Unveiling The Waterfront: Kevin Williamson’s Gritty Return to Coastal Crime Drama

19 June 2025

Netflix

Netflix’s The Waterfront, premiering June 19, marks the bold return of Kevin Williamson, the mastermind behind Dawson’s Creek and Scream. Trading teen angst for tidal tension, this eight-episode series reimagines the coastal-crime genre through the lens of a crumbling fishing dynasty in Havenport, North Carolina. At its core lies the Buckley family, a once-proud enterprise now teetering on the brink of collapse following patriarch Harlan Buckley’s health scares and debt-ridden survival strategies.

Harlan, portrayed by the weathered Holt McCallany, is a man caught between loyalty and desperation. His two heart attacks left the fishery vulnerable, and to protect what remains, he's pushed to morally perilous depths. According to Williamson, Harlan is neither hero nor villain, he’s a father willing to protect his dynasty at any cost. McCallany captures this complexity with a steely gaze and simmering desperation that defines the show’s tonal shift from Williamson’s past works.

Maria Bello plays his wife, Belle, the Buckley matriarch steering the ship amid chaos. She leans hard into control, making questionable decisions wrapped in familial devotion. Williamson depicts her as a survivor, echoing the resilience of his own mother. Bello delivers Belle as a force: pragmatic, unrelenting, and raw with heartbreak.

Their children offer contrasting arcs. Melissa Benoist shines as Bree, the eldest daughter wrestling with addiction and heartbreak after losing custody of her son. She once managed the financials, but her illness derailed her path. Benoist’s portrayal is impulsive yet layered with devotion. She injects Bree with honest fragility: a loving daughter trying to reconcile her mistakes with her ambitions .

Jake Weary’s Cane is Harlan’s conflicted son, equal parts charm and broken privilege. He’s drawn into the web of the ailing fishery, simultaneously craving his father’s approval and yearning to chart his own path. Weary gives him an unpredictable energy, blending swagger with undercurrent tension.

The Buckley empire hits a dangerous inflection point with the arrival of Grady, portrayed by Topher Grace. His performance is chillingly composed yet unpredictably volatile, an educated man driven to crime by guilt and ambition. Williamson crafted the role with Grace in mind, and his portrayal of Grady as polished as he is psychopathic adds a captivating foil that elevates the show’s underbelly.

Behind the scenes, Williamson’s own family story bleeds into the narrative. His father, a North Carolina fisherman, turned to smuggling marijuana in the 1980s during economic downturns. This personal connection lends authenticity and emotional weight. Williamson held off telling this tale until after his father’s passing, ensuring the story remained reverent yet unflinching.

The series navigates themes of legacy, economic decline, and the blurred ethics of familial loyalty. Comparisons to Ozark and Yellowstone are inevitable, but critics note that The Waterfront carries a uniquely coastal flavor. Story after story, it probes if generational pride is worth the dark currents it conjures.

Williamson brings viewers home in more ways than one. Filmed in Wilmington and Southport, North Carolina, locations synonymous with his earlier hits, the show reflects familiarity and evolution. He revisits filming spaces where he shot iconic scenes decades earlier, yet this time he locates themes in adult consequences rather than youthful discovery.

Supporting cast enriches the landscape. Rafael L. Silva plays Shawn, a bartender whose loyalty is tested; Humberly González is Jenna, a journalist and Cane’s former flame returning to unsettling familiarity. Danielle Campbell appears as Peyton, Cane’s steadfast wife who balances charm with subtle strength. Brady Hepner embodies the traumatized teenage grandson Bree fights to reclaim. Recurring roles from Michael Gaston as Sheriff Porter and Gerardo Celasco as a DEA agent deepens the systemic entanglements offsetting the Buckleys’ tragedy.

Despite its promise, critical voices note the series veers toward melodrama at times. The Daily Beast described it as “Yellowstone with seafood,” suggesting it occasionally drowns its potential in soapier undertones. But many argue its emotional echoes and character complexity outweigh its narrative dips.

From its tightly wound dialogue and crumbling ecosystems to its portrayal of familial fracture under societal strain, The Waterfront represents Williamson’s sonic shift. It’s a reflective pivot from youthful introspection to mid-life reckoning, a reminder that some homecomings parallel house crashes.

As viewers scroll the Netflix lineup, this series stands poised as bingeable summer escapism, somber, gripping, shaped by place, pain, and paternal legacies. Williamson has returned with a story that is personal, atmospheric, and anchored in coastal grit. The Buckleys may be fictional, but their battle to hold onto what matters under collapsing tides resonates far beyond the North Carolina shore.

With premieres now streaming, The Waterfront offers a dramatic invitation: dive in, brace for the undertow, and ask yourself what you’d risk to salvage your lineage.