Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers minor for Bodkin.

The Big Picture

• Bodkin on Netflix offers a darker take on podcasting investigations than Hulu's Only Murders in the Building.
• Characters in Bodkin are unsavory and mysterious, contrasting with the light-hearted tone of Only Murders in the Building.
• The unique tone and storytelling of Bodkin sets it apart from other podcast-related TV shows, showcasing a different kind of mystery.

Podcasts and amateur sleuth podcasters are the order of the day. So, as is usually the case, television is beginning to reflect this newer phenomenon with stories that revolve around an eccentric group of funny and engaging entertainers. Hulu struck gold with the Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez grouping for Hulu's Only Murders in the Building. The show has had three successful seasons, and fans await a fourth. The trio of rag-tag podcasters and the assortment of the misfit residents of the Arconia in New York's Upper West Side struck the right chord with audiences. Not to be outdone, however, Netflix is dipping its toe into the new frontier of the podcasting world with its latest hit, Bodkin, and has put its own twist on it. The show has the same premise but takes a noticeably darker approach. Will Forte, Siobhan Cullen, and Robyn Cara make up the unlikely threesome that finds themselves in the quirky small Irish town of Bodkin. But underneath the rustic and charming facade is a decades-old double murder that hangs over the residents like a dark cloud.

What Is 'Bodkin' About?

Gilbert Power (Forte) is a middle-aged podcaster who has caught the attention of the traditional media with a successful turn as a guy who completely immerses himself in the mysterious true-crime stories that he and his fresh-faced partner, Emmy (Cara), seek to solve. Dovy (Cullen) is a hard-driving, steely investigative journalist based in London who, after a costly mistake on her last assignment ended in a suicide, is forced by her editor to join Gilbert and Emmy as they head to Bodkin, Ireland, to investigate a mysterious 20-year-old double murder. Initially, the podcasters think they will get audio from a harmless, eclectic group of locals about a cold case that has gotten even colder over the 20 years since it happened. It doesn't take long for their line of questioning to kick a hornet's nest in the tiny hamlet that has done its best to move on from its dark past.

The Characters in 'Bodkin' Are Much More Sullen Than in 'Only Murders in the Building'

With legendary comics like Steve Martin and Martin Short and a charming Selena Gomez leading the Only Murders in the Building regular cast, the show's overall tone and feel are lighter and more humorous than in Bodkin. An entire season of the Hulu hit comedy/drama will see a handful of truly wacky and oddball tangential characters meant to provide a happy-go-lucky whodunit element. It has a very PG-13 mood as that is the target audience it is trying to appeal to.

Bodkin's characters are noticeably more unsavory and not necessarily meant to be liked. With the backdrop of a blue-collar, hardscrabble Irish town, there is an assortment of boozy players who have something to hide. Even though Dove is a dead ringer for Trinity (Carrie Anne-Moss) in The Matrix with her short black hair, sunglasses, and black trench coat, she is self-loathing and unlikable. She is used to working alone and has very little patience for Gilbert and Emmy's folksy and friendly style of investigation. Dove is a laser-focused investigator, and her detached and shortsighted way of operating brings the darker side out of her two associates and the townspeople, like the mercurial Seamus Gallagher (David Wilmot), who appears to have the most to lose as the podcasters get closer to the truth.

'Bodkin' and 'Only Murders in the Building' Have Two Completely Different Tones

With the similar premises of three unlikely podcasters finding themselves in the middle of a dangerous murder investigation, there are bound to be comparisons between the two shows. To be clear, the premise is where the similarities end. One is set in a swanky Manhattan apartment building, while the other is in a town nestled into the lush and rolling hills of the Emerald Isle. And although there are a few subplots that loosely mirror each other, like the financial troubles of Oliver Putnam and Gilbert or the queer relationships of Dove and Mabel (Gomez), the differences far outweigh them.

The moment that the audience realizes that Bodkin has a much more terrifying tone is when they pull an old, rusted-out car from a nearby loch and find two unrecognizable mummified bodies in the trunk. You aren't going to see that in Only Murders in the Building. The murder at the beginning of each season is meant to be a campy kind of mishap, like Ben Gilroy (Paul Rudd) falling down an elevator shaft in Season 3 or Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell) being found stabbed with a knitting needle to end Season 1 and begin Season 2. Again, this is consistent with their brand. Bodkin has a more raw and visceral feel and isn't afraid to mix in the genuinely morbid and melancholy. There is a palpable haunting and eeriness to Bodkin that Only Murders in the Building doesn't necessarily need to go for.

'Bodkin' Needs a Second Season to Develop Dark, Intriguing Characters

Each of the three podcasters has a period during the first season when the audience gets a glimpse of their depressed and depraved sides. For Gilbert, it's when he falls into a downward spiral facing mounting debt and an impending divorce. When the podcast looks like it won't be a return to form, he tries to drink his problems away and even loses 8000 Euros during a drunken night of playing darts. Dove's bad attitude and self-important methods draw out Emmy's dark side and affect her relationship with a potential love interest. Dove herself is just a misanthropic and jaded person who keeps everyone at arm's length because of her troubled past. In the finale, "Empty Your Pockets," she is still convinced that Gilbert and Emmy aren't "real" journalists. And while the explosive ending ties up most of the first season's loose ends, a second season would give these nuanced and flawed characters in Bodkin time to develop further and separate itself from Only Murders in the Building as a podcast drama.

Bodkin is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

WATCH ON NETFLIX