In the “Hero with a Tragic Story” category, we have traumatized Mayor Tom Loftis (Matthew Rhys) versus traumatized fisherman Calvin Penney (Josh Hartnett).
Photo-illustration: Vulture; Photos: Netflix, Apple TV
Below is literally one of the biggest spooky shows this season: set on the coast of Newfoundland, it relies on panoramic views of the Atlantic coastline, enormous icebergs hundreds of miles from where they belong, and something very, very big lurking beneath the water’s surface.
It’s also very familiar. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a small fishing village in the Northeast is plagued by strange phenomena that leave people missing, mad, or dead, and only a desperate man and his friends can stop this horror. That’s right, that’s also pretty much the premise of Widows Baynot to mention the dozens of stories and imitations of Stephen King and HP Lovecraft that inspired him. And while Widows Bay operates in a comic register which Below doesn’t own (at least not intentionally), it’s difficult to watch this new series without comparing it to its recent Emmy-winning predecessor, given their many narrative, character, and setting overlaps. So with the six episodes of Below Now streaming on Netflix, we take a look at how creator Jesse McKeown and star Josh Hartnett’s Canadian sea monster party compares to Katie Dippold’s New England horror comedy. In this cross-border, cross-streamer rivalry, what is the real village of damn good television?
Warning: spoilers for Below And Widows Bay lie in front.
Below stars Josh Hartnett as Calvin Penney, a fisherman who has fallen on hard times who now scavenges chunks of floating ice from the Arctic for use in making vodka and, reluctantly, AirBnBs to accommodate tourists. As a child, Calvin was resettled in the Newfoundland town of Snook’s Arm from the small island of Little Pot Rock by the Canadian government as a cost-saving measure. As his family towed the house by boat to the new location, something dragged him into the depths with Calvin’s father trapped inside. All young Calvin sees, or thinks he sees, is a giant eyeball in the water. When strange things start happening years later, Calvin sounds the alarm.
Widows Bay stars Matthew Rhys as Tom Loftis, mayor of a cursed island off the coast of an unnamed state that we can assume is Maine, which Tom is now trying to promote as a tourist destination. Tom, too, lost his family in the waters off the coast: his wife, a native islander, was struck by a stroke – and, it is implied, the island’s curse – while attempting to leave Widow’s Bay while pregnant.
Advantage: Below
As one of BelowHartnett’s main prophets of doom, Calvin, combines Rhys’ leading man energy with the salty vibes of Mayor Tom’s nemesis-turned-ally, Wyck (Stephen Root), the town’s eccentric harbor captain. Two roles in one earn you extra points. More her The tragic maritime story involves a real sea monster.
Below stars Mackenzie Davis as Dr. Fonda Howander (what a name!), a marine biologist who studies regional waters in dismay as climate change wreaks havoc on the ecosystem. Despite his lovable personality, it’s his knowledge that tells Calvin what they’re dealing with and how to avoid being killed by it. In the end, his unwavering determination saves Snook’s Arm from disaster.
Widows Bay stars Kate O’Flynn as Patricia Moyer, a social outcast who works as Tom’s assistant and is convinced that no one likes her – in part because very few people like her. Despite his comically neurotic personality, it is his stubborn determination that helps piece together the mystery of the island. In the end, her unwavering determination saves Widow’s Bay from disaster.
Advantage: Widows Bay
Davis is a great actress, but her job here is mostly delivering wide-eyed exposition and being awkward around handsome Calvin. We’ve seen this kind of character before. Patricia? One of a kind. (“It’s the path you’re the one who says it. “)
BelowThe supporting cast is mostly family. Charlie Heaton makes a strong impression as Wade, Calvin’s chipper but deeply frustrated son. The same goes for Willow Kean as Ruth, Calvin’s pragmatic older sister and captain of Snook’s Arm. (What a boom time for TV harbor captains!) It’s never said outright, but Ruth appears to be in a relationship with two perfectly nice people in their 50s, and everyone seems to be OK with that. So it’s interesting!
Widows BayThe supporting cast includes just about every beloved American television actor known to man: Root, Dale Dickey, Kevin Carroll, Jeff Hiller, Toby Huss, Betty Gilpin and Hamish Linklater are among the highlights.
Advantage: Widows Bay
Sorry, but this row of murderers with unassuming acting skills will not be overcome.
Perhaps even more than the gigantic thing that swims in the ocean and eats people, thick Newfoundland accents are BelowThe remarkable functionality of. There’s a melody that leaves a tourist saying they feel like they’re in Ireland. The accents help make Snook’s Arm feel like a place outside of time, simply because it’s so unusual to hear this kind of speech in North America anywhere other than there.
Meanwhile, not a single main character Widows Bay has an Easter accent, even though the series’ main inspiration, Stephen King, has been writing characters who have it for decades. You’re telling me Root can’t handle a single “ayuh”?
Advantage: Below
While it’s debatable how successful Hartnett, Davis, and Heaton were in their respective attempts (sound in the comments!), the effort has to count for something, right?
We’ve talked enough about this: Below It’s a giant squid. A real a giant squid, a Leviathan of the deep, a relic of the past that attacks boats, docks, cars, houses, Portuguese sailboats, billionaires’ submersibles, tourists who camp too close to the shore, a damn moose, etc.
The only real trace we get of the sea monster off the coast of Widow’s Bay is in a story Wyck tells Tom about his youth, in which his best friend was swept away by a tentacled beast we only hear about and never see. (There’s always season two, of course.)
Advantage: Below
I can’t stress this enough: this series is about a gigantic, berserk squid, and it becomes a lot of them screen time too!
Oh, you thought a giant squid would be the extent of Below’Is this paranormal activity? After coming into contact with the squid, Wade begins to have visions of the Witch, a black-haired, white-dipped woman who comes to him repeatedly. At first she seems to be just a nightmarish apparition, but later in the season we learn that she has lured Wade… to Little Pot Rock, the island where Calvin is from, where she lives in his resurfaced home with his father and grandfather. BelowThe Little Pot Rock Detour ends quickly with little explanation of the ancient witch’s seemingly flesh-and-blood existence on the island, but something scary things happen with her, that’s for sure.
The sea witch Widows Bayon the other hand, is a monstrous cross between Samara of The ringthe entity of It followsand the lady in the bathtub The shiny. It kills you by sitting on your face but can be at a momentary disadvantage if you know the right time to recline your recliner.
Advantage: Widows Bay
Scarier witch, funnier gags.
The belowThe squid secretes a toxic psychoactive substance that triggers flu-like symptoms and intense dehydration, driving sufferers into the sea to drown in an attempt to quench their thirst.
On Widows BayPatricia falls under the influence of an evil book that brainwashes her into making a party punch with animal blood, putting her guests into a trance during which they all enter the water to drown. (They are saved at the last moment, and luckily there are no giant squid living off the coast of Widow’s Bay to eat them.)
Advantage: Widows Bay
In both cases, it is deeply disturbing to see people losing control of their minds and offering themselves to the sea. However, in only one of these cases does the culprit wear a headdress made of deer antlers and take drink recipes from the Necronomicon.
Widows Bay ” is best summed up by a quote from Karl Marx (seriously): “The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living. » Tom, Patricia, Wyck and the rest of the townspeople and tourists are stuck facing a hell on earth created by their ancestors, who forged and maintained the deal with the devil that made the island what it is.
Below is a direct allegory for climate change. In fact, it’s not even an allegory: climate change is what’s causing the Arctic ice to drift, and with it, the giant squid. The characters often talk about it in so many words. This is why the fishing economy collapsed, forcing Calvin to search for ice to begin with. This is the goal of Dr. Howander’s work. That’s what the series is about. Well, that and a rampaging giant squid.
Advantage: Below
Both shows have pointed messages about the mess we find ourselves in, and both end on a cliffhanger promising more horrors to come, but only BelowThe cliffhanger involves the collapse of the Arctic sea ice (not to mention a second season of this supposed limited series).
Below is a super fun creature feature, a climate-aware cross between a kaiju movie, a Stephen King story, JawsAnd Jurassic Park. But his ambitions largely stop there. Even though the two shows pursue different goals despite their similarities, Below can’t help but suffer compared to the perfectly balanced horror comedy…
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