By Benedict Cumberbatch jumps to the small screen for new mini-series Eric. After losing his child one busy morning, he plays a puppeteer and father and sets off to find his son with the help of his imaginary new puppet character, Eric. While this is the main crux of the story, there is another story here about the black, queer, unhoused population in the city at this time that were all subjected to further persecution at the hands of corrupt politicians and cops who wanted to cleanse the city of these folk. It’s an incredibly fascinating watch with outstanding performances from all involved, particularly the three leads, who are highly complicated and each have their own journey to follow in this series you cannot miss.
The first character’s story is Vincent (Cumberbatch), a “creative genius” and alcoholic who created a Sesame Street/Muppets-style program called Good Day Sunshine. When he isn’t going off script and upsetting his colleagues, he is chewing out local politicians visiting the set with their children, making everyone extraordinarily uncomfortable and not the person you want to hang around at work. This echoes his home life, where he is drowning his sorrows in hidden bottles all over his apartment while fighting with his wife Cassie (Gabby Hoffmann). When their son Edgar goes missing, he drifts further and further down a drug and alcohol-fused spiral, he then begins to see his latest puppet Eric in the real world. He is convinced that this walking and talking larger-than-life fuzzy blue and white monster (think Sweetums from The Muppets mixed with Sully from Monsters Inc) is the key to bringing Edgar home.
There are hints at Vincent’s history with mental illness through his obnoxiously rich parents and their constant offers to call a doctor as “it’s happening again” These statements are often thrown around, but nothing really comes of it. The further that Vincent fuels his addiction, aided by Eric, the more his life unravels as he attempts to continue trying to find his son. The dynamic between Eric and Vincent is fascinating to watch as their dynamic unravels. The further Vincent strays from his family path, the more Eric is there, seemingly egging him on to keep looking for Edgar.
It’s a bizarre and enticing performance from Cumberbatch. The family man on top of the world in his career and his descent into the underground of the 1980’s is something that he eats up. As the lines blur between reality and Vincent’s Good Day Sunshine world, the voice acting work he also provides for Eric becomes more stoic and sombre which allows for the tone of the other character’s story in the show to shift along with it.
Investigating Edgar’s disappearance is NYPD Lead Detective Michael (McKinley Belcher III), a black detective who is forced to stay closeted in a precinct full of corrupt cops. He is juggling keeping his identity a secret, all while caring for his AIDS-stricken partner William (Mark Gillis), who is in the late stages of the disease. He keeps a close watch on the local gay nightclub The Lux, which doubles as a playground for male escorts. When the trail runs cold on Edgar, he attempts to link a boy who went missing 11 months earlier by the name of Marlon from the exact same neighbourhood. Belcher is magnetic as Michael. He shows a balance of fear of hiding his identity from his very hetero-normative work colleagues; they even try to set him up with his secretary. While hiding his attraction to the Luxe owner Gator (Wade Allain-Marcus) watching him try to find the missing children at the same time as all of these things are happening in society around him, for me is the best part of this show. This is helped by the incredible performance from McKinley, the way he navigates the society he is living in, put into a position of power in the NYPD, yet observing and still a part of the racism, homophobia and class system that wants to keep him down. It’s one of the year’s best performances and elevates the show.
Rounding out the three is Cassie (Hoffmann), who is struggling to stay committed to her husband Vincent and is at boiling point with the lack of attention she perceives the police are not giving her to help find Edgar. Her story really doesn’t get moving till she meets up with Marlon’s mother Cecile (Adepero Oduye) who keeps pointing out that her son is not receiving anywhere near the same amount of attention as Edgar is. After Cecil’s interaction with Cassie and Michael, encouraging them to step up, this series really steps into what it is trying to say. An exploration into homophobia, racism and government corruption involving all of the main characters story arcs brings the series together.
This is all told on beautifully detailed sets. The handmade puppets and TV sets for Good Day Sunshine are meticulously detailed, and I wanted to spend a lot more time in this part of the show. Director Lucy Forbes applies a grain to the lens that makes the series look like it was filmed using the tech of that time while still preserving its HD necessities to remain on streaming services in 2024.
The six episode mini-series has a lot to say and a lot of characters to say it with. While they don’t always get equal amount of time to shine, there is a strong story at the centre here and when it focuses on Michael and the investigation amidst the corruption it is fantastic. Cumberbatch does often feel sidelined a bit, providing the intro and outro we need to understand what is happening in the city at this time in history. They really try to get us to care about Vincent, although this spoiled rich kid who doesn’t want to be one tale is a bit of a struggle to sympathise with.
Eric is a fascinating look into the world of corruption in the 1980’s; while it is not based on a true story, it does reflect the struggles of that time with the aids crisis, corruption and homelessness, it does provide a mystery whodunit story that will satisfy lovers of this genre. For me, the honest lens of queer characters in the 80s is on full display here and was what fascinated me most. Michael’s struggles with keeping his identity a secret while trying to impress his boss, care for his dying partner, and solve a string of disappearances, all while trying to figure out a way forward through the mess he is in really centred the show. Eric successfully manages to intertwine all of these themes while keeping the child-like wonder of Eric himself so as not to detract from the mature nature of the rest of the show.
Eric is streaming on Netflix from 30th of May.
