Hello everyone
I’ve been watching Eric on Netflix. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should check it out.
And in case you’re worried, there are no spoilers here. I won’t talk about anything that isn’t obvious from the marketing and the first episode.
The setup
The world of the story is set in early 1980s New York. Vincent (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) is a puppeteer working on a Sesame Street-like show. He is an alcoholic and is married to Cassie (played by Gaby Hoffmann). The couple have a son, Edgar. The marriage is volatile and disintegrating.
One morning, after a traumatic night for Edgar dominated by his parents’ constant incendiary rows, Edgar leaves for school. He then disappears.
On it’s face, Eric is a missing child story, focusing on the trauma suffered by the parents. However, the story is much more than that.
Who is Eric?
Edgar shares his father’s artistic flair and has drawn pictures of a monster. That monster is Eric. Eric then appears twice:
- once in the puppet show where Vince works, and
- as a creation in Vince’s head (which is shown on the screen as a monster that follows Vince and with whom Vince talks).
With Edgar’s disappearance, Vince feels immense guilt, and rightly so—he has been a terrible father. He is guilty about his drinking, guilty about the rows with Cassie that impact Edgar, guilty about his inattention to Edgar, and guilty that when he does pay attention to his son, it is all too often to bully him.
The monster, therefore, is Vince, and the Eric who follows him around is his own mind/conscience made tangible.
Eric is the monster within, made real
As a dramatic device, having a character be able to interact with their own conscience is an interesting idea. But it is a device and is executed in a slightly heavy-handed manner at times.
Production
Eric was created and written by Abi Morgan who also wrote The Iron Lady and The Hour (which is currently on Netflix… at least, it’s on Netflix UK).
It is a dark story. But a story about a child’s disappearance from a dysfunctional home with an bullying alcoholic father, set in 1980s New York was never going to be a light and easy watch.
The production mirrors the dark theme—everywhere is, literally, dark and gloomy. But the gloom isn’t over-done, and it reflects the time in which the story is set, and the themes.
Should you watch Eric?
Yes, you should watch Eric. It’s good.
If there’s a criticism, it’s that there are too many story threads thrown into the mix (including: police corruption/incompetence, political corruption, wealth inequality, race relations, gay rights, and homelessness). All of these story threads are good and interesting, but they’re not fleshed out satisfactorily or integrated enough into the story.
However, there is a satisfying end to the story, even if that end is based on something that’s rather an annoying contrivance in the earlier part of the story.
Until July
That’s me for this month. I hope you enjoy Eric, but don’t get too scared by the monsters under the bed.
I’ll be back in July. Until then.
All the best
Simon