4 min readWHEN YOU HEAR the word “cocktail,” it can mean a couple of different things. For most, the word “cocktail” brings to mind a drink, made masterfully from a number of independent ingredients, coming together as something cold, probably sweet, and definitely delicious. A piña colada is a great cocktail. A Moscow mule might be even better.
But we also sometimes use the word “cocktail” a little more liberally, referring to anything that brings together disparate ingredients into one great, magnificent sum. Apple TV’s new horror-comedy series Widow’s Bay, for example, has been one of the greatest cocktails of all, bringing together parts that feel like Jaws, parts that feel like Parks and Recreation, parts that feel like Halloween, and tons of influence from New England-centered horror stories from Stephen King to create what’s been, for my money, the best television series of 2026 so far.
It’s fitting, then, that the show’s best episode—episode 4, titled “Beach Reads”—is centered around a main character, Patricia (Kate O’Flynn), attempting to throw a cocktail night at a local bar (one that she hopes, desperately, will boost her sagging morale) that turns into an absolute horror show. It’s the best episode in a first season full of them, a display of a show that can be all the horror that anyone could want and all the sitcom anyone could want both at the same time.
With the first season of Widow’s Bay now complete, the show has continued to lean into its Lost and Twin Peaks tendencies—oh yeah, it’s got a little bit of both of those in its DNA too!—and has begun to really build up some of its core mystery and mythology as it moves forward. So, uh, will there be another season? And if so, when the hell can we get to see it?
Luckily, we’ve got that information gathered for you right below.
Will Widow’s Bay have a season 2?
Yes! Widow’s Bay was renewed for season 2 on June 11, ahead of the show’s first season finale. We will return to our favorite haunted little New England town, Martha’s Vineyard be damned!
What will Widow’s Bay season 2 be about?
There’s some literal things that will have to be dealt with in season 2 of Widow’s Bay. The curse has, seemingly, been somewhat lifted—but only after Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys, giving an absolutely herculean performance as always) came close to killing poor sweet Ruth, and decided against it (although he did fully try to!), only for Bechir (Kevin Carroll) to show up and fully shoot her, attempting to save his wife and unborn child’s future. On top of that, Tom now knows that Ruth wasn’t the last descendant of Richard Warren—but that his son, Evan, is. He tells Bechir that he knows this… but doesn’t tell him exactly who it is.
The fallout from this will be absolutely vital in several different directions. Will Bechir hunt for the truth? Will both need to keep covering up what happened to Ruth? Will either man eventually turn on the other?
"By the end of the season, we're kind of resetting the table," episode 10 director Hiro Murai told Polygon in an interview. "But Tom has the secret that he has to kind of keep from the rest of the town and, and he and Bechir have this sort of relationship now. There's a lot to play with."
A vital part of all of this as well is that Tom, obviously, now fully understands and believes in the power of Widow’s Bay, the curse of Widow’s Bay, and everything in between.
Widow’s Bay creator Katie Dippold famously wrote a version of Widow’s Bay long ago, a script that originally helped her get a job writing on Parks and Recreation. In an interview with TV Guide, she said that in that original version of the show, Tom is aware of the haunted nature of Widow’s Bay from the very beginning—while season 1 of this version of the show is about Tom coming to grips with the terrifying reality.
Now that we’ve reached that point of acceptance, she says the show could go in many different directions. “I think season 2 you could have a lot more fun,” she said. “I know that's not giving much, but I think there's a lot more to do. There's a lot of character stories we haven't been able to do that we would have loved to do this season. There's definitely more to discover on the lore of the island that we've talked about a great deal in the writer's room, that we didn't want to put in season 1.”
When will Widow’s Bay season 2 come out?
We don’t have a release date for Widow’s Bay season 2 just yet. But, purely speculating, the wait might not be too long. The first season entered production in June of 2025, just about a year ago. So, assuming that there are no major delays and that the cast is all available, if production begins relatively soon, season 2 could be on our TVs before the end of 2027. Let’s hope we’re not cursed enough to mess that up!
