What is the significance of the Wolf in Netflix's Bodkin? Explained

The dark comedy thriller Bodkin is finally on Netflix. The new comedy-drama series, set in an idyllic coastal Irish town, will see Forte as a podcaster investigating the disappearance of three strangers. As he teams up with two fellow detectives and delves into the mystery, he stumbles across a bigger and stranger story than any of them could have imagined.

The trio embarks on making a podcast about a few mysterious disappearances 20 years ago on Samhain Night in a small Irish town called Bodkin. Forte's character Gilbert, a down-on-his-luck podcaster desperate for another hit, joins Emmy (Robyn Cara), a bright but slightly insecure researcher. They are assisted in their endeavors by Dove, a persistent and rigorous investigative journalist, who senses that there is more to the disappearances than meets the eye.

One of the strangest storylines of the movie is how Dove (Siobhán Cullen) keeps seeing a wolf wherever she goes. The sighting of the wolf and what the wolf symbolizes holds a deep meaning for her, and viewers eventually realize that even though Gilbert is the one making the podcast, the story is really about Dove.

What is the reason Dove sees the Wolf in Bodkin?

While all the characters are complex and layered, Dove is a particularly challenging character in Bodkin. Throughout the series, Dove keeps seeing a wolf, and it is only at the end that she reveals the origins of this wolf. It simultaneously explains a lot about her character, past, and childhood.

Dove holds a lot of childhood trauma and emotional damage, which becomes evident through her abrasive personality. However, she never reveals the cause of all this until in the penultimate episode when we get to know that Dove's mother was a heroin addict who left her at a convent to be raised by nuns. Dove's only link to her mother was the wolf stuffed toy her mother had given her, telling her it would protect her.

The audience notices that the vision of the wolf only pops up when Dove is feeling uncertain, unsure of herself, or even afraid. Every time she sees the wolf, she appears uneasy and becomes unsure why she suddenly keeps seeing the wolf.

It might be that Dove's subconscious stirs up the manifestation of the wolf, not just as a symbol of protection. Likely, the wolf may also represent the long-dormant and repressed traumatic memories of her childhood, which have started to resurface now that she is back in her homeland. Thus, Dove gets uneasy and agitated when she sees the wolf because she is not ready to unpack her childhood trauma and deal with it.

The roots of Irish folklore in Bodkin

Dove also reveals that her mother had named her stuffed wolf Faoladh, which translates to "werewolf" in Irish. But the faoladh in Irish folklore is not the bloodthirsty werewolves from European folklore. They were mostly seen as protectors or guardians of spirits in Irish folktales, especially protectors of children. The Faoladh was Dove's protector assigned by her mother in her absence, and Dove held onto it in the absence of any security and warmth from her mother.

While the faoladh is a benevolent creature, the werewolf myth has darker connotations. Just like the werewolf is a human who turns into a bloodthirsty monster, Dove, too, becomes her own kind of monster. She becomes rude and snarky and tries to keep other people at bay to protect her unhealed inner child.

Bodkin is now available for streaming on Netflix.

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