Bodkin

I feel compelled to review some of the reviewers of this quirky, well written and acted caper in order to set the record straight.

Anyone who attempts to compare it to 'Broadchurch, 'Unforgotten' or 'CSI' has truly missed the point. It's more in the genre of 'Dead Like Me' and 'Hot Fuzz' or even 'Only Murders in the Building' only darker and with less deadpan and slapstick humor.

One who gave it a 1 rating because a dog was shot begs belief. Plus they argued it was seen writhing in blood and was purely gratuitous without contributing anything to the story. This couldn't be further from the truth. It was basically killed 'off camera' and exposed exactly what that violent family was all about. It also confirmed that they would have killed Seamus' brother and Fiona had they found them years earlier. It was a shocking and senseless act on their part which proved they meant business in their hunt for Seamus. I, for one, totally expected it. It also gave us another opportunity to witness the softer side of Seamus.

This, plus all the other low scores, don't affect it's well-deserved 7 as a show worthy of at least checking out. It's compact so it's a great binge-watch. It's either your cup of tea or it isn't.

This original series takes the viewer through many plot twists and turns with lots of red herrings and cliff hangers at the end of each episode that leave the viewer wanting more. Towards the end of episode 5, which revealed a lot of answers, I was hoping there would be more and was very happy to see the Netflix info that there were two more episodes to go.

The basic premise has been well documented by other reviewers. A positive, upbeat one-hit-wonder American podcaster (David Wilmot) who, in spite of a flagging career and financial and marital problems comes to the ficticuous west coast Irish town of Bodkin to document a 25yr old missing persons mystery.

Three people went missing during their annual pagan festival and he hopes a closer investigation of the facts for his podcast will renew his fame. He never anticipates solving the mystery but with the aid of his young, wide-eyed novice researcher (Robyn Cara) and the addition of a disgraced investigative journalist from the 'Guardian' (Siobhan Cullen), they begin to dig deeper into the mystery. She smells a real story and although her boss just wanted her to lay low with these guys to avoid censure for her part in the suicide of a whistleblower she was working with, she can't help herself getting them deeply involved and taking the podcast to a whole new level.

There are as many real life elements as stereo-typical and ludicrous ones which keep this show darting between mysterious drama and dark humor. I, personally, would have liked it to have been a bit more obviously humorous but the mystery unfolds in such surprising ways I was still hooked.

I disagree with others who felt the reveals were anti-climatic ... I think they worked well with the pacing and tone...but I have to admit I was disappointed with the ending. I wanted different outcomes for the three musketeers but that's colored by my set of values and by the fact I may have begun to take it all a bit too seriously.

It's been difficult to try to describe this inventive series without giving away any spoilers.

The acting was great from the whole ensemble, the writing clever and inventive, the pacing was a bit chaotic and the scenes a bit choppy at times but not nearly as much as in 'Hot Fuzz' which I really loved but felt it was often like different movies cobbled together in the way they switched from slick 'The Borne Identity' scenes to 'Midsomer Murders' at it's best. This was not the case here but the introduction of the incompetent and OTT Interpol agents certainly are a case in point. The show would slow down and speed up awkwardly at times and often the humor following a serious or personally revealing scene just didn't quite work for me. I wonder if the lack of fluidity was somewhat related to the switch in directors during the series. This is normal in episode fiction but perhaps a few of these directors were not as capable of keeping the delicate balance and continuity of this specific style of show as well as others. I think you have to be aware this is not going to be your typical true crime mystery series and stick with it past episodes one and two. You're in for a treat... or at least a very different viewing experience.

But in the end, I could barely finish this thing.

The overall vibe reminded me of Hot Fuzz with Only Murders in the Building.

I've been a fan of Only Murders since s1 and was hoping this show to be pretty good. It is said to be a dark comedy but it didn't feel like it most of the time.

I also sense some Hot Fuzz vibe out of it but maybe it is because of the setting. I would honestly love it more if it was like Hot Fuzz too.

I think it was just too slow and not that interesting. I got lost in the overall plot and was too lazy to backtrack to catch up with it in the end.

So yeah... it was just another meh series for me.

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..

First of all: I really love the absurd and hilarious scenes in this series.

For example, when a farmer offers the protagonists a lift. Next scene: the women are sitting on a tractor chugging through the countryside at 10 kilometres per hour. Cut. The whole tractor is shown from the side, lit up like a party mobile in colourful neon lights and continues to chug through the countryside at 10km/h.

The story itself is rather semi-interesting. It feels endlessly drawn out and uninteresting in places. Yes, it's supposed to represent the usual dead ends in this genre, but it's just not 'catchy' enough.

A very ambivalent series for me. Sometimes really absurdly funny, sometimes incredibly boring. But always beautifully filmed.

For the majority of its 7 episode runtime, really except the last two episodes the show is really well done. Gilbert's unnaturally chipper attitude and Emmy's seeming ditziness paired with Dove and the towns somber attitude works really well.

It's atmospheric and feels somber but moves with a quick pace and the humor that is there is really well done and the trio follow a whole lot of leads and find out more information and secrets with every passing episode.

The settings and scenarios all seem real and the actors do a great job in bringing their characters to life, especially the guy who plays Seamus.

But the last two episodes needed to be three. There's a wildly rushed ending to an Emmy plotline, major information introduced too late to work as well as it should, conflicting/muddled information with regards to one of the father son duo's and Gilbert acts like a twit well past when he's proven himself not to be.

That said, the climax is what the show wanted to build to and it is well done, tying basically everything up neatly and doing a lot to salvage its two sloppiest episodes in an effective way.

Good show, worth a watch, given another episode or two it could've been great.