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Widow’s Bay has captivated viewers (and now Emmy voters, with its staggering 19 nominations) since its series debut in April. Blending horror with comedy, the Apple TV show takes place in a fictitious New England island town afflicted by a centuries-old curse that brings about supernatural evils.
In episode one, Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) clashes with local resident Wyck (Stephen Root) as the latter tells him the cursed history of Widow’s Bay. Loftis is immediately skeptical, and the argument turns personal.
“I really like scenes where no one is really wrong and you can understand why everyone’s arguing so hard for their case,” says creator and showrunner Katie Dippold of scripting the interaction. “To Wyck, it’s like the danger signs are there, but you’re too arrogant to pay attention to them.”
“We’re catching the tail end of this ridiculous conversation [of] Wyck giving the island’s history, and he’s treating it as deadly serious. Loftis is watching Patricia [Kate O’Flynn] get sucked into it, and Loftis finally just blows up,” Dippold explains. “I liked showing Loftis’ impatience with Wyck and the island and also that he’s ignoring all this stuff that’s about to ruin his life.” Dippold, who also jokes that Rhys is “actually very good at swearing,” adds that a lot of the show’s comedy is Loftis just biting his tongue and many residents of the island “rage-baiting” him. “Wyck also thinks Loftis doesn’t take the island’s history seriously, and it’s that message of the dangers of not knowing your history.”
“[Tom] has this dream of this island being — he says here the next Bar Harbor — but we learn later, what he really wants is Martha’s Vineyard,” Dippold says. “But to Wyck, that’s just a waste of time. Like, you’re really looking for some kind of external validation. … Loftis is like, ‘I want this to be a better place for my son, and you’re holding on to these old, ridiculous ideas. Why would you get in the way with this?’ ” Conversely, Dippold adds, Wyck sees Loftis as this “kid who only came to the island on summer visits, so he sees him as this outsider.” But as the scene continues, it turns out that Wyck does have a personal issue with Loftis.
When Dippold pitched the character of Mayor Tom Loftis to Rhys, she felt in her gut that he was the right actor to portray him. “He just played it so beautifully, like he was in a drama, but being naturally funny with pitch-perfect comedic timing,” she says, pointing to this dialogue as an example. “When Loftis says this line, ‘I have done nothing to deserve this lack of trust,’ there is a genuine hurt.”
“Wyck seems like the town drunk, but he’s actually very smart and has a very sharp eye and really can size someone up pretty quickly and accurately,” Dippold explains. “I think that he just always had Loftis sized up. He could respect a kid daring to ring his doorbell and run away, but what really bothers him is someone pretending. Honor is very important to him, and Wyck just sees a coward.”
Dippold gives credit where credit is due. “There’s no one that knows toeing the line better than Stephen Root. I just like this scene when he says the line, ‘That’s how I know you’re not a leader because you’ve always been a goddamn coward.’ The way he delivers that … I know this is so cliché, [but] it’s all in the eyes. They’re all very good actors, and watching these two go toe-to-toe is a blast.”
“You don’t learn this until episode two, but Loftis’ father never respected him, and Wyck almost symbolizes that figure to Loftis,” says Dippold. “Loftis is, in a way, arguing with his father, and as much as he’s frustrated with this local, it’s something bigger for him and it opens this wound. So when it takes this turn and Wyck cuts to the core of something that would humiliate Loftis, that really rattles him.”
This story first appeared in a July stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
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