Warning: Spoilers for Netflix's Bodkin ahead

Summary

• Dove's childhood trauma ties back to her wolf sightings - a symbol of protection and her past pain resurfacing in Bodkin.
• The name of Dove's wolf, Faoladh, holds deep meaning rooted in Irish mythology as a protector of the wounded and lost.
• Dove's complex character in Bodkin is both protector and monster, struggling with vulnerability, loneliness, and her past trauma.

All throughout Netflix's Bodkin, Dove (Siobhán Cullen) keeps seeing a wolf everywhere she goes, and her sightings of the wolf and what they symbolize hold deep meaning for her in the series. The dark comedy crime story Bodkin follows a trio of people thrown together to do a podcast about a pair of mysterious disappearances that happened 20 years ago on Samhain Night in the small Irish town of Bodkin. Gilbert (Will Forte) is a down-on-his-luck podcaster who is desperate for another hit; Emmy (Robyn Cara) is a bright-eyed but insecure researcher, and Dove is a hard-nosed investigative journalist who senses there's more going on in the town than a long-dead cold case.

Everyone in Bodkin's cast of characters has layers and secrets, but it's established early on that, while Gilbert is the one making the podcast, the story belongs to Dove all along. It's a bold choice for the writers to make considering Dove is a challenging character, downright unlikable at times. She is a fascinating character, though, full of prickles and contradictions. It's not until the ending of Bodkin that she shares the origins of the wolf, and it explains so much about her. Equally as important, it explains why she keeps seeing the wolf, and exactly what it means, both for the story and for Dove herself.

Why Dove Sees The Wolf In Bodkin

It Ties Back To Her Childhood Trauma

From the first episode of Bodkin, it's clear that Dove's abrasive personality and deep emotional damage are all tied up in her childhood trauma. In the penultimate episode, it's revealed that Dove's mother was a heroin addict and, unable to properly care for her daughter herself, dumped her at a convent to be raised by nuns. The only link Dove had to her mother was her stuffed animal, a wolf, which her mother told her was meant to protect her and keep her safe. Throughout Bodkin, the vision of the wolf pops up when Dove is feeling uncertain or unsure of herself – even, though she'd never admit it, times that she's potentially feeling afraid.

It's strange, then, that Dove always appears uneasy when she sees the wolf. However, there's a reason for this: she's not sure why she's suddenly started seeing it. Early in Bodkin episode 1, Dove makes it clear to her editor that she has no intention of ever going back to Ireland and that doing so will stir up many unpleasant memories for her, the unspoken part being that it will also stir up trauma. Dove's subconscious may have manifested the wolf not just as a protective talisman of sorts, but the wolf may also represent the long-dormant and repressed memories starting to resurface now that she's back on familiar soil. Most likely, it's both, which is why it makes Dove so disturbed when she sees it. She's simply not ready to deal with what it means.

The Real Meaning Of The Wolf's Name

It's Pulled Directly From Irish Mythology

Dove disavowing any bit of cultural Irish superstition and mythology makes the reveal of her stuffed wolf toy's name all the more meaningful and poignant. Dove reveals to Mother Bernadette (Fionnula Flanagan) that her mother named the wolf Faoladh (pronounced FAY-lah), which translates to "werewolf" in Irish, with the faoladh's root in Celtic folklore. In Irish legend, however, the faoladh wasn't the fearsome and bloodthirsty beast that most think of when they think of the word "werewolf."

While shapeshifters just like European werewolves, the faoladh were seen as protectors, not killers.

In fact, the faoladh of Irish folklore is very different than its terrifying European counterpart. While shapeshifters just like European werewolves, the faoladh were seen as protectors, not killers. They were said to be guardian spirits of a sort, protectors of the wounded and lost. In particular, and most pertinent to Dove's past, they were said to be the protectors of children. In a metaphorical way, Dove is all three of the things the faoladh protected: she has deep, unhealed wounds from her past; she's lost in life, and she is, deep down, still the child her own Faoladh wolf was assigned by her mother to protect all those years ago.

What Seeing The Wolf Says About Dove

Dove Is A Complicated Person

Throughout Bodkin, Dove proves herself to be a complicated and prickly person, and her feelings about herself are equally as complex and uncomfortable. While the faoladh is generally a benevolent creature in Irish folklore, the werewolf myth, in general, has darker connotations. Werewolves are shapeshifters, not what they appear on the surface. Dove is also not what she appears to be on the surface; she uses her rudeness and snarky condescension to push people away and hide the very wounded, vulnerable human being inside.

But the other connotation is also the normal human being who suddenly turns into a monster, and Dove is certainly capable of this, too. Her damage runs so deep in Bodkin that she's not just an annoyance to Gilbert and Emmy in making the podcast, she's an actual liability. Dove's aggressive, dogged nature has made her an excellent investigator. However, it goes too far in Bodkin and it makes the town's residents view her in a hostile manner. She either shows the wolf inside to keep people at arm's length, or she finds a way to ruin the relationships she built, such as with the town mortician, Mary.

Her damage runs so deep in Bodkin that she's not just an annoyance to Gilbert and Emmy in making the podcast, she's an actual liability.

Faoladh was meant to protect her from the world, but Dove let the world make her into her own kind of monster. The "curse" passed down from her mother – the constant hunger, as Dove calls it – manifested in Dove in the need to know the truth, no matter how monstrous she has to be to get it. But the other, deeper curse, the one she doesn't acknowledge, is that her fear of abandonment and being hurt have led her to a very lonely life. By the end of Bodkin, it's clear that the people around her think Dove is a monster, but Dove thinks she's a monster, too. Breaking the curse only happens when Dove accepts her damage and acknowledges that she needs people around her.