Season 1 |
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Episode Guide
Episode 1 -| Review Score – 3/5
Episode 2 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 3 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 4 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 5 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 6 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
Episode 7 -| Review Score – 2.5/5
True crime podcasts are all the rage now and so too are programmes about those who make them. We have seen quite a few podcast-inspired documentaries in recent years as well as the hit comedy series Only Murders In The Building, which has now spanned three seasons.
‘Bodkin’ is another series that has podcasting as its theme. This one tells the story of an American podcaster named Gilbert Power (Will Forte), who travels to the titular Irish town to investigate the mysterious case of three people who went missing 25 years earlier.
Gilbert isn’t alone on his trip. He is joined by a disgraced journalist named Dove (Siobhán Cullen) who has been told by her boss at The Guardian to lay low for a while due to a recent scandal. Tagging along is Emmy (Robyn Cara), Gilbert’s research assistant, who is an aspiring journalist who hopes to reach the heights that Dove reached before the fall from grace that brought her to Bodkin.
Gilbert and Emmy are upbeat as they arrive in Ireland but Dove is less than overjoyed to be back in a place that has links to her childhood. Around the mid-point of the series, we learn more about her past but until then the series focuses on the various suspects that may have something to do with the folk who vanished. Among these is a guy named Seamus (David Wilmot) who has a secretive past, and the chief of the local police force, Sergeant Power (no relation to Gilbert), who has a personal connection to one of the people who disappeared.
Clues are dropped to incriminate one person or another but this is the kind of series that throws in lots of red herrings. As such, it’s wise not to second-guess what might be going on. Just when you think Gilbert and co are close to solving the mystery, new information is discovered that makes them (and us) question everything that has gone before.
There’s lots to enjoy about ‘Bodkin,’ with its quirky sense of humour and cast of eccentric characters. The first episode is particularly enjoyable with the fish-out-of-water comedy borne from Gilbert’s wide-eyed wonder at everything ‘Irish’ about the little town. But then the comedy takes a back seat to the darkness of the tale, with subplots about smuggling, crime families, and sinister goings-on at a local convent. All of these things are connected to the central mystery in one way or another, but it would be remiss of us to reveal any plot spoilers here.
The series is quite gripping for the most part, with cliffhangers near the end of each episode to keep us tuning in. The performances are good, the scenery is beautiful, and the story is both twisted and twisting. These positives make ‘Bodkin’ worth watching and override the occasional weaknesses in the writing.
Of these weaknesses, we need to mention the abundance of subplots. While some of them tie into one another, others get in the way of the show’s central mystery, which is by far the biggest hook for viewers. We’re thinking of the scandal involving Dove, for example. This part of her backstory gives us a few insights into her character but it never really leads anywhere, so it’s a needless distraction from the primary investigation.
The series is also quite illogical at times. There’s a subplot related to Interpol, who turn up on the island looking for a smuggler but who think it’s okay to run down one of the podcast team. Is it really common practice for Interpol to plough people down while driving? We doubt it. This is just one of several moments in ‘Bodkin’ that don’t make a lot of sense.
There are plotholes too, especially in the season finale when certain key characters disappear. This is ironic considering ‘Bodkin’ is a show that hinges on an investigation into mysterious disappearances. But in the case of the last episode, it’s poor writing rather than a new plot twist that causes some of the cast to vanish.
‘Bodkin’ might be a flawed show but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not worth watching. There’s enough here to keep us hanging on for each new episode, with promises of new twists and turns as well as dark secrets that are just waiting to be uncovered.
The series is never as funny as I had hoped and the ending isn’t completely satisfying. But for the most part, ‘Bodkin’ has enough going for it to make it worthy of a one-time watch, while raising hopes that there might be a second series.
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Verdict - 7/10
7/10