Colin North

An absolutely brilliant masterpiece. Although viewers may find the storyline a bit slow at first, this Netflix series eventually ties in multiple storylines that deal with complex socioeconomic issues of mid 1980s New York society, such as: government corruption, child prostitution, racism, alcoholism, dementia, marital and childhood trauma, AIDS, homophobia, homelessness, missing children, and police brutality. What is genius about the writing of this series is how the storylines are addressed through a popular children’s puppet show; after his son goes missing, the main character can only deal with such parental horror by manifesting his emotions through the creation of a new character for his show, which becomes a physical and psychological manifestation of his guilt and desire to recover the boy from the harsh streets of New York. Probably one of the most enlightening moments of the series is when someone asks why puppets are used instead of real people, to which someone replies: “because they can get away with saying things that humans can’t.” Given the horrific issues dealt with in this series, one can only conclude that the writers decided to use a puppet show to convey their storylines, because otherwise they would be just too brutal to discuss. I highly recommend watching Eric in one go, so to fully appreciate the complexities and overlapping themes within this riveting series. Two thumbs up. Five out of five stars.