Nodding to 'Jaws,' 'Widow's Bay' casts a shadow on an island with strange happenings

In “Widow’s Bay,” premiering Wednesday connected Apple TV, Matthew Rhys plays Tom Loftis, the politician of a municipality connected an land 40 miles disconnected the seashore of New England. At first, we don’t rather cognize erstwhile we are — the TV sets are cathode ray, the phones are landlines and a cigaret instrumentality sits successful the municipality bar. Wi-Fi and the web are specified rumors. Is it quaint? Or is it creepy?

We are, successful fact, successful the contiguous day. Though Tom has lived successful Widow’s Bay since the commencement of his (now teenage) son, Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick), and spent summers determination increasing up, helium tin travel crossed arsenic some caller to municipality and caller to the job. Apart from Rev. Bryce (Toby Huss, ever gladsome to spot you), helium seems to person fewer friends — helium knows people, obviously, but galore mock him, for nary wide reasons, arsenic cowardly and soft. (He was elected politician lone due to the fact that helium ran unopposed.) His large thought is to marque the land a tourer destination, and to that end, helium has convinced a New York Times question writer to visit; overmuch goes wrong, but an nonfiction is written, and the tourists come.

The human-headed alert successful the ointment is the land itself, which is simply a supernatural smorgasbord, mostly quiescent but waking up conscionable successful clip to conscionable the visitors. (How tin the religion doorbell ringing erstwhile the bells are chained up?) In betwixt spasms of evil, the accusation is, it’s an OK spot to live, if you disregard the feckless teenagers, the middle-aged mean girls and the overfed barflies. (Exactly what radical bash determination for a living, including immoderate Tom worked astatine earlier helium became mayor, is unstated.)

And though the section past depository is thing but artifacts of atrocities (old paper study of cannibalism, a murderer’s mask), lone Wyck (Stephen Root, large arsenic always) sees thing paranormal successful it, and he’s mostly written disconnected arsenic a drunk. (Paradoxically, galore bash subscribe to the conception that leaving the land is simply a summons to a speedy death; adjacent Tom won’t hedge that stake erstwhile it comes to Evan.) One thinks of the citizens of Buffy’s Sunnydale, blithely going astir their business, not moving distant contempt being located connected a Hellmouth. Or the radical of Los Angeles, not reasoning astir earthquakes.

With its New England land setting, a politician trying to boost the vacation economy, and thing nasty successful the h2o (and elsewhere), the bid does astatine times suggest “Jaws” but with spooks, and I would not beryllium astatine each amazed to larn that astatine immoderate constituent successful its genesis, those words were spoken. But fearfulness stories person been astir everlastingly — and ne'er successful specified profusion arsenic they are now, to the constituent that determination is small caller nether the bloody sun. “Widow’s Bay” reaches heavy into that container of tropes, but it’s each portion of the game; familiarity breeds anticipation, which breeds fear.

You get a “Halloween”-style slasher (or whichever masked madman you prefer); a oversea hag; a scary clown, for fractional a second; a demon fog (as successful John Carpenter’s “The Fog”) and a haunted hotel, with circumstantial references to “The Shining” (a committee crippled astatine the inn is called “Daddy’s Home,” from a enactment successful the movie; sounds of a New Year’s Eve solemnisation travel done a grate successful the bathroom). Plus sundry hallucinations, atrocious dreams, possession, acheronian spaces, creepy noises, fraught household relations — and, arsenic with truthful galore fearfulness stories, a atrocious happening successful the past bringing down the future. (This spot of past gets its ain episode, which, contempt immoderate powerhouse concealed peculiar impermanent stars, mightiness person been handled successful a speech.) It’s a spot of an anthology, week to week, moving implicit a agelong arc successful which Wyck, Tom and his adjunct Patricia (the fantabulous Kate O’Flynn) — different mocked and friendless person, whose worthy volition amusement done — go allies successful a combat against the evil astir of their neighbors someway neglect to notice.

The bid was created by Katie Dippold, whose credits see the female-led “Ghostbusters,” “Haunted Mansion” and “Parks and Recreation”; its metropolis governance taxable is mirrored here, done a solid darkly). Hiro Murai directed fractional the series’ 10 episodes, moving again with Christian Sprenger, his manager of photography connected “Atlanta” and “Station Eleven,” which I respect arsenic a seal of quality. Apple TV describes the bid arsenic a fearfulness comedy, but there’s truly not overmuch drama successful it — what exists is mostly assigned to eccentric City Hall characters (K Callan arsenic a befuddled secretary, Dale Dickey arsenic an acerbic concatenation smoker successful complaint of records, which is to say, she knows things) and the aerial of frantic, not rather farcical desperation that attaches to Tom passim the story. (There’s a small slapstick arsenic well.) But galore of its characters are exaggerated successful a mode that tin walk for comical, until the fearfulness conscionable elbows them retired of the mode successful its precise effective, storm-tossed last acts.