In the six-part series ERIC (Netflix), a father faces a parent’s worst nightmare as his son goes missing, and he will have to fight not only a hostile city but his own nature to get the boy back. Immersive world building, deft direction and storytelling, and excellent acting elevate this show from something I might not have watched into one I found riveting.
I am typically not into “missing child” stories. As a parent, I find them depressing and filled with anxiety. My partner suggested it, so we gave it a shot, and sure enough, it’s anxiety-inducing all right. But the gritty production, excellent performances by Benedict Cumberbatch and the rest of the cast, and almost perfect portrayal of the beautiful decay of New York City in the 1980s hooked me almost instantly, and it’s an intense ride. It doesn’t rest on the inherently dramatic premise but reaches for so much more.
Cumberbatch plays Vincent, a mad genius-type puppeteer who co-produces a popular kid’s TV show similar to SESAME STREET, called GOOD DAY SUNSHINE. The show provides children with an idealized New York where people take care of each other. The problem is that outside the show, he is a bit of a toxic basket case, detached and irascible with his wife and son. While fighting with his wife one morning, his nine-year-old son walks to school on his own and disappears in the jungle of New York, producing every parent’s worst nightmare.
From there, the show appears to spill and spin in multiple directions as a virtual ensemble cast of primary and secondary characters are introduced, all of whom will play a part in the unfolding tapestry and contributing to the emerging theme that those in power–whether it’s Dad or the men who police or those who run the city–should do better to break negative cycles, particularly neglect. Honestly, at first, it’s all a bit unwieldy, super ambitious and requiring a major balancing act compressed into six episodes, but it all comes together nicely, mainly by shifting the focus of the show from Vincent and his family to Michael, the detective assigned to the missing persons case. His story is as compelling as Vincent’s and even eclipses it, which keeps the drama rising to the climax that neatly ties all the threads together and pays them off handsomely.
Overall, I enjoyed ERIC quite a bit. Part mystery, part social commentary, part redemption story, it’s a gritty, realistic, and compelling drama I found gripping almost throughout.
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