Don’t let the puppet fool you. Netflix Originals have been on a hot streak lately. With the streamer now releasing more than ever, there’s room to let underseen creatives take bigger swings.
Recently, this strategy paid off with , an adaptation of a solo theatrical show from creator Richard Gadd. Now, hot on its heels is another wild show from another playwright, and this one is even more ambitious. follows Vincent (Benedict Cumberbatch), the creator of a popular -esque children’s show, as he copes with his son Edgar's sudden disappearance.
In his desperation, he begins seeing the puppet his son designed in the days before he went missing: a giant, horned monster named Eric. As Vincent gets increasingly desperate to save his son, his marriage, and his show, Eric pushes him to extremes to the point where it’s unclear if he’s saving his son’s life or ruining his own. The show’s best element is separate from Vincent’s storyline.
Detective Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III) is tasked with finding Edgar in a dirty, crime-riddled 1985 New York, a world where children seemingly vanish into thin air. Edgar’s case collides with past missing person cases and Ledroit’s own life to expose a dark truth lying in the center of the NYPD. Calling ambitious would be an understatement.
In its scant six episodes, covers grief, substance abuse, class issues, corruption, human trafficking, and the AIDS crisis, often in the same breath. Sometimes it feels like the story’s .
