Bodkin Ending Explained: Does Gilbert Make It Out Alive?
Dark comedy Bodkin on Netflix follows a podcasting trio investigating a decades-old disappearance in a seemingly idyllic Irish town, uncovering a web of secrets and violence.
Bodkin Ending Explained: Does Gilbert Make It Out Alive? (Photo Credit – IMDb)
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Netflix’s recent venture, Bodkin, is set in an idyllic fictional Irish town by the same name. The show focuses on a trio of podcaster Gilbert (Will Forte), his assistant Emmy (Robyn Cara), and investigative journalist Dove (Siobhán Cullen) who go to the town of Bodkin to investigate the disappearance of three people that happened two decades ago during the annual town festival of Samhain.
The show might remind the audience of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building because of the obvious podcast theme, but the two shows are quite different in nature and the treatment of the subject of murder.
What Happens in Bodkin?
Coming to solve the disappearance of Teddy (Ger Kelly), Fiona, and Malachy, it is eventually revealed that Teddy is alive and has been living in Bodkin only. He disappeared for two days only before coming back. However, the whole incident was shushed up by his father, Sergeant Power (Denis Conway), the reasons of which remain unclear. After further investigation, Seamus’ (David Wilmot) old car is found in a pond containing two rotten bodies. Now, fresh trouble begins as one body is identified as Malachy’s, but the other is not Fiona’s.
The mystery intensifies, revealing that both Seamus and Sergeant Power are associated with the past disappearances but not actively. Seamus turns out to be an eel smuggler in business with the dangerous McArdle family. He tries to send them away when he learns that they are after him and his brother (Malachy) and his brother’s girlfriend (Fiona). However, things go very wrong as we learn that Teddy also has feelings for Fiona. In a feat of rage, Teddy hits Malachy in the head with a rock and kills him.
Sargent Power witnesses all of this and, to save his son decides to dump Malachy’s body. As he puts the body in the car’s trunk and drives off to the pond, he hits Greta, another woman who has no connection with all these. However, her body is also put in the trunk to hide the hit-and-run. Teddy then chased Fiona, but she escaped him and ran away. She took refuge with the nuns and unfortunately died while giving birth to a boy.
What Happens at the End of Bodkin?
One of the most shocking revelations that comes towards the end of the show is that Sean, adopted by Edna, is actually Fiona and Seamus’ child. Seamus was having an affair with Fiona, and she was pregnant with his child when she fled Bodkin. Seamus does not handle this revelation very well. Moreover, we also learn that Dove has made a deal with Interpol to gather information on Seamus. However, when Dove meets Seamus, things don’t go as planned because the McArdles show up to kill him. Though they fail, Dove realizes their next target will be Gilbert.
On the other hand, Seamus informs Sean, who is in the middle of an eel deal with Interpol, mistaking them as some client, that he is his real father. Sean refuses to believe him at first, and in a mad rage, Seamus points his gun at Edna, who he believes is the reason behind all this confusion. In the meantime, Interpol shows up, and Seamus flees, taking Gilbert hostage. Towards the show’s end, we see Seamus tied Gilbert in a cave and decided to blow it up.
The annual Samhain festival happens right above that cave, which means many people will die if Seamus blows up the cave. Dove tries to stop him from doing so but fails. As the Interpol inches closer, Seamus blows up the cave anyway, as he no longer cares about anything. However, since Dove had already moved a lot of townspeople from that area, there was no major casualty. Gilbert is also found alive, as he freed himself just before the cave blew up.
