Widow’s Bay ends not with a bang, but with a clang. Eight clangs, actually: those of the island’s pesky church bell.
The bell rings out in the episode’s final moments, in the sudden aftermath of the storm that ravaged Widow’s Bay. But what do they mean, and what do they signal for the island’s future?
The bells in Widow’s Bay are a call for sacrifice.
While the town and its tourists weather out the storm in the shelter below City Hall, Dale (Jeff Hiller) stumbles upon a film reel labeled “For you.” In the video, a man urges viewers, “Be strong, honor the pact, and remember, their sacrifice is our survival.”
The pact refers to Richard Warren’s (Hamish Linklater) deal with the island’s threatening entity. He wanted to ensure he and his fellow settlers survived their harsh first winter, and in exchange, the the island demanded (and still demands!) sacrifice. As long as Widow’s Bay’s residents keep feeding the island, they will keep surviving. Fail to honor the pact, though, and they can expect stormy skies aheads.
“The bad times will not end until the covenant is honored, and honored fully,” the video continues. “Life for life, the island will make its needs known. One soul for each bell toll.”
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That’s right: The island calls for sacrifice using the church bell. Think of it as the dinner bell from hell, with each ring acting as an order for a tasty treat — sorry, soul — for consumption.
How many souls does Widow’s Bay‘s island want?
The first time we heard the church bell in Widow’s Bay, it rang nine times. That means the island hungered for nine souls.
In the season finale, poor custodian Kenny (Michael Malvesti) winds up being the first of those nine souls to be sacrificed. He stumbles into the sacrifice chamber beneath City Hall, kicking out Evan (Kingston Rumi Southwick) and his friends and unwittingly giving up his life in the process. The door slams and locks him in, then the entity — whatever it may be — scarfs him up. That sacrifice is enough to banish the storm battering the island, but it’s not a long-term solution.
In Widow’s Bay Season 1’s last scene, the bell rings out again, eight times. That’s the island’s way of saying, “Yummy appetizer, but chop-chop on those next eight courses!”
It’s a foreboding way to cap off an already devastating episode. On top of revealing Widow’s Bay’s history of ritualistic sacrifice, the finale also reveals that Ruth (K Callan) isn’t the last living descendant of Richard Warren. Evan is her grandson, meaning that in order to break the island’s curse, both he and Ruth would have to die. It’s the ultimate trolley problem: two lives weighed against those of the entire island. But there’s no way Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) will make the choice to kill these two. The trolley is staying on its tracks.
However, the island’s need for sacrifice presents a second trolley problem: eight lives or the misery of the entire island. Will Tom pull the proverbial lever and find eight islanders to sacrifice? Or will the residents commit to riding out the curse together? These are questions for Season 2, which I hunger for more than the island hungers for souls.
Widow’s Bay Season 1 is now streaming on Apple TV.
