MIDNIGHT REVIEWS Eric Episode 4 Review
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
Eric Episode 4
Series created by: Abi Morgan
Featuring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Gaby Hoffman, Dan Fogler, McKinley Belcher III
Synopsis: Connections reveal themselves as Vincent (Cumberbatch) focuses on finding his son, amidst the fallout of losing his job.
Review: Episode four of Eric is like having a fog removed from one’s eyes. When a show has no direct allegory found within the main story, it lives or dies on its character relationships and, because of the story Eric is trying to tell, the tension it can build. Here, the show succeeds with one, and treads water with the other.
So far, we’ve had very little success in the hunt for Edgar. Vincent has been drinking heavily, and this continues to the point we have to wonder if he’s sobered up at all within this twenty-four hour span. Within this day, though, is some wonderful character work and performances that join forces with some exceptional writing to make every scene feel natural.
This is an episode on revelations, and the show doesn’t skimp. It’s no surprise that this review will contain spoilers from here on in.
This is a higher quality after the stumble of episode two.
Some of these reveals are adroitly managed, such as the slow burn that shows us how a lot of these characters are connected, not in a shadowy conspiracy; it’s more that there’s a lot of dirt under people’s fingernails. Eric is also successful in bringing across this feeling of helplessness as Vincent and Gaby (Hoffman) try to complete a simple task against a wave of complexity.
On the flip side, the revelation that Edgar’s (Ivan Morris Howe) drawings in the basement are in fact one giant map, was a fact I thought was obvious, and in fact I had been watching the show assuming every character realised this. Vincent being the first to discover Edgar’s thought process was a little jerk out of the show.
This is a higher quality after the stumble of episode two, though. It’s a genuinely nice feeling when Ledroit (Belcher) finds someone who has figured out his secret and treats him with kindness. The finale for him then hits hard as it seems Ledroit is someone who can’t get something good without getting some bad with it.
In a similar fashion, the show reveals itself to have shades of grey running throughout. Even Vincent’s relationship with his father, it turns out, has a tiny sliver of this grey and that characters we thought were outright ‘good guys’ or ‘bad guys’ are closer in morality than we first thought.
The lack of tension from the third episode’s revealing of Edgar still being alive ultimately doesn’t matter too much, because episode four revels in these character moments and the complexity that’s uncovered. Where the show works is also that the scale of how ‘right’ a character is will change depending on the viewer. This is typified by the excellent exchange between Vincent and Gaby; their love for each other is clear, but events and choices get in their way.
How the episode wraps up leaves further questions amid the web of lies and deceit; at this point, the show could end any way.
Eric is available to stream on Netflix.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies and TV shows whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter or listen to the podcast he co-hosts with Leslie Wai.
