In recent years, podcasts and YouTube channels specializing in true crime have multiplied, a fever that has transformed ordinary citizens into Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie, to a point that motivated the production of the excellent Only Murders in the Building and, now on Netflix, Bodkin.

The series, which was released at the beginning of May 2024, is funny, but, like all “who killed” content, it relies on multiple twists and turns until it gives us the culprit. Here, unlike the Star Plus series, which is mostly held in one building, the podcast involves a small town in Ireland, and God, there are only criminals in Bodkin!

Interestingly, some tried to find out if it was inspired by a real story (I don’t know how!) and obviously the answer is a resounding no! There is no Bodkin nor a crime from a 21-year-old unsolved disappearance. The team has very different people: an American (Will Forte) who is the star of the Podcast but is too innocent for anyone who enjoys or invests in true crime. Its producer, is a young woman still learning her first steps in journalism and a skeptical, rude, but excellent investigative reporter at what she does.

The series starts off funny, but it starts to become dramatic and takes so many turns that I’m not going to lie: it gets a bit drawn out. The story ends open-ended suggesting room for a second season, but honestly, just as Arconia would have no real estate value in New York with so many crimes at the same address, Bodkin is too small for so many criminals.

If Bodkin had tried to keep the narrative simpler, it would be more interesting, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking out. After all, anyone who likes true crime will laugh a lot at the clichés and criticisms made about the format. Even more interesting than what ended up being revealed.

THE SPOILER

Gilbert Power (Will Forte) has a common stance among many podcasters: he wants to tell the story of the mystery that has surrounded Bodkin for 21 years, which involves the disappearance of three people, but he doesn’t care about solving the mystery. He is accompanied by researcher and producer, Emmy Scissor (Robyn Cara) and they are accompanied by the annoying and dense investigative reporter Dove (Siobhán Cullen), who is in the group against her wishes. There are many twists and turns, but basically, they solve the crime that practically connects all of Bodkin to cover up when they find the car with the two bodies inside.

The summary is this: the fisherman, Seamus Gallagher (David Wilmot), is actually a criminal who faked his own death and adopted a new name. Pursued by other criminals, he tried to help his brother, Malachy, and his girlfriend, Fiona, who were not in town and were killed because of him. But Teddy, the son of the local sergeant, in love with Fiona, clashes with Malachy and kills him with a brick. On the way to dump the body, with the help of the father, they run over and accidentally kill a traveler who was in the city, and place the victim in the trunk of the vehicle, next to Malachy’s body, which they throw into a lake.

But Fiona, who was pregnant with Seamus, managed to escape to the island of Inish Mac Thiere, where she was taken in by the nuns but died during childbirth. Her son, Sean – currently the young man who helps the podcasters as a driver – was adopted as a baby by a former nun, now Mrs. O’Shea, who lies that he was Romanian. Seamus only discovers everything when he is on the run again – from Interpol and his enemies – leaving it uncertain whether he escaped the explosion alive or whether this time, he actually died.

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