There’s something so frustrating about watching a show that should work but can’t quite figure out how to put its puzzle pieces together. Sometimes, the pieces just don’t fit. That’s the experience for the bulk of the six episodes of Netflix’s “Eric,” a drama that tries to do so many different things that it ends up doing too little of any of them. Its most fatal flaw might be that its conceit never feels thematically engaging, distracting from what works best about the show, a series of excellent performances that work on a scene-by-scene basis but never come together to form an effective show overall.

Continue reading ‘Eric’ Review: Benedict Cumberbatch’s ‘Sesame Street’-Meets-Kidnapping Series Can’t Find The Right Tones To Support Strong Performances at The Playlist.

From the looks of “Eric,” Abi Morgan has cooked up a stirring psychological thriller for Netflix. And for her latest limited series, the writer of Steve McQueen‘s 2011 film “Shame” returns to the Big Apple, but this is a much different NYC than that film.

Set in the 1980s New York strewn with corruption, racism, elevated crime rates, and the AIDS epidemic, “Eric” follows Benedict Cumberbatch‘s troubled puppeteer Vincent as he takes matters into his own hands to try and find his missing son, Edgar.

Continue reading ‘Eric’ Trailer: New Netflix Limited Series Starring Benedict Cumberbatch Asks Where The Real Monsters Lie at The Playlist.