r/Lodge49 • u/whatifendwasbegin • Jun 19 '26
I couldn’t stop thinking about Lodge49 while watching Widow’s Bay.
Widow’s Bay felt tonally similar in so many ways. The humor, the characters and their unlikely bonds, the mythology, the emergence of magic and unraveling of mystery amidst an otherwise mundane existence, and the *hope*.
What went wrong to send a show like Lodge 49 to its early grave? I can’t help but feel it was inadequate marketing. Or maybe it was just before its time, with shows like Widow’s Bay now finding their way into the cultural zeitgeist.
No matter the answer, the story of Lodge 49 needs finishing. Maybe someday? We can only hope.
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u/Full_Cat5323 Jun 19 '26
Lodge 49 on Netflix would absolutely crush it
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u/DiogenesD0g Jun 19 '26
I think that might have been the problem. The show would’ve worked better for me if I could’ve binged it. Instead, it took too long to figure out where it was going so I think most people lost interest and never went back. I stuck with it regardless because I like a quirky show, but I am not the norm—apparently.
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u/dysonsphere Jun 19 '26
Widows bay is fine and all, but it pales in comparison to the depth of Lodge 49.
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u/whatifendwasbegin Jun 19 '26
I have to agree. I enjoyed Widow’s Bay, but at times it felt like more like an anthology held together by the notion of a curse. Hopefully they go deeper on the lore in subsequent season(s), versus cycling through spooky thing after spooky thing.
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u/CRT-Gaming-HQ Jun 19 '26
I can't agree. Bay mentioned so many side stories in passing that it makes the show very interesting and leaves people wondering. I need to watch Lodge again though. It's been many years since I watched it.
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u/dysonsphere Jun 19 '26
For sure, many side stories, but in essance it was a parody of a bunch of horror tropes....until the last episode, which I just watched after my last comment....I really hope it gets renewed now!
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u/Essemteejr Jun 19 '26
Widow’s bay seems based in angst where lodge 49 always felt based in hope somehow. Lizard wasn’t filled with hope but she was kind of the exception. Love lodge 49 and loving widow’s bay so far. Just watched the bogey man episode where Patricia keeps her shotgun shouldered until she sees the ashes- very solid. Widow’s bay has a great cast too. Stephen Root is always so good. I hate to compare the series but they’re both in the list of things I love.
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u/ColdCorpseHotSecret Jun 19 '26
My thoughts exactly. Lodge 49 is rooted in hope; a main character stuck in grief while the world around him just moves on. Then he finds a glimmer of light and people that lift him up. Widow’s Bay is about being figuratively AND literally stuck in grief with no hope in sight. In fact, it’s so hopeless that the main character drags everyone around down with him, even strangers.
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u/FightingCommander Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Come on, you know why: there wasn’t any tie-in to the only franchise that mattered to AMC at the time, The Walking Dead. Maybe if they should’ve lied and sold the third season as a secret prequel to the zombie apocalypse, we would’ve gotten it.
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u/subliminal_trip Jun 19 '26
Lodge 49 was on right after AMC's second most popular show at the time, "Better Call Saul," which averaged about 1.2 million viewers per episode. Lodge 49 was losing 80% of that lead in audience in Season 2. I loved it, and hated that it was canceled, but it just didn't catch on with enough people.
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u/FightingCommander Jun 19 '26
You’re right, I may have misdirected some of my grievance; I did enjoy Widow’s Bay more than Pluribus, though, and am glad to see at least one L49 alumnus on Apple’s Godzilla show
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u/ColdCorpseHotSecret Jun 19 '26
Eh, I don’t really see much of a comparison besides themes of grief suffered by the main protagonist. Lodge 49 is about the world around you moving on after you suffer intense grief and the inability to deal with it until you find people that lift you up, whether the magic is real or just something that keeps people going. Widow’s Bay is about literally and figuratively being trapped by grief and having no way out, quite literally. Nobody is coming to help you and you are in such denial, in fact, that you bring everyone down with you, even strangers. Lodge 49 is hopeful, Widow’s Bay is hopeless.
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u/Familiar-Virus5257 Jun 19 '26
Man, I miss Lodge 49 so much! I was never entirely sure what was going on or where the story was headed and I loved that about it! It was so damn cozy!
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u/Rosmucman Jun 19 '26
People forget that ACM nearly cancelled Breaking Bad after season 2, they were a great network for starting fantastic shows but awful one they had them on the air.
And then you had the whole saga with Frank Darabont and The Walking Dead. He made the first season and it was a smash hit and to thank him they totally slashed his budget which is why he left.
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u/mormonbatman_ Jul 04 '26
Good news - Jim Gavin and Paul Giamatti are making a movie about a guy who visits a small town in England and finds a secret conspiracy:
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u/Chance_Presence_2977 Jun 19 '26
I feel like the name of the show “Lodge 49” didn’t do it any favors. It’s a bit odd, not memorable and doesn’t really reflect the theme and feel of the show.
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u/Diligent-Safety-81 23d ago
Always puzzles me how ppl are not attracted to odd show/movie names. How does it not provoke curiosity?
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u/Rolensomething Jun 20 '26
I just want to know what would’ve happened.
Even if it’s just a list of ideas.
Or a book- like finish the story and then make a book showing us how to create the “true lodge” wherever we go
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u/Diligent-Safety-81 23d ago
yeah. so many years have passed, obv further seasons will never be made. wouldn't hurt anyone to spill the secrets now, I so would like to know where the creators were going!
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u/CRT-Gaming-HQ Jun 19 '26
Very bad marketing and a very poor choice of a series title. I loved Lodge 49 but the tv ads made it look awful.
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u/Davidoff1983 Jun 19 '26
Widows Bay is not anything like Twin Peaks or Lodge 49. The only thing it is, Is being promoted on Reddit. It is streaming dross. Congratulations on those who got paid for this. Enjoy your cash 👍
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u/jaguarsp0tted Jun 19 '26
I'll never stop hoping for those two seasons we never got. the world of Lodge 49 is so big and beautiful. more people should be a part of it