Matthew Rhys draws on seafaring roots for Widow’s Bay finale

Matthew Rhys brought a real seafaring past to Widow’s Bay, and the show used that instinct for both menace and comedy. As the 10-episode Apple TV series reached its finale on Wednesday, Rhys’s off-screen life on the water helped sharpen the contrast between the romantic idea of the sea and the awkward, bruising reality of filming in it.

Rhys said he comes from what he called a “long line of mariners” on his mother’s side, with family roots in Fishguard, Wales. During the pandemic lockdowns, he bought and restored a 1939 wooden Wheeler Playmate named Rarebit, a project that turned his downtime into a lengthy hands-on lesson in how unforgiving old boats can be. That background makes his turn as Mayor Tom Loftis feel less like costume and more like lived experience.

In Widow’s Bay, Loftis is trying to rescue a struggling New England island town 40 miles offshore and turn it into a tourist destination, even as superstitious locals believe the place is cursed. Apple describes the island as having no Wi-Fi and only spotty cellular reception, details that give the series its isolated, slightly off-kilter mood. The setup lets the show move between horror and character-driven comedy without losing the hard weather and saltwater grime that define the setting.

Rhys said one of the most unnerving parts of filming came in a deep-water sequence, where he found himself thinking about Jaws and asking divers whether sharks come into Massachusetts waters, including great whites. On TODAY, he said he had been thrown around during a boat scene and joked that his hips “haven’t recovered,” adding that he walks “like Elvis.” The joke lands because the show’s maritime spectacle is never graceful for long; the sea here is as physical as it is cinematic.

Created and showrun by Katie Dippold, Widow’s Bay began as a Parks and Recreation spec script before evolving into a full horror-comedy. Dippold directed part of the series with Hiro Murai, and the show has already developed a sleeper-hit, word-of-mouth reputation. With its final episode arriving after a weekly run that started on April 29 with the first three installments, the series has turned Rhys’s real relationship to the water into one of its sharpest comic and dramatic assets.