Skip to content
Bodkin is a new crime comedy/drama set in the fictional, titular town, based in the very real West Cork, in Ireland.
Will Forte (Strays) takes the lead as crime podcaster Gilbert Power, an American with Irish roots who’s learned of the disappearances of three individuals, who went missing on Samhain (pronounced ‘sow-in’), and uses this as a chance to get listeners to his content, whilst enthusing over anyone and anything in the village.
He’s joined by eager young researcher Emmy (Robyn Cara – Life (2020)), along with very reluctant – and cold-hearted – participant Dove (Siobhán Cullen – The Dry), who’s stumbled upon a bad situation in her work and, as a result, she’s being forced by her editor to report on this story, instead.
This is quite clichéd from the off, as some of the locals come across as a bit backwards, such as the landlady where they’re staying, who asks Chicago-born Gilbert if he knows the Chicago-based couple who stayed with her, several years ago. Unsurprisingly, the answer is no.
Meanwhile, in addition to a nun drinking Guinness in a pub, everyone he meets is surprised that people actually listen to his podcast, as they’re not familiar with them. That said, I’m not, either. I’ll watch a number of Youtube channels, but I don’t do podcasts, so when I’m told I can listen to a particular one “wherever you get your podcasts“… I don’t know where that is.
However, when they leave the first pub in the opening episode, I doubt very much they’d happily each leave half-a-pint behind. You’d drink up!
Meanwhile, they end up in a traditional pub, where customers randomly start singing, which silences everyone else.
Bodkin features some amusing lines, such as Dove’s acerbic, “Nuns are like wine. Eventually, they’ll end up like vinegar“, but in terms of the mystery, it’s quite slow, and not really dragging me in. Hence, so far I’ve seen just the first two episodes, and unless I later hear that it’s absolutely amazing, this is as far as my Irish trip will go.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Bodkin is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from today.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 45-55 minutes per episode (7 episodes)
Release date: May 9th 2024
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.39:1
Series Directors: Bronwen Hughes, Nash Edgerton, Johnny Allan, Paddy Breathnach
Producers: Geoffrey Hemwall, Macdara Kelleher, Alex Pitz, Edmund Sampson
Writers: Oneika Barrett, Paddy Campbell, Mike O’Leary, Jez Scharf, Alex Metcalf, Megan Mostyn-Brown, Ursula Rani Sarma
Creator: Jez Scharf
Music: Paul Leonard-Morgan
Cast:
Dove: Siobhán Cullen
Gilbert Power: Will Forte
Emmy: Robyn Cara
Seán O’Shea: Chris Walley
Seamus Gallagher: David Wilmot
Mrs. O’Shea: Pom Boyd
Teddy: Ger Kelly
Garda Eoin: Seán Óg
Damien: Charlie Kemp
Maeve: Kerri McLean
Frank: David Pearse
Fagan: Amy Conroy
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.