Bodkin – Netflix Series Review

BODKIN on Netflix is a new thriller series with a true crime podcaster at the center and a darkly comedic streak. It plays out over seven episodes in a small town in Ireland. Get ready to fall down the rabbit hole. Read our Bodkin season 1 review here!

BODKIN is a new Netflix series with seven episodes. It’s a darkly comedic thriller about an American podcaster who goes to Ireland to get to the bottom of a 25-year-old mystery disappearance. It all began when three people disappeared on Samhain (which is the precursor for Halloween) in the small town of Bodkin in 1999.

Each episode ends on some sort of cliffhanger, but even if it didn’t, I would keep watching. I loved the characters and the casting was perfect. Also, it makes fun of true crime as much as it recognizes its value. As with any form of entertainment or journalism, it’s about respecting the story. We watched all 7 episodes for this review.

Continue reading our Bodkin season 1 review below. Find the series on Netflix from May 9, 2024.

An American podcaster goes to Ireland

The core story of Bodkin begins when an American podcaster goes to the titular town in Ireland. It could sound like the beginning of a joke, which is exactly how most of the Irish people act. None of them can really believe that anyone would want to listen to a podcast about the disappearances in their small town 25 years earlier.

It’s a gorgeous and (at least on the surface) very idyllic Irish coastal town. There are the usual jokes about how much it rains and how green and lush everything is. The two things are, of course, very much connected. Also, the American podcaster is joined by two female reporters.

One is a hailed London-based investigative journalist who has landed in very hot waters with her latest Whistleblower story. She’s from Ireland, so her boss has essentially sent her in hiding in the small Irish town to help the US podcaster, who is attached to the British newspaper, she also works for.

Finally, there’s a younger reporter, who is a researcher for the American. She’s British and very eager to both please and succeed. This trio makes for a very unique kind of team. As the season ended, I found myself thinking that Bodkin had an Only Murders in the Building streak that I really enjoyed.

Hopefully, we’ll get more seasons of this series as well.

“Don’t be an eejit!”

I always watch everything with subtitles when they’re available. In my experience, it’s the only way to ensure that you catch every little thing. For Bodkin, this included the word “eejit” which is exactly as it sounds: The Irish version of idiot.

However, beware, you can be called an “eejit” for simply asking the wrong question. Or assuming the wrong thing about the wrong person. As a rule, though, it’s usually reserved for the people who are actual idiots and there are enough of them in the idyllic Irish coastal town.

The American podcaster, Gilbert Power (Will Forte) loves to say that he’s Irish, which is something that most Europeans will frown a bit upon. Of course, it’s cool that you have relatives from any specific country, but when you say “I’m Irish” because some distant relative came from an Irish town that you can’t name, it’s not popular.

Gilbert learns this but also ignores it. And he never really catches on when he says “Maybe we’re related” to one of the many people with the same surname in Bodkin. The reason for this is that he is an absolute sweetheart, so you can’t blame him too harshly.

As the polar opposite is the young, yet seasoned, investigative journalist, Dove (Siobhán Cullen), who is sarcastic and also quite selfish, but in a wonderfully entertaining way. Finally, there’s Emmy, the researcher and assistant working with Gilbert on the story. She’s a real sweetheart who admires Dove more than she should.

The trio embarks on a journey that will get them to the bottom of the disappearance mystery that happened 25 years earlier on Samhain. It’s a journey that will land them in a convent with some rather alternative nuns, in the middle of a smuggling case with the Interpol, and with a few surprising twists along the way.

Watch season 1 of Bodkin on Netflix now!

The creator of the series is Jez Scharf and with Bodkin, Jez Scharf has managed to build a world that is as uniquely Irish and the story is universal. As with any “Whodunnit”-mystery, even the smallest of towns can hold very big secrets.

For Bodkin, the secrets are both complex and very simple. Well, once everything is out in the open.

Jez Scharf is co-showrunner on the series alongside fellow executive producer Alex Metcalf. Also, the series comes from the Higher Ground production company, which means Barack and Michelle Obama are executive producers.

Nash Edgerton (Mr. Inbetween) is the lead director but Bronwen Hughes (Dare Me), Johnny Allan (The Devil’s Hour), and Paddy Breathnach (The Dry) are also credited as episode directors.

WANT MORE PODCAST-BASED FICTION?

Be sure to check out the Australian movie Monolith which was amazing >

The new Netflix series is labeled a thriller, but it is so much more. As stated in some of the PR material it’s “…funny, though not a comedy; and a true crime story, though entirely fictional”. At the heart of it all, this story celebrates Irish culture, journalism, and self-discovery.

Plus, it made me crave a beautiful pint of Guinness – though I doubt I’d like it! That’s the power of a well-written story, I tell you. Also, I love how someone can say just about anything in an Irish dialect and it sounds kind and sweet. Even if they’re calling you an “eejit”. Must be the equivalent of the charming Southern drawl in the US.

Stars Siobhán Cullen (who looks eerily like Evan Rachel Wood, to me, at times), Robyn Cara, and Will Forte with Chris Walley as “Sean O’Shea” and David Wilmot as “Seamus” in supporting roles, are what makes Bodkin such a treat to watch.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that this series will be a huge hit, so we can get a few more seasons. And yes, season 1 does end on such a note that more seasons are very possible!

Bodkin season 1 is on Netflix from May 9, 2024.

Details

Creator / Co-Showrunner / Executive Producer: Jez Scharf
Co-Showrunner / Executive Producer: Alex Metcalf
Directors: Nash Edgerton (101, 102), Bronwen Hughes (103, 104, 106), Johnny Allan (105), Paddy Breathnach (107)
Cast: Siobhán Cullen (Dove), Robyn Cara (Emmy), Chris Walley (Sean O’Shea), David Wilmot (Seamus), and Will Forte (Gilbert)