Bodkin

Bodkin focuses on a trio of clashing personalities who are investigating disappearances in rural Ireland for a podcast. The early episodes are engrossing and dryly funny, particularly in the contrast between reality and the stereotypical American perception of Ireland as an idyllic ancestral utopia. As the series progresses the tone becomes darker and the narrative fragments. It gets progressively less funny but it remains engrossing. And then there's the seventh and final episode, an unsatisfying disappointment that wraps everything up with a goofy setpiece, fails to provide closure on the fate of the most interesting character, and steals its denoument directly from B. J. Novak's Vengeance.

Bodkin starts off wonderfully -- great acting, great scenery, great direction. And Will Forte turns in a terrific performance as an overly cheery Midwestern loser trying so, so hard to redeem his life -- his acting is superb. Actually, so is everyone else's: there's not a weak link in the cast.

There is a weak link in the script, however. That superb start ends up getting drowned in red herrings and weird turns and an overly complicated plot that disintegrates by the last episode. A shame, because for at least half if not more of the show, it knowingly mixes comedy, crime and even a bit of surrealism perfectly. They just didn't know how to end it.

One other note: someone in this show really, really doesn't like dogs. If you do, you might want to skip it. Seriously? Gratuitous canine violence??

The pluses? The cast, including the dozens of extras that add layers of believability to the odd little Irish town.

The story, a cold case about a long ago trio of missing persons, combines with a creaky Pod-cast Scooby Do adventure, and it meanders a lot. This makes the early episodes a bit slow. The action picks up in the later episodes starting with #5. However, the narrative begins to jump around a lot, flashbacks from other characters perspectives, and hops from one character to another too often.

The eventual resolution of the multiple threads is both a bit of a letdown, and a whirlpool of wrong assumptions getting vetted one by one.

The comedy isn't as non-stop as some reviews and the trailer suggests. It's dark and filled with the personal demons of the heroes complicating their efforts. The personal renaissance each person goes through is satisfying, if a little too neatly accomplished. There are some sly funny moments though, filled with irony and a lack of self awareness.

The three protagonists are conflicted individuals, performed very well by a surprising cast. Siobhan Cullen's Dove is an unrepentant b!+@# who has big problems brewing back home in London. Robyn Cara, who has made a career of playing ditzy characters, at first seems to be playing true to form, but her character Emmy reveals more depth and complexity as each episode unspools. Will Forte is an acquired taste, and his character, Gilbert, is a doofus who's made big mistakes that are nipping at his heels. He continually gets in his own way trying to be nice. Fortunately he becomes less of a tool as the season nears its conclusion.

David Wilmot turns in a great performance as Seamus Gallagher, the mysterious townsman with a scary past, who is trying to embrace a "normal" life.

I recommend it, it isn't high art but there are some laughs and good performances..

The beginning of the show was very promising, the first 4 to 5 episodes were very dark and moody with a touch of humour and good acting. The start of what seemed to be a solid story. Maybe a tad too much storylines but overall enjoyable to watch.

Some of the many characters were irrelevant to the core of the story and disappeared into thin air, a lot of loose ends. Others weren't looked into enough.

Then came episodes 6 and 7... honestly, I haven't seen such a bad ending of a show since Game of Thrones. It was a bit laughable really. Like many reviewers here I was really disappointed.

Such a shame.

The dark-comedy-Irish setting works pretty well in this series. 'Ah, must be an Irish thing'-moments are mixed with comedic WTF-moments but not to the point where you lose focus.

I especially liked the performance of David Wilmot as a grunty Irish old man and Siobhán Cullen as the annoyed journalist. I hope she has the chance to star in bigger productions after this. The acting of Will Forte was a bit unfitting in the beginning but it gets better soon.

They story itself is pretty good but not masterclass. Classical thriller story where more and more is revealed during the series. Some minor plot holes in the end and unclarified things but I guess they have left them in for a possible second season.

Solid fun watch for a free weekend.

PS: Have absolutely no clue where people come from when they mention violence to animals. Not a single animal in distress is shown.