'Widow's Bay' Season 1, Episode 1 Ending, Explained
Widow’s Bay Season 1, Episode 1, “Welcome to Widow’s Bay,” teases that the island is “waking up” and bad things are coming. After, we’re introduced to a fun cast of characters, including Matthew Rhys’ Tom Loftis, and a lot of lore. This sets the stage for a show where superstitions are a powerful thing, and Tom acts as a counterpoint, who doesn’t really believe in the supernatural besides sometimes bad things happening on the island.
But how does Widow’s Bay Season 1, Episode 1, end? And what about all the island lore that was randomly dropped throughout the episode? We’ve put it all together with an additional section on whether all this evidence points to the island actually being supernatural. Either way, we’re on a journey when it comes to this Apple TV show!
What Happened At The End Of ‘Widow’s Bay’ Season 1, Episode 1?
Widow’s Bay Season 1, Episode 1, ends with Tom and Arthur’s dinner at the Salty Whale. Throughout the entire episode, Tom has been adamant that the townspeople are crazy and that there’s nothing in the fog or supernatural on the island. But Shep’s attack shook his confidence. So, instead of focusing on Arthur and his day on the island, Tom keeps an eye out for the creeping fog.
When the townsfolk start leaving the Salty Whale, Tom starts coming up with any excuse to keep them inside. It comes to a point where Tom gets desperate and yells out, “There’s something in the fog!” The townspeople dismiss him and leave the restaurant. Nothing happens to them, and it’s at this point that Arthur approaches Tom and tells him that he’s got a good thing going on the island and doesn’t have to resort to supernatural gimmicks to get him to write something positive.
Distraught and a little shaken by his own reaction, Tom stays in the Salty Whale until it closes. The show teases a second attack with Kathy, who was outside smoking in the fog. But she’s only bringing Tom his bill. Trying to shake off the entire day, Tom goes and washes his hands. It’s at this point that the camera pans down, revealing that there are multiple floors beneath the Salty Whale. The final revelation is that there’s a chair with straps for your arms and head sitting in front of two metal doors that are ominously creeping.
What We Know About The Island From ‘Widow’s Baby’ Season 1, Episode 1
From the first few minutes, Widow’s Bay starts dropping hints about the mysteries and lore prevalent on the island. To help you keep track of important details, here is all the island lore revealed in Season 1, Episode 1, “Welcome to Widow’s Bay.”
The fog is coming, and it took Shep Clark.
The economy was dependent on whaling.
Newspaper clippings in the historical society museum read, “Priest Eaten by Whale,” “Man Found Dead by Horse,” and “Cannibalism in God’s House.”
42 passengers came from the mainland to settle on the island.
Gerrie interrupts Tom to say it was actually 43.
Tom says there was nothing on the island when First Mayor Richard Warren arrived. Gerrie adds, “Except for the teeth.”
The island held witch trial burnings.
There’s no wi-fi or cell service on the island.
The old hospital is safe to drive by. You just can’t stop.
The Boogeyman murdered teenage girls while Patricia was in high school.
The earthquake signals the start of the island “waking up.”
In 1846, there was a fog called “The Fog That Stole Souls.” The stages are as follows: Stage one, the eyes turn white. Stage two, loss of the five senses and delirium. Stage three, loss of erection.
Wyck warns of revenants of doomed sailors being something to worry about.
In 1873, the SS Mary and its crew had been missing for 62 years. The lighthouse was turned off to cause it to crash.
Tom wasn’t born on the island. Only visited during the summer as a teen.
Island lore says if you’re born on the island, you can never leave. Legend supported by two deaths: The cousin of a man at the Driftwood Diner died of a heart attack a month after leaving the island, and Marsha Dogan died of a stroke a day after she stepped on the mainland.
There’s a torture chamber three floors down from the Salty Whale. It has a pair of creaking doors in front of it.
Is Widow’s Bay Actually Cursed By The Supernatural?
So far, there’s been no confirmation that Widow’s Bay is actually cursed or haunted by the supernatural. That’s not to say that a lot of things that could be blamed on the supernatural didn’t happen. In the opening minutes of Season 1, Episode 1, the fog took one of the townspeople. Their return and the subsequent attack on Tom follow the narrative that Wyck built about sailors disappearing and becoming revenants. But at this point, that could still be explained as him falling overboard during a bad fog and then having some sort of medical condition.
Other physical things happening, like the earthquake or no cell service, could be explained by science. Maybe they’re on a fault line, or there’s some sort of magnetic field that could explain what’s going on. The same thing with the ominous fog bearing down on the island. It could be explained by unique weather conditions based on where the island is located.
Then, there’s the calendar and the torture chamber, a couple of floors down from the Salty Whale. The calendar itself could be a misprint. It was a calendar for wolves, but July was randomly a car crash. And the torture chamber could hint at a dark past grounded in humans just being terrible. But as more episodes pass by, we’re hoping that there’s actually something supernatural on Widow’s Bay.
