Great television series are my passion, I watched Eric with zero expectation and without watching any trailer nor teaser for it. I watched this show fully blinded, without even knowing what it was about and it was truly a phenomenal, unique experience that everyone should have. It’s not just another show about a missing kid and the mission of finding that kid, it’s a show with lots of complex, deep messages that will have you thinking about the person you are and will have you thinking about being better. This series can be life changing to many people simply for its characters, story and, mostly, its emotionally profound messages.
In the 1980s New York, Vincent, a devastated father and puppeteer on a popular children’s TV show, seeks comfort through his bond with Eric, a monster from his missing son Edgar’s imagination. As Vincent delves into Manhattan’s seedy underbelly to unravel Edgar’s mysterious vanishing, he confronts the chilling revelation that the true monsters are closer to home than he imagined. Concurrently, Detective Ledroit, dealing with the 1980s AIDS crisis backdrop, grapples with his own concealed truths while he investigates NYPD corruption and gets entangled in the search for Edgar.
It’s pretty obvious that the main focus of this show is the disappearance of this kid, but this is not a usual type of situation that we’re dealing with. The disappearance of this kid changed many people’s lives, from the ones involved with the case to the ones that weren’t. Its impactful to see each character’s development and story. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Vincent, one of the main characters that goes through a long journey of acknowledgment, Vincent is a complicated character, someone you’ll definitely start hating but you’ll learn how to like him, you’ll know that he’s just a lost guy, the solution to that problem is inside him and he just gotta find a way to get there. It’s inspiring to see a guy like Vincent go through everything he did and end up as a healthy and happy person. And this show is here to prove that anyone can be better if they try harder for it, you just can’t give up on yourself.
This show approaches extremely sensitive themes such as child murder, sexual abuse, pedophilia and suicide. If you’re not comfortable with watching this then don’t, but I think the story approaches those themes really well, showing their consequences and how tragically terrible they are, and I think it’s important for adults to watch this show and see how your attitudes and your actions can change the lives of people around you. Is a show that knows what story they’re trying to tell you and all you gotta do is open your eyes and see it.
The cast is incredibly talented, many actors I’ve never seen working before delivering their best in a show that should definitely get nominated for some awards dare I say. The standout performance in this show gotta be for McKinley Belcher III as Detective Ledroit, he’s perfomance is not only inspiring but tense full, agonizing. McKinley does great when delivering a character full of frustration, hiding behind the shadows trying to fit into the society, not showing who he truly is because of fear, he’s afraid of people, afraid of not being able to be like the others because of who he is and it’s tragic to see his suffering and sadness. Every episode sets perfectly the upcoming one, is a show that doesn’t need lots of seasons to tell its story, it’s a limited series that perfectly wraps up something special and important that, as I said, must be seen by all of us.
Eric is not only brilliant, but also an impactful, inspiring and powerful show that approaches very sensitive themes in extraordinary ways. A talented cast in one of the best shows of the decade. A true, wonderful experience for TV fans.
Eric releases on Netflix on May 30.
