Television

In Widow's Bay, the Real Monster Is Utilitarianism

Apple TV's new horror comedy shows us that succubi and killer clowns are the real result of politicians doing evil in the name of the greater good.

Christian Britschgi | 7.31.2026 8:15 AM

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[Spoiler Alert: This article contains some pretty significant spoilers about the show Widow's Bay. It's a good mystery show. If you haven't seen it but want to, I'd recommend waiting to read this article until you've finished the entire series. If you have seen it, or don't care to see it but still want to read an article about it, well, then proceed.]

"You ever heard of the trolley problem?" 

"You mean back in '42 when we tried to build one and all the workers disappeared?" 

The above is an exchange in the season finale episode of Widow's Bay, the new horror-comedy on Apple TV that concluded its first 10-episode run last month. 

In the scene, Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys), the mayor of the cursed New England town of Widow's Bay, is in the house of his elderly assistant Ruth (K Callan). 

Loftis has come to believe that when Ruth dies, a centuries-old hex that's inflicted endless horrors on the island's inhabitants will at last be lifted. With a supernatural storm on its way, the mayor has decided to expedite the process by killing Ruth. 

But when confronted with the reality of dispatching the kindly old woman, Loftis starts to lose his nerve. To steady himself for the grizzly deed, he invokes the age-old thought experiment known as the trolley problem.

Widow's Bay works on a lot of levels. The show manages to be both very funny and very scary as it tells the story of a small town mayor........

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