{"id":827336,"date":"2026-05-28T07:39:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:39:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/827336\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T07:39:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T07:39:25","slug":"widows-bay-team-unpacks-game-changing-episode-6-flashback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/827336\/","title":{"rendered":"Widow’s Bay Team Unpacks Game-Changing Episode 6 Flashback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This article contains spoilers from \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Episodes 6 and 7.<\/p>\n

History is alive in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d<\/a> \u2014 literally.<\/p>\n

That is the discovery Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) and his closest allies, Wyck (Stephen Root) and Patricia (Kate O\u2019Flynn)<\/a>, make when Wyck digs up the grave of Widow\u2019s Bay founder Richard Warren (\u201cMidnight Mass\u201d star Hamish Linklater) only to discover that he has been alive in his coffin for the last 300 years. But before \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d even gets there, it takes a trip back in time to the early 1700s in its sixth episode, titled \u201cOur History.\u201d<\/p>\n

The episode, directed by \u201cPearl\u201d filmmaker Ti West, stars \u201cGlow\u201d actress Betty Gilpin as Sarah Warren, a mainland woman who arrives on the island\u2019s shores to marry Linklater\u2019s Richard. What she discovers when she arrives is an island wracked by a plague that seems to cause violent fits of madness, a number of children she has been entrusted to care for and an emotionally abusive, mushroom-mainlining husband whose very citizens have begun to turn on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent so much time in the writers\u2019 room talking about the history of the island, because I think one key thing to us \u2014 just to avoid it ever feeling too broad \u2014 was to give the island a real sense of history,\u201d series creator Katie Dippold<\/a> told TheWrap about the show\u2019s midseason flashback. \u201cWe talked about the island\u2019s founder and what it would have been like in the early days and the timeline of the island and the different mayors from different eras.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we talked about what it would have been like when the settlers first arrived, the more we started thinking about how interesting it would be to see that and just do a straightforward, dry colonial period piece that leans a little bit into the horror,\u201d Dippold explained. \u201cFrom there, it became, \u2018Who\u2019s the point of view?\u2019 And it felt like the most fun point of view would be Sarah Warren coming to this island to meet someone to marry, and we just kept going from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur History\u201d gave \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d the chance to continue its ongoing trend of weekly reinvention. Its setting and tone allows the Apple TV series to explore yet another niche corner of the horror genre and tell a colonial horror story a la movies like \u201cThe Witch\u201d and \u201cThe Village.\u201d The episode does that without sacrificing the comedic edge of the show\u2019s earlier installments, either, which is a testament to both West\u2019s work and Gilpin and Linklater\u2019s complimentary performances throughout it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big fan of Ti West and especially \u2018The House of the Devil.\u2019 That movie has such a great sense of nostalgia, and he\u2019s such a master at building atmosphere and dread. We lucked out when he signed on,\u201d Dippold told TheWrap, adding of Gilpin, \u201cShe\u2019s so good at everything. She really performs the hell out of that episode. You feel her fear and tension, but she\u2019s also so comedically perfect. She\u2019s always finding the right moments of humor that make you feel what it\u2019s like to be in Sarah\u2019s shoes. We wanted, again, to be very careful to weave humor in without taking away from the tension.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur History\u201d ends with Sarah absconding on a rowboat with Richard\u2019s children, while a group of mutineers bury him alive next to his homestead. As Richard pleads for his life, he claims his children will die if they stray too far from the island and demands to be freed. Having already exhibited signs of immortality, his cries fall on unsympathetic ears, and he is sealed away beneath six feet of dirt. The living corpse that is unearthed 300 years later by Wyck is revealed in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Episode 7, titled \u201cSeasickness,\u201d to be a desiccated, gaunt and pale, ghoul version of the Richard Warren seen in \u201cOur History.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sitting upright in the bed of his former home, Linklater\u2019s physically transformed Richard tells Rhys\u2019 Tom that he found a mushroom in the island\u2019s dirt in a moment when he was contemplating the deaths of himself and every other member of his suffering colonial settlement. \u201cI thanked God, but something else came to me,\u201d Linklater\u2019s founder says. \u201cI was starving, and it was starving, too. A covenant was offered for my settlement\u2019s salvation, and I signed that pact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HamishHamish Linklater as Richard Warren in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Episode 7 (Apple TV)<\/p>\n

Tom reveals that, during his mushroom experience in last week\u2019s \u201cWhat to Expect on Your Trip,\u201d he heard the same entity speak to him. Seemingly wracked with genuine grief over his children\u2019s deaths, Richard offers to sail out with Wyck and Tom past the point where Widow\u2019s Bay natives typically die and end the covenant that has haunted the island<\/a> since its creation. For much of \u201cSeasickness,\u201d he seems prepared to follow through on that promise, too.<\/p>\n

In the moments before he crosses the point of no return, though, Richard tries to go back on his word, attacking Wyck and Tom. The two nonetheless successfully manage to subdue him and \u2014 sure enough \u2014 Tom checks Richard\u2019s coffin after crossing the boundary line only to discover the once-immortal founder reduced to nothing more than dust and bones. And so is how Linklater\u2019s pivotal two-episode guest arc on \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Season 1 ends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His performance across both \u201cOur History\u201d and \u201cSeasickness\u201d will no doubt remind viewers of his acclaimed turn playing a similarly duplicitous town leader in Mike Flanagan\u2019s 2021 horror limited series \u201cMidnight Mass.\u201d But while Linklater told TheWrap the parallels were evident to him all along, Dippold admitted to not realizing the similarities until after he was already cast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think Hamish is wonderful. He\u2019s always surprising, and I completely forgot that he was in \u2018Midnight Mass\u2019 when we cast him!\u201d Dippold said. \u201cI love \u2018Midnight Mass,\u2019 but he just seems like a completely different actor in that show to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Below, Linklater talks to TheWrap about the joy of getting to parachute into the middle of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Season 1, his character\u2019s god-like complex and the cathartic satisfaction of pleading for your life on your actual birthday.<\/p>\n

\"HamishHamish Linklater and Matthew Rhys in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Episode 7 (Apple TV)<\/p>\n

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

TheWrap: What was it that drew you to this role and project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamish Linklater: <\/strong>Katie\u2019s writing was No. 1. I\u2019m also a huge fan of Hiro Murai<\/a>. \u201cAtlanta\u201d was so amazing, and I loved the way that show could jump around and be whatever it wanted to be. The idea that they were going to do that with a horror comedy? That just makes TV better. It makes viewing better. It makes entertainment better. And getting to work with Matthew Rhys. I mean, that guy? You want to play tennis with him \u2014 both metaphorically and also\u2026 just tennis.<\/p>\n

Did you think about Father Hill in \u201cMidnight Mass\u201d when you read the scripts for these episodes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater: <\/strong>Oh, yeah, 100%. I play a leader of a fishing village community that kills people, so yeah, I saw certain parallels! I was like, \u201cI don\u2019t want anybody to do that better than me, so I better take the job.\u201d [Laughs] But really it was just Katie\u2019s writing, Hiro\u2019s involvement, the fabulous directors that I got for my episodes and getting to work with Matthew and Stephen.<\/p>\n

Did you know all along that Richard was a two-episode role, or did the plans for him change at all along the way?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater: <\/strong>Yes, I did. They told me from the beginning that was what it was going to be and we actually shot those two episodes in reverse order. So the flashback episode was the last episode they shot of the season. They shot all the other episodes, everyone was sent home and then we got colonial.<\/p>\n

\"BettyBetty Gilpin and Hamish Linklater in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Episode 6 (Apple TV)<\/p>\n

What was it like to get to do that? Basically just make a mini colonial horror movie on your own with Betty Gilpin and Ti West?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater: <\/strong>It was so fun, and we shot it on the property of the real Rebecca Nurse from the Salem Witch Trials. The same Rebecca Nurse from \u201cThe Crucible.\u201d We were at her house! I was buried alive in her backyard. It was so haunted and crazy and cool. Everything about it was dope, and Betty is such an elite athlete. It was awesome to be with her.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t really get to be funny at all in Episode 6, but you do in Episode 7. What was it like to get to be both the absurd, undead ghoul and the straight-man to Betty\u2019s more comedic Sarah?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater: <\/strong>Well, because of the order we filmed the episodes in, I got to be absurd first, and then I handed that ball over to Betty when we got together. It was so fun. It was so fun to be on the boat [in Episode 7], to be covered in prosthetics, to be basically blind from the weird lenses that they gave me and the crazy teeth made it so I could barely talk. I was basically shackled, and then I got to dance around with Stephen Root and Matthew Rhys \u2014 eat disgusting food, make up an accent. It was a real ball, and they gave such latitude on set, too. They were like, \u201cCome on, entertain us. Let\u2019s see what you got.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a viewer, you\u2019re not really sure what to make of Richard or his motivations for much of \u201cSeasickness.\u201d How would you describe his journey throughout the episode?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater: <\/strong>I think he discovers how wonderful life is during the course of Episode 7. He gets stronger and, you know, he wants to live. Who doesn\u2019t? You always do, no matter how awful life has been. You don\u2019t want to give it up, and that\u2019s the place he gets to in that episode. We also shot that scene on the boat on my birthday. I always feel like I\u2019m 300 on my birthday every year now, so it was nice to have the cameras rolling one of those times, at least. [Laughs]<\/p>\n

Do you think Richard feels any real remorse for what he\u2019s done? Or does he feel justified in his actions?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater: <\/strong>In his mind, everything he\u2019s done has been for the greater good. Certainly for the good of his children, but also for the greater good of the island. These are means that he believes justify the ends, when it comes to the island\u2019s welfare and his kids\u2019 welfare. That\u2019s the story that he\u2019s been given by the island, so in his own head, he\u2019s a pretty good guy.<\/p>\n

\"HamishHamish Linklater in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Episode 7 (Apple TV)<\/p>\n

Yours and Matthew\u2019s coffin argument where you just start cursing at each other is one of the funniest bits of the show so far. Was that all scripted or was some of it improvised?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater:<\/strong> That went on for a long time. That was nice. We were told to just go, and the same was true of the scene Matthew and I shot on the bed in that room at the start of the episode. That scene takes so long. I was like, \u201cThis show is crazy,\u201d but they just told us, \u201cActually, do it quieter. Longer. Slower.\u201d I thought, \u201cThey\u2019re gonna cut this down,\u201d but apparently not.<\/p>\n

Do you have a favorite memory from filming?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Linklater:<\/strong> Being thrown into a coffin on your birthday, screaming, \u201cLet me live! Let me live! Let me live!\u201d Yeah, that\u2019s\u2026 that\u2019s pretty macro on the micro.<\/p>\n

New episodes of \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Kate\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Note: This article contains spoilers from \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d Episodes 6 and 7. History is alive in \u201cWidow\u2019s Bay\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":827337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[30],"tags":[171,124634,339716,173,67,132,68,4183,300536],"class_list":["post-827336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-hamish-linklater","tag-katie-dippold","tag-tv","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-what-to-watch","tag-widows-bay"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116651071356512605","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}