trolley Problem’. Her opinion reminded me of Final Destination lore. Yes, you could pull the lever to redirect the trolley and kill a single person instead of a group of folks. But what if those people were supposed to die? What if death would still find a way to take those lives even after you saved them by deliberately murdering just one person instead? Hmmm.

With Tom being busy with Ruth and learning about her connection to Evan, Patricia and Wyck were occupied trying to keep everybody calm inside the shelter housing limited resources. The scenes inside the shelter offered some comedic relief. The shelter also offered a bit more development surrounding the curse.

From my understanding, the island demanded sacrifices because of the pact Richard Warren made, and apparantly, the islanders had been selecting certain civilians to be sacrificed to maintain peace over the decades. The shelter was basically a holding cell for the people meant to be sacrificed, complete with (what looked like) an electric chair.

With Widow’s Bay already being greenlit for a sophomore season, I’m hoping for the writers to take the time to flesh out the logistics around the curse and the entity demanding human souls as a sacrifice. One of the answers I would like is about the timeline for the sacrifices. I highly doubt it’s a yearly thing. But then again, the curse could have involved one soul a year for decades, and deciding to demand 8 souls (if you count the ringing of the church bell at the end of episode 10) just to be petty against Tom bringing tourists to the island. As I said, I would like the writers to start providing answers to some of the mysteries in season two.

The main trio got forced back to square one during the finale. And with Evan being revealed to be a descendant of Richard Warren, I’m very interested in seeing how Tom will navigate the situation now that killing his son is out of the question.

Also, do you think Evan’s so-called friends might be connected to something nefarious? I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re revealed to be connected to some kind of secret cult connected to the curse and Evan being part of their plans. Again, I need answers, Widow’s Bay writers!

Did you watch Widow’s Bay season 1 episodes 9 and 10? Are you excited about season 2?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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