When you think about detective stories, the first image that comes to mind is Sherlock Holmes, right? You know, with his coat, pipe, and magnifying glass, he was rocking that classic detective look. But now, imagine all that, but for an investigative journalist named Dubheasa Maloney, also known as Dove. She’s a woman on a mission who came to Bodkin, a small town in Ireland, wearing a sleek black coat and black sunglasses, to find out the truth behind three disappearances that happened during the Samhain festival 25 years ago with two podcasters, Gilbert and Emmy. But Dove didn’t exactly plan on coming back to Ireland from London. Nope, but she had to. What exactly happened? And will she find out the truth? Let’s find out together by diving into the story of Netflix’s new thriller series Bodkin, directed by Jez Scharf.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Dove come to Bodkin?
In the series, Dove was introduced as a well-known investigative journalist who worked at The Guardian. She had this quiet, dark vibe about her. She wasn’t one to trust anyone easily, and she had always been a bit of a loner. It wasn’t like she was born this way, but life’s circumstances made her that way. See, she left Ireland when she was just a kid, and there was a reason for that. Her mother was a heroin addict, so Dove couldn’t really be around her. She was sent to a convent school, but the nuns there weren’t exactly friendly. Her mother never came to visit her, even though Dove wanted her to. So, she grew up feeling pretty lonely and never really had any friends or partners. And she figured out pretty early on that in this world, she had to look out for herself, because people would take advantage of her if they could. And, well, that’s exactly what happened to her. When she was younger, there was this rumor going around that she set fire to a chapel out of all the anger and frustration she was carrying inside. That’s when she decided to leave Ireland for good.
But there is a thing called fate. So, she ended up back in her homeland again. Why? Well, she was working on uncovering some government healthcare system data breaches, and this guy named Kertek gave her all the information. She promised to keep his name private, but when she published the news, he couldn’t handle the attention and ended his own life. It turns out that the government and everyone else figured out Kertek was the whistleblower because of her. The sad part was that Dove found his body hanging from the ceiling, but instead of dealing with that, she saw his laptop with all the information on it and took it with her. It had been eating her up inside ever since, but at that point, there wasn’t much she could do. Kertek lost his life, and now Dove was in danger too. The police were after her for breaching the Official Secrets Act. So, her boss, Damien, told her to go to Bodkin, Ireland, to help these two podcasters, Gilbert and Emmy, with a project to save her job. Dove wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. She didn’t think true crime podcasts counted as real journalism, and going back to Ireland wasn’t her first choice. But she had no options; she knew she had to go even though she didn’t want to.
How did Dove find out about Seamus?
When Dove first stepped into Bodkin, something about the folks and their supposed kindness just didn’t sit right with her. After all, she wasn’t much of a good talker herself. She and the podcasters, Emmy and Gilbert, were poles apart in their personalities. Where they were loving and people-friendly, she was cold and distant, always thinking the worst of people, especially the ones in the town, thinking they were hiding something. As they were here to find out about the disappearances in the town, she was determined to find the truth by any means she could. When she got introduced to Seamus, Dove knew she knew him from somewhere but couldn’t really remember. Then, as she started investigating Malachy and Fiona, who’d disappeared from the town at the Samhain festival, Dove knew she had to find the truth. She was a true risk-taker, so she followed Seamus’s trail, and in his house, she found loads of cash and Seamus and Fiona’s pictures, along with an engagement ring engraved with Fiona’s name. She knew he was the man from whom she would get all the information. She had always had a hunch, and all these years of not trusting people had finally paid off, she believed. On top of that, while getting information about Malachy and digging through his photos, she found out that Seamus is actually Jack, who is popularly known as “the Badger,” about whom she once wrote a story. He was a smuggler for drugs, arms, etc., so Seamus definitely wasn’t the good man Gilbert thought himself to be. Dove not only didn’t think the worst of people, but she also encouraged others to think the worst of them too. She was ready to unmask the Jack who had been living in Bodkin, taking Seamus’s name for 20 years.
Why Did Dove Make A Deal With Interpol?
As they were closing in on the truth about the disappearances, they found out that Seamus wasn’t the one they were after. It was actually Sergeant Power, the big shot in town, who had been hiding Malachy’s body in his trunk all these years and had finally thrown it in a ditch. It turns out that his son Teddy accidentally killed Malachy out of anger for running off with Fiona, who happened to be the love of his life. It might seem like she did not care about anyone, but deep down, she really did, as proved by the talk she had with Teddy to tell him the truth about what happened. She felt for people like Teddy, who’ve been pushed around since they were young just because they’re a bit different. It’s like their feelings don’t count for some people, and Dove gets that. Then, from the church where Fiona was hidden, they uncovered that Fiona was pregnant with Seamus’s son, Sean, and tragically, Fiona died while giving birth to him. But Sister Bernadette, who gave them this information, actually wanted the police to arrest Dove because the sister knew the cops were after her for leaking that data breach news. That’s why Dove had trust issues, you know? And the police officers who arrested her were from Interpol, who were in Bodkin to take Seamus for his illegal eel smuggling business.
Dove knew she had to get out of there, and she had to think fast. She struck a deal: she’d bring in Seamus if they let her go. She kind of manipulated Gilbert into taking Seamus with him and telling him about Sean being his son, hoping it’d buy them some time and the police could arrest Seamus. But things went sideways really quickly. Not only were the cops after Seamus, but his old enemies, the McArdle gang, were too. Dove tried to talk some sense into Seamus about how turning himself in would be the best bet. But then Seamus did not listen to her and set off a bomb in a tomb where he hid Gilbert. She ran away from the scene to see if Gilbert was okay or not. The tears in Dove’s eyes showed just how much she cared for that guy. You know, when Dove first came to town, she never expected to get attached to anyone so quickly. I mean, they had a pretty frosty relationship where she’d often lie, manipulate him, and even call him names. But truth be told, all the work she put into this podcast wasn’t for herself—it was to make Gilbert’s podcast a hit. She felt like, after all these years, she finally found a friend in him. She even threw a punch to save him from his debt collector! Dove was never one for hugs, but when she saw Gilbert alive and well, she breathed a sigh of relief and rested her head on his shoulder in peace.
Dove can be tough, but she’s not one to take a loss lightly. Solving the mystery obviously made her really happy. Even though she sometimes seemed rude to Emmy, who wanted to be just like her, she pushed her hard to bring out her best—or maybe she just wanted to use her. But I guess that’s a talent in its own way. Throughout this whole journey, Dove kept hallucinating a wolf around her. But later, when she revisited her old convent school to reminisce about her childhood, she discovered that she used to play with a wolf doll back then. She believed he was always her protector and savior, which might explain why she kept seeing him everywhere. But what’s next for Dove? Well, she lost her job at The Guardian, so maybe this time she’ll give podcasting another shot. And who knows? Maybe the next season will revolve around none other than a sister from her old convent school. We’ll have to wait and see how it all turns out, probably in the next season.
