Widow’s Bay Episode 9 Recap: The Last Warren Descendant Is Revealed

I remain in awe of Widow’s Bay. Much has been said about its balance of horror with humor, but it’s the little things that give the show teeth. There’s the way Matthew Rhys expresses spiritual cynicism with just a look, or even the right exhale of his breath. The way Kate O’Flynn can conjure pity while exuding strength and self-assurance. And come on, Dale Dickey as Rosemary, who is every chain-smoking geriatric without a drop of fucks to give that we’ve ever dealt with at the DMV. What a crime that Widow’s Bay is about to end, because I could have used a weekly dose of Tom getting his ass kicked (in the existential sense) all summer long.

The penultimate episode, “Emergency Shelter,” is really one for the books. It’s the best showcase yet of creator Katie Dippold’s unique voice, with the episode (written by Bobak Esfarjani) grappling with the most heinous thing you can imagine—the explicit consideration of committing murder—with gags that left me wheezing for air. And it’s because of the little things the show does so well that makes Widow’s Bay, and this episode in particular, an absolute home run.

Kicking off with a quick prologue where we revisit the children of Richard Warren and endure the terror of their cursed fates befalling them (this show is a comedy, by the way), “Emergency Shelter” zips to present-day Widow’s Bay. A true motherfucker of a storm is slamming the island, but Tom (Rhys) is reluctant to trigger the siren. (I remain gobsmacked that Widow’s Bay is essentially a supernatural Jaws with the cowardly mayor as the protagonist.) For selfish reasons, Tom doesn’t want to declare an emergency. But his more reasonable subordinates like Patricia (series MVP O’Flynn) insist he’s doing more harm than good. Sucks for Tom—just as his son was starting to connect with him.

There are no words I can say that can do any justice to the five minutes spent in Tom’s office. Dale Dickey screaming, “My sciatica!” left me in tears. But the whole gag is just one long setup for Patricia to follow the mystery of Richard Warren’s bloodline.

Tom eventually yields and triggers the sirens to force Widow’s Bay into shelters. It’s a problem for everyone, but most of all for Kevin Carroll’s Sheriff Clemmons. In last week’s episode, he learned from Patricia all about the curse of Widow’s Bay. Now he’s racing to get him and his pregnant wife off the island before she goes into labor. Tom gets distracted by a hilariously useless subplot involving faulty generators—he literally travels back and forth like he’s in Mad Max: Fury Road—but when he returns, it’s story time.

Rosemary’s long presentation about the Warren bloodline should be a dud. Visually, it’s just people sitting around looking at a projector against a truck-dump of names to faces and personalities we’ll never know. But the reason why it all works? Dale Dickey as Rosemary. She carries the entire scene on her bad back (“My sciatica!”), and what should be a snooze-worthy history lesson becomes the slow-burn unraveling of the last living Warren descendant. And yes, there are jokes. I laughed at the painting gag, but the lesbian/R-word bit killed me. My sides actually, legitimately hurt. (For future reference: Never do ab workouts the day before a new Widow’s Bay drops.)

I was steeling myself for the last Warren member to be Tom’s son, through Tom’s deceased wife. (Though now I realize the problematic implications of the show identifying a mentally ill person as part of a cursed bloodline.) Or Patricia. Imagine if the show’s best and coolest character were the one Tom has to kill to rid Widow’s Bay of its curse. Turning your lead protagonist into the “slasher” of a horror story wouldn’t just be brilliant, but also foreshadowed by the entirety of last week’s episode.

But the last living Warren is… wait for it… ol’ Ruth Livingston, played by Katherine Callan. Tom’s elderly secretary and occasional babysitter for Evan is the last one standing between Tom and his dreams for Widow’s Bay. It is, of course, an abhorrent thing to consider what they’re considering. But what a bold choice for Widow’s Bay to have its second-to-last episode climax in a quiet office room with three people sitting around debating the ethics of killing a lonesome elder. Again: This show is a comedy. But the weight of the debate climax is immense. How does Katie Dippold do it?

We end this week on an ominous note. The intensity of the dramatic score mixed with the prison-esque framing of Tom as he steps out into the howling storm. Again, it’s the little things that make Widow’s Bay so worthwhile. I’m going to miss this place.