Eric review: Taken meets Sesame Street with confusing stakes

Netflix’s upcoming series Eric is a gritty yet campy look at a child kidnapping case, but its baffling stakes will have some scratching their heads.

Benedict Cumberbatch has stepped outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and into the shoes of a dad with a missing kid in Netflix‘s Eric, tipped as being one of the best TV shows of 2024.

The streaming service‘s limited series dives deep into the world of a gritty, ’70s style New York City as Vincent (Cumberbatch) and his wife look for their missing son among a host of interconnecting storylines.

While the central premise of the series and its mixed genres are incredibly compelling, the overall stakes of the show can be a bit confusing, which only hinders the main message of Eric.

A desperate dad with a lackluster special skill

Eric centers around Vincent and Cassie Anderson, a couple whose nine-year-old son Edgar suddenly goes missing while walking to school one day.

While Vincent is first shown as a sweet yet eccentric puppeteer on a Sesame Street-style series, it’s quickly revealed that he’s actually a pretty volatile alcoholic who believes his creation of Good Day Sunshine allows him the right to belittle those around him.

Cumberbatch’s performance is incredibly dislikable, with Vincent hard to root for even after Edgar goes missing — because he’s such a selfish and arrogant b*stard.

His only Liam Neeson-esque special skill is his ability to create incredibly life-like puppets and, bafflingly, he tries to use this skill to find Edgar after he’s missing for 48 hours.

It’s interesting to put such a loathsome character in one of the most harrowing situations audiences can think of. You don’t necessarily want Vincent to have a happy ending, which juxtaposes your desire to see his family reunited.

Too much story, not enough focus

While the center of Eric surrounds the Andersons and their search for Edgar, the story does venture off into different subplots, most of which surround various members of the Black, brown, and queer community of 1970s New York City.

These subplots, while showcasing the endless trials these communities were faced with on a daily basis at the hands of the government-led police state, feel a bit out of place within the overall kidnapping/fantasy puppet storyline.

Eric does try to re-route these subplots into the main story and it does work at times but, overall, it just feels like two or three different shows were blended together into one.

The journey these communities go through deserves their own show, so the topics of race, class, queerness, and white supremacy can be properly fleshed out.

Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III), the Black cop leading most of these subplots, is a complex character, especially with his private home life, but he’s ultimately wasted in Eric.

The show should be applauded for its attempt to highlight these issues, but that’s the real problem at the end of the day: they only attempted to touch on these topics.

Eric takes itself too seriously for a show with puppets

The above-mentioned comment about Eric having too many storylines bleeds into the show’s second biggest issue: it takes itself too seriously.

Now, on the surface, this isn’t a bad thing as the heart of the show is a child kidnapping case, but it has too many campy elements that will leave viewers feeling like they just experienced a bit of whiplash.

Without spoiling too much of the series, the titular Eric turns out to be a puppet Edgar designed and one Vincent is imagining in order to cope with the disappearance of his son.

When Eric appears and talks to Vincent, it’s actually pretty funny and a bit harsh, as Eric definitely isn’t your typical Sesame Street puppet.

Their interactions and conversations actually reveal a lot of Vincent’s psyche and allows audiences to see how he became the broken man no one can depend on.

However, while the Eric scenes are fun to watch, they end up clashing with the gritty tone of the rest of the show, which could leave some viewers feeling very conflicted.

Eric would have benefited from leaning into only one genre, as it would have allowed the series to have room to breathe and flesh out the message it was trying to send. Or it at least could’ve made more of an effort to shift with more tonal grace so audiences could follow it more clearly.

A solid mystery with a weak execution

We won’t spoil the end of Eric here, but the overall mystery of the show does have a very solid foundation. However, it’s how audiences are led to the final answers that needs a bit more work.

While we don’t think you’ll be disappointed of how the series ends, you could find yourself asking for more clarification on certain mini-mysteries surrounding the big ones.

A mystery show using red herrings and false leads to keep viewers on their toes isn’t surprising, but Eric depends on one too many and ends up leaving you feeling a bit miffed. One of the best parts of a mystery is using clues to solve it — but when they continuously lead you to a dead end, it takes the fun out of it.

At the end of six episodes, Eric does stick the landing when it comes to its bigger mysteries, but it allows itself to waffle in places that definitely could’ve been left on the cutting room floor.

Eric review score: 3/5

It’s always fun to see a project with such a unique premise like a kidnapping case surrounded by a puppet show, but it’s also heartbreaking when the idea isn’t followed through to its full potential.

If you like mysteries, puppets, or Benedict Cumberbatch, there’s no doubt that you’ll have a fun time watching Eric from start to finish. However, you should be prepared to feel just a tinge of disappointment as you won’t receive all of the answers you’re looking for.

Eric is now streaming on Netflix. You can check out our guides to other Netflix projects such as Wednesday Season 2, Beef Season 2, and Ginny and Georgia Season 3. And be sure to keep up with all the new shows streaming this month.