The Irish Invasion on Netflix continues with new drama set in West Cork.
JOE wrote about the 'Irish Invasion' on Netflix earlier this week as homegrown projects Land of Saints and Sinners, Kin and Obituary all hit the top of the streaming service's charts top 10.
This looks set to continue awlis a new comedy-thriller with a central mystery involving several quintessentially Irish things – the Catholic Church, the Troubles, old Gaelic celebrations and more. While not as outright successful as Apple TV+'s similarly styled Irish drama Bad Sisters , the latest Netflix original's interesting premise and entertaining performances may make it an attractive watch for fans of similar investigative stories.
Bodkin centers on Dov (Obituary's Siobhan Cullen), a hard-charging investigative reporter whose latest scoop has some expected tragic consequences. To get her out of her predicament, her newspaper hooks her up with Gilbert (Will Forte), a cheerful American one-hit wonder podcaster and Emmy winner ( Robin Calla) – Gilbert's young assistant – aims to break into the industry herself.
The trio are assigned to travel to the fictional town of West Cork to cover the return of Samhain. This is because three people disappeared during the last event, and two of them are still missing.
While Gilbert seemed content to just cover the festival and collect some weird stories about the reasons for the disappearances, Dove started digging deeper. Soon, the three discover some bombshells. But in doing so, they put themselves in great danger.
That might seem like enough to fill out a series, but ultimately to its detriment, Bodkin is completely overstuffed with plot—and we haven't even mentioned the hippie commune that's located in the central town, and the trafficking ring that operates out of it Well, tech A millionaire (Charlie Kelly) returns to the area to host a music festival, and the podcast's driver (Chris Worley) appears to be up to no good.
Often, such plot diversions and red herrings slow the show's momentum and detract from the simple yet effective premise of this central trio discovering a sinister underbelly lurking in a seemingly quaint, idyllic place.
Furthermore, the difficulty with making a comedy thriller is that these two elements often feel like they are in opposition to each other. In fact, Bodkin sometimes struggled to maintain a consistent tone. Dove, for example, is essentially a parody of a hard-nosed reporter (to Cullen's credit, he manages to make this sullen, foul-mouthed character so funny). But as the series goes on, the show's emotional weight depends heavily on the viewer's true credibility of the reporter.
Likewise, it's hard to tell whether Gilbert's deadpan, solemn narration at the end of the episode is a parody of true crime podcasts or something viewers should take seriously.
However, if you can look beyond these issues, there's a lot to like about Bodkin. The West Cork locations look great, especially in the truly high-octane finale directed by veteran Irish director Paddy Bresnach (I Fall, Rosie), the centerpiece of the show The mystery is solved in a satisfying way.
It's also great fun to witness the murderous cast of Irish character actors appearing in “Bodkin” – many of whom have extensive monologues and scenes that require deep study. Some notable standouts include Pat Shortt as the local farmer, Fionnula Flanagan as the sinister boss, and David Pearse as the surprising Scrappy Hippies, Lalor Roddy and Pauline McLynn play late-game antagonists. Newcomer Clodagh Mooney Duggan also makes a strong impression as the local mortician for whom Dove has his own/unwilling wishes.
But the show is really stolen by the great David Wilmot, who plays a Bodkin resident hiding out in West Cork after a dark past whose peaceful life is threatened by a podcast town. Credibility – who honestly delivers a beautiful monologue about the virtues of Guinness, spontaneously dances to Cyndi Lauper, and beats a man half to death with a stapler – is equally charming, funny and terrifying every time he He inspires the show every time he's on screen. Its one step – helping it achieve the fusion of comedy and motivating its struggle. He is the main reason to listen to Bodkin.
Bodkin is currently streaming in its entirety on Netflix.
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