At just under 270 million, Netflix's reported subscriber count is only about 60 million short of the total population of the United States, hence why their big watercooler TV shows take off like they do. The last one that got everyone talking was Baby Reindeer, which was fun, until everyone started being a bit weird about it. Next up is Eric, a fictionalised spin on the true crime potboilers that Netflix has made its bread and butter; fortunately it's harder to see this one descending into similarly deranged chaos wherein everyone becomes a glorified PI sniffing out its real-world villain, being fiction. This is good, because Eric, like Baby Reindeer before it, is really quite brilliant, actually. And it serves as a corking reminder for just how brilliant Benedict Cumberbatch is.
Not that anyone should have forgotten this, because even in his Marvel era — portraying the wacky Samurai-bearded wizard Doctor Strange — he's often come out of the movies as man of the match. But Eric is more in line with the artsier, thoughtful independent films that have pocked this run, like Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog, which are just more actorly, in the sense that they offer the opportunity to do more than quip and triumphantly smirk. It's a densely packed thematic beast, taking on systemic racism, societal homophobia, prejudices big and small, with timely attention to inner-city homelessness. This all through the prism of ‘80s New York, depicted with all the grit and grime of an early Martin Scorsese movie, or Tim Burton's vision of Gotham.
Oh, and Cumberbatch plays a Jim Henson-esque puppeteer, Vincent. He's the mastermind of a Sesame Street facsimile called Good Day Sunshine; in such a desaturated world it provides a pop of morning colour for its voracious child audience. Having been the big thing in the ‘70s, the show is now on the wane, and other kids' programmes are threatening to muscle in on its budget. All the while, Vincent struggles to come up with the innovation — a new puppet, perhaps — that will see his beloved show back on top. He’s a proper Rothko, a Van Gogh, a tortured soul whose artistic expression is his sole means of connecting to the world around him, though he does finish the miniseries — spoilers! — with both ears intact. Alas, his mental struggles see work and home on the rocks: his kid, Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe), hates him, as does his wife, Cassie (Gaby Hoffman).
One night, an argument between Vincent and Cassie proves too much, so Edgar leaves for school on his own. He doesn't turn up. A city-wide hunt for the boy follows; all the while, Vincent descends further into madness, contending with his own grief — and culpability — over his son's disappearance. As a coping mechanism, or perhaps a way to beat himself up, he starts hallucinating the puppet that Edgar drew before he vanished, Eric, who looks a bit like Sully from Monsters, Inc., with a gruff workman accent that isn't so far off John Goodman. In many ways, it's a story of redemption, as Vincent is forced to grapple with the demons that have led him to this moment, and to be so distant — literally and metaphorically — from his son. We already know from Sherlock that Cumberbatch excels at playing minds overwhelmed by themselves. This might just be the proof that he's best in the business at it. Joaquin Phoenix-grade, at least.
Eric's B-plot, which is treated with just as much respect and detail as the central thrust of the story, concerns Michael Ledroit, the Black, closeted detective (McKinley Belcher III, also excellent) assigned to Edgar's case. These scenes collectively form the twisty trojan horse that will see Eric shoot to the top of Netflix's top TV list, where it will probably stay for ages; if there's a genre we can reliably predict to do well with streaming audiences, it's crime mystery, such is why Baby Reindeer did so well, and Netflix has made a cottage industry of low-budget true crime documentaries that are variously meh-to-alright-to-ethically-dubious but overwhelmingly watched. Crucially, said scenes are gripping, intelligent, and brim with thematic intrigue, as is the show as a whole. So, Eric's the next big thing — thank god it's good.
Eric streams on Netflix from 30 May.
