Summary
- Eric is a packed 1980s-set show tackling themes like child abduction, AIDS, racism, drug addiction, and more.
- Vincent, a puppeteer, tries to bring his missing son home by bringing a puppet to life.
- The show ends with Vincent reuniting with his son, while justice is served in the case of another missing boy.
The limited series Eric, which premiered on May 30, 2024, on Netflix, is a showcase for Benedict Cumberbatch as Vincent, the creator of the children’s show Good Day, Sunshine! Vincent is one of New York City’s leading puppeteers, but when Edgar, Vincent’s nine-year-old son, goes missing, Vincent does what he can to try to bring him home, even if his strategy seems wild to everyone else.
Through six episodes, the 1980s-set show takes on many themes. In addition to child abduction, there are elements of the AIDS epidemic, homelessness, corrupt cops, racism, drug addiction, parental neglect, and more. This is a packed show that has a lot going on, and despite its softball ending, it manages to sum up a lot of what was wrong in ’80s-era New York. Let’s look at what Eric is about and whether Eric is based on a true story.
What Is Eric About?
Eric centers on the kidnapping of Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe), the child of Vincent and Cassandra Anderson (Gaby Hoffman). While both parents are devastated, Vincent also feels guilty because he was supposed to take Edgar to school that day. Vincent, who sinks into the depths of mental illness, becomes convinced that if he can bring Eric, the puppet that Edgar drew before his kidnapping, to life and get him on TV, then Edgar will come home. But as Vincent becomes increasingly volatile, drinking at all times of the day and alienating everyone who cares about him, his imagined version of Eric becomes his only ally in his quest to find the boy.
Meanwhile, Edgar’s case isn’t the only one Detective Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III) is working on. Eleven months earlier, a 14-year-old Black boy, Marlon Rochelle (Bence Orere) went missing and his mother Cecile (Adepero Oduye) still wants answers, even though most of the police department has written the case off. Despite this, Ledroit continues to look into Marlon’s disappearance and even ties his case to Edgar’s. But, unbeknownst to Ledroit, Vincent, and Cassie, Edgar hasn’t been kidnapped. Instead, he followed Yuusuf (Bamar Kane), a homeless man, into the subway tunnels where Yuusuf lives because Edgar likes his graffiti and wanted to escape his father, who was being a bully.
What Happened to Edgar at the End of Eric
Eric ends on a surprisingly hopeful note, at least for the core family of Vincent, Cassie, and Edgar. Vincent succeeds in getting the network executives to let the puppet version of Eric on the air, but they fire Vincent, who despairs at ever bringing Edgar back. But then he sees Edgar’s drawings on the walls of his neighbor’s house and realizes Edgar was drawing a map. Vincent starts following the map in the hopes of finding Edgar, but before he can, two things happen: first, Vincent — having found the homeless camp where Edgar went — decides to get high, and second, the police raid the tunnels and clear the homeless camp.
Meanwhile, Yuusuf has called Cassie, so he can give her Edgar in exchange for the reward money she promised. However, Edgar’s grandfather, Robert (John Doman), a well-connected, wealthy New Yorker, alerted the NYPD to Yuusuf’s call and his face is now all over the television. So he gives Edgar to his friend Raya to take to Cassie. Raya has different plans, intending to settle her debt to TJ, by selling Edgar to him, but before she can hand him over, Edgar slips and falls from the ladder they were climbing, dragging Raya down with him.
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While Raya dies in the fall, Edgar manages to make it out of the tunnels and to a diner. That’s where he is when Vincent, who has taken the costume of Eric from Good Day Sunshine!, hijacks the stage at the protest of the police sweep of the tunnels. He makes an appeal to his son as Eric. Then, Vincent takes off the head of the costume and tells Edgar, “race you home,” a ritual he and Edgar engaged in many times. Vincent takes off for their home and after a few moments, Edgar comes racing around the corner. Father and son are finally reunited.
What Happened to Marlon Rochelle at the End of Eric
If only others were as lucky. In the end, the owner of the nightclub The Lux, Alex Gator (Wade Allain-Marcus), gives Ledroit a security tape that shows what happened to the other missing boy, Marlon Rochelle. In the tape, Marlon, who was turning tricks at The Lux, takes Deputy Mayor Costello (Jeff Hephner) to an alley behind the club and starts to have a sexual encounter with him when they’re interrupted by corrupt NYPD cops Nokes (Ryan Hunter) and Kennedy (Bobby Schofield). Nokes, who is angry Marlon didn’t go through him to meet Costello, beats Marlon to death, and the whole thing is cleaned up by Costello’s brother-in-law (Gerard Monaco), who owns the Hudson Sanitation Company.
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Having disappeared on the way to school, Edgar’s fate nearly leaves viewers in tears.
After arresting everyone involved, Ledroit takes Marlon’s mother, Cecile, to the landfill where Marlon’s body was dumped, in the hopes of bringing an end to this scandalous chapter in the NYPD’s history. Ledroit now has time to mourn his lover, William (Mark Gillis), who died of AIDS earlier in the show.
Is Eric Based on a True Story?
While Eric deals with a lot of authentic issues from 1980s New York, the overly saccharine ending is a sign that the show was not based on a true story. Vincent goes to rehab, Cassie divorces him and is now with her boyfriend Sebastian and pregnant with their first child. In the end, the main story of the disappearance of Edgar is almost cheesy in its conclusion. Not only does Edgar come home unscathed, but Vincent also gets to star in Good Day Sunshine! as Eric even though he was fired earlier.
In the final moments of the series, Cassie and Sebastian take Edgar to a taping of Good Day, Sunshine! and when the show ends, Edgar dons part of the puppet and pretends to be Eric as he converses with a choked-up Vincent on the set. Vincent seems to have completely changed his ways and become a better version of himself, which is great for Edgar, but unrealistic for the show. There’s even a bright spot for Marlon’s mother and Ledroit who we see spending time together. While this may make us feel better about all the terrible things that came before, it seems impossible that such a dark show would end on such a hopeful note.
