Widow's Bay is the breakout TV hit of the year so far, but it almost featured a very different ending for one of the key characters.
Katie Dippold, the creator of the hit Apple TV series, revealed recently that Dale, played by Jeff Hiller, was supposed to die in the first season of the series. Instead, they changed the story because they loved Hiller so much and wanted to keep him around for season 2.
"I originally had a character named Dale that was really only in there to die in a very big way," Dippold revealed in an interview with the Television Academy. "I called Jeff — he’s an old comedy friend of mine from our 20s — and said, "Listen, I have a part. It's not as big of a part as you deserve, and you're going to die. Do you want to do it?" And he was like, "Yeah, why not?" I just love him. He's so great and so funny. So, I ended up rewriting the show to have more and more for him to do. He's just the best."
Dippold also revealed that Hiller will return as Dale in season 2, which is incredible news.
Ultimately, I'm so happy that Dale did not, in fact, die early in Widow's Bay season 1. Of course, we saw some other big deaths this season, but it was nice to see him stick around for the incredible and iconic moment at the end of the season.
In the Widow's Bay season 1 finale, Tom (Matthew Rhys) leaves the storm shelter to go kill Ruth (K Callan) to break the curse and demon from tormenting and killing the residents of Widow's Bay. Well, back in the shelter, Dale is supposed to be keeping the peace, but he stumbles upon an old video that reveals Widow's Bay's incredible sick history of cannibalism, human sacrifice, and much more.
Dale, then, runs back into the place where all the people are gathered and screams, "This place is a death trap! Run! Run for your lives!"
It's easily one of the best lines in the entire season, and it almost didn't happen because Dale was supposed to die.
Now, the character is a key part of the story moving forward. He's the one who discovered and has proof that Widow's Bay is a far more messed up place than what anyone, even Tom and the audience, even expected. In season 2, they will have to come up with a way to feed the beast.
Widow's Bay season 2 will start filming in 2027
Unfortunately, Widow's Bay season 2 isn't coming anytime soon, sadly. At San Diego Comic-Con in July 2026, we learned that Dippold and the writers are already at work on the new season, but they have a writers' room open for about five months, basically until the end of 2026.
Dippold confirmed that the plan is to get the cast and crew together back in New England to start filming sometime in 2027. We don't know when exactly that's going to happen, but hopefully, it's early in the year.
If production doesn't start until the late spring or early summer, we might not see the new season next year. We might be waiting until 2028 before Widow's Bay season 2 premieres.
If production gets started earlier in the year, we could see the new season arrive sometime in 2027, though. It all just depends on when things get started, how long they take, and when Apple TV wants to drop the new season.
We know it's probably going to be a bit longer than a year, though, minimum.
We'll share more updates about Widow's Bay season 2 when we find out! Stay tuned!
Add us as a preferred source on Google