Eric Season 1 Episodes 1-3 Review: A Missing Child Drama with a Big (Furry) Twist

The first half of the Netflix drama, Eric Season 1 Episodes 1-3, introduces us to a deeply flawed father played by Benedict Cumberbatch. His search for his son goes down a very unique path. It’s one that mostly works.

Vincent is the host of a puppet-based children’s program called “Good Day Sunshine”. Offscreen, he’s often crass, cold, and drunk. When a moment of dismissiveness is followed by his son, Edgar, going missing, he starts on a stumbling path to absolution.

That involves turning to an idea of Edgar’s for a new character for the show. “Turning to” in a literal sense, because “Eric” soon comes to life within Vincet’s imagination while he urges the showrunners to let him introduce the puppet.

The police investigation is led by Detective Michael Ledroit. Ledroit lives with his lover, William, already very ill from AIDS in a show set in the early ages of the AIDs epidemic, leading to personal and professional struggles.

The later of these is reflected through another case, this of Marlon, a Black boy missing far longer than Edgar, whose mother still searches for answers with little hope of finding her son alive. Unsurprisingly, she gets minimal response compared to Vincent.

At least in these episodes, we get only a few glimpses of the show’s titular character; just enough to make Vincent lash out to the point that everyone from his coworkers to his wife, Cassie, doubts his grip on reality.

It’s likely an intentional and effective use of screentime. Eric’s role is similar to that of the dagger in Macbeth, leaving both characters and audience unsure as to whether he’s a sign of subconscious reasoning or just of Vincent’s looming insanity.

The series hinges on Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance, and this, too, is impressive. Even when undergoing every parent’s worst nightmare, there are only a handful of moments in which Vincent is remotely sympathetic.

Somehow, we’re able to root not so much for him as for his stumbling attempts to better himself to succeed. Pressing back against the statistics that his son is likely dead, he seems determined to become a father that Edgar will be willing to come home to.

That determination is rewarded through (spoiler!) the closing scene of the first half of the series. In the final shot of episode three, we get a glimpse of Edgar, looking small and scared, but definitely alive, and with no immediate evidence of a captor.

Through supporting characters and subplots, Eric also brings awareness to the social issues of its time, from a media frenzy over a missing white child that isn’t given to a Black boy to the earliest victims of AIDS keeping their conditions hidden.

These efforts are admirable, and poignant where we see them, but they also feel somewhat tacked on, not delved into with much beyond a phone call until episode three. Marlon’s mother, Cecile. is left waiting for answers—and so are we.

Reviews for Eric have ranged from positive to mixed, largely praising the writing and acting, but sometimes speculating as to whether the attempt to hook viewers through a life-size, typically imaginary puppet, works well enough to justify the absurd.

I can see both arguments here, and a final verdict will hinge on the true purpose of Eric as a character. With Edgar still alive, we may avoid a deeply tragic ending, but with so many problematic characters, an idealistic one is also unlikely.

There are many ways for this show to turn out and many messages that could stem from its themes. Yet whether Eric is effective or a gimmick, there’s plenty here that’s gripping and gritty enough to make it worth watching through to the end.

 

What did you think of this episode of Eric? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Eric is now streaming on Netflix

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