Ready for a cast shake-up? Widow’s Bay season 2 leans into more laughs

If you're into offbeat comedy-horror with just the right amount of awkward tension, Widow's Bay on Apple TV may have already crawled up your must-watch list. Now there's a decent shake-up on the cards as the show gears up for Season 2, and frankly, it's the good kind of upheaval: someone who deserved more screentime is finally getting it.

Widow's Bay scored a whopping 19 Emmy nominations for its first season, making it the most nominated new series this past year.

Jeff Hiller, who played the eternally anxious Town Hall staffer Dale, made enough of a mark in his guest spots last time round that he's now officially a series regular. If you can remember any of Dale's panic-ridden appearances, you'll know exactly why – there's something strangely watchable about his nervous, semi-hysterical energy. You can probably thank the show’s creator Katie Dippold for that. Turns out, she and Hiller go way back – they met in an improv troupe near enough 25 years ago. (Makes you wonder how many comedy castings are just old theatre mates playing catch-up.) For the record, Hiller actually auditioned for this part through standard channels, filming his own try-out and sending it off without tipping off Dippold. Only later did she call him for the fun bit – to ask

Here's how Hiller explained what went on between them for the part:

"I have a shorthand with Katie. She liked when I would melt down and scream. The whole team would always make me do these dramatic monologues where I would end up screaming and crying on the ground. It was a funny bit. And when I read that, I was like, ‘Oh, she wants this.'"

The best bit? Dale the nervous town worker was meant to be killed off after Hiller's first appearance. Dippold called to ask if he minded her not killing the character. He didn’t, evidently. And the rest is series regular history.

This little uptick in career activity comes just as Hiller's having a bit of a moment himself: not only did he get an Emmy nod this year for playing Larry in Vince Gilligan's virus drama Pluribus (which, if you missed it, is about a pandemic that lets people mind-meld – yes, really), but he actually won an Emmy last year for Somebody, Somewhere.

The returning cast and the cliffhanger

Elsewhere in Widow's Bay Season 2, you can expect the mainline returning cast – Matthew Rhys (the slightly suspect Mayor Tom Loftis), Stephen Root as the fisherman Wyck, Kate O'Flynn (Patricia), Dale Dickey (Rosemary), and Kevin Carroll (Sheriff Bechir). That's on top of Hiller’s expanded role, so it’s pretty much all the fan-favourites stacked up once more.

If you're after actual story details for the new series, you're out of luck for now. Dippold’s keeping that side of things locked up. All we got in terms of teasers is the cast promising a load more chaos. Rhys described the finale for Season 1 as "the ultimate setup" with a "massive cliffhanger," so it's anyone's guess how the supernatural nonsense plays out next.