It has been a while since Netflix dropped a good period show. This time it was all about life and times in New York during the 1980s, when the city was on the verge of massive redevelopment in the hope of uplifting the homeless. Around that time and before, the crime rate was high, and homophobia was widespread. The rampant corruption in government bodies and the police wreaked havoc in people’s lives. Abi Morgan, the creator of the Netflix original Eric, talks about everything mentioned above, along with the racist attitude towards the African American population in the city.
Spoilers Ahead
Who was Edgar Anderson?
Edgar Anderson was the young child of Vincent Anderson and Cassie. Edgar was a sensitive kid who had his father’s talent for coming up with creative puppets for the show. Vincent was the producer of the puppet show for children named Good Day Sunshine. Edgar however had developed Eric, a blue-colored monster-puppet. Edgar, however, was a witness to his parents constantly fighting, and he was also a victim of his father’s high ambitions for him to become a great artist.
When did Vincent realize his son was missing?
During one of Vincent’s fights with his wife, Cassie, Edgar headed to school on his own. Cassie had asked Vincent to drop him off at school while both were busy arguing, which led to the young boy wandering off on his own. After having a long day at his place of work, which involved dealing with many eccentric creative producers, Vincent was back home and informed about Edgar never having reached school.
The missing complaint was filed with the NYPD, and the police initially found the T-shirt the boy was wearing as per the details given by the parents. While Cassie was making sure she did everything she could do to bring her son back, Vincent went back to his alcohol addiction. Since his son had developed the cartoon Eric for the puppet show, Vincent began to obsess with it in the hope it would help him find his son. The day after Edgar went missing, Vincent began to hallucinate Eric, the blue monster puppet, who had become a voice in his head that questioned every move of his. Initially, Vincent felt he could use Eric to bring back his son, but soon it began to mess with his marriage and relationship with directors of the production company that produced his show.
Who was initially arrested in connection with Edgar’s disappearance?
The investigation was carried out by NYPD officer detective Michael “Mikey” Ledroit, who was a closeted gay man living with his boyfriend William. William was suffering from AIDS, and Mikey spent all of his time taking care of him. The initial investigation took him to George, the janitor of the building where Vincent and Cassie lived, as he had been arrested years ago for raping a minor, but he was falsely accused as a result he was let out. In his tiny room, they found many artifacts that could have belonged to a boy of Edgar’s age, and it was understood that many kids used to spend time in his room. George was acquitted as the CCTV footage gathered by Mikey’s team had Edgar heading towards the school, and his father had followed him. The suspicion of his disappearance and possibly his death now fell on Vincent.
What did Mikey hear in the Lux bathroom?
The Lux was a bar frequented by gay men and was on the route to Edgar’s school. Mikey asked his team to find all sorts of information around the club that could help them find a lead in regards to the disappearance. Mikey took it upon himself to find some details from the club owner, Alexander Gator. Alexander Gator, however, refused to share any information as he had assured his business had gone legitimate ever since his last bar was busted by cops for an illegal child sex ring. While in the bathroom, Mikey overheard some VICE cops referring to “8,” and he was wondering what angle it could be. Mikey tried to obtain some information from his boss, Captain Cripp, but his request was conveniently sidelined, and the man was asked to focus on the disappearance of Edgar Anderson.
Did Cassie and Vincent’s marriage break down?
Cassie was having an affair with Sebastian, a man she had met a while ago, as her marriage to Vincent had been on the brink of breaking up long before Edgar disappeared. With Edgar gone, their marriage had split wide open due to many concerns. Casie blamed Vincent for not dropping Edgar off at school. She spent days distributing pamphlets about her son, while Vincent refused to deal with the matter head-on.
Cassie also sent out a reward for anyone who could locate her son. The money was offered by Vincent’s parents, whom he had never been on good terms with. Vincent came from a family of means, but his mother and father were emotionally distant since childhood. He chose to live a life away from their money, which is why Cassie borrowing money from his parents was a cause for concern and one of the reasons why their marriage fell apart. Cassie learned she was pregnant with Sebastian’s child, and watching Vincent spiral and his refusal to work as a team in matters concerning Edgar made her decide to walk out of their marriage.
Where was Edgar hiding?
Unbeknownst to anyone, Edgar was hiding in the tunnels below the New York City subways, which had become a haven for many homeless men and women who were being shunned out of the city. This area of the city had become a drug den, but Edgar was being taken care of by Yuusuf, one of the many homeless people. Knowing there was a reward for the boy, Yuusuf did not let him out, thinking the prize would go up. Yuusuf, however, took good care of the kid by offering him food from time to time. Edgar, on the other hand, had begun to share the stories of his mother and father and the trauma he faced at the hands of volatile Vincent.
Yuusuf had grown to like the boy, and he was appreciative of the kind of drawings he had made around the small room. Unlike many around him, he was an empath because of his current living situation. Edgar was alive, and somehow the boy was not terrified of being captive to a stranger, perhaps because he felt unsafe around the people who claimed to love him.
How did Ricardo lead Mikey to Marlon’s disappearance case?
Mikey came across an old case that included the name of Vincent’s colleague and the creative producer of his show, Lennie. Lennie was also a closeted gay man who was on Mikey’s radar of suspicion. Lennie came clean about his past and claimed to have loved Edgar as his son. He ended the conversation by sharing information about a certain Ricardo who knew who “8” was. Ricardo was the male prostitute Lennie had frequented who had spoken about his friend who had disappeared.
During the investigation of Edgar’s disappearance, Cecile, the mother of Marlon Rochelle, frequented the NYPD asking for updates on the disappearance of her son 11 months ago. It was the disappearance of Edgar that brought this case to the limelight as well, and Mikey was trying to find the connection between the two cases of young boys disappearing.
Did Edgar’s artwork lead Vincent to the subway?
Vincent, at this point, was hallucinating Eric, the blue-colored monster puppet that was the brainchild of his son Edgar. Vincent soon found out Edgar frequently met George and painted everything he witnessed in the city on the wall inside the janitor’s room. Vincent considered all the artwork as a map, he went around the areas his son frequented. He hoped Edgar could be found in this manner. These murals did take Vincent to the subway tunnels, where he ran into Yuusuf.
Yuusuf quickly recognized Vincent as Edgar’s father, and he shared the kind of trauma the child went through and how he ended up with him. Yet Yuusuf conveniently forgot he had kept the child hostage only for the sake of money. Yuusuf tried to blackmail Edgar’s mother and asked for a ransom for Edgar. While Cassie was willing to get the man money, Vincent’s parents, who had initially offered the reward money, went to the cops as they had contact with the top-tier personnel of the NYPD. Something that Mikey and Cassie never wanted.
Who killed Marlon Rochelle?
Mikey, on the other hand, was following up on Ricardo, who mentioned Marlon and he had exchanged their jerseys. Marlon had worn the “8″-numbered jersey, which was how Mikey was able to connect the dots about the young boy’s disappearance. Mikey had been obsessed with both cases, as he was seeking answers to what could be the cause behind the disappearances. Mikey was also dealing with a tragedy as he had lost his boyfriend Willaim to AIDS. Since he was a closeted man, he could not talk about his grief openly. He was channeling his sadness by engrossing himself in finding out who killed Marlon. He insisted Alexander provide him with the CCTV footage of the alley behind the Lux to find out if his inferences were right or not. Alexander was hesitating, but he chose to share the VCR containing the footage of what happened to Marlon.
Marlon, an underage lad was seen getting intimate with Deputy Mayor Richard Costello, and sadly, he was busted by the members of the Vice squad. They beat him to death, with Richard was a witness to it. Marlon’s body was dumped by the sanitation company as they were given a bribe to keep quiet. Mikey was horrified at the turn of events, and his footage engaged him further to arrest all of them involved in the murder of Marlon Rochelle, including the deputy mayor. Except for the deputy mayor, everyone invoked the Fifth Amendment and remained silent. Richard Costello broke down over his role in the kid’s death. Being gay back in the 1980s was a taboo subject. Since his arrest was public, he had no choice but to confess his being gay, along with admitting to being guilty of indulging in solicitation. His confession was enough for Mikey to arrest everyone involved in the crime, which included many police detectives from the Vice squad and his boss, Captain Skipp.
Was Edgar dead or alive?
Since one case was closed, Mikey had to find out where Edgar was. To their horror, the subway tunnel was flooded due to unseasonal rains, and many homeless men and women who lived in that area began to protest the state bodies that had claimed to offer all the homeless people shelter. Mikey wanted to close the case as he was on the verge of closing Marlon Rochelle’s case and wanted to make sure Edgar was found and the culprit was captured and arrested. The protest carried out by the homeless people was the right place to find Edgar, as Cassie and Mikey had figured out the boy was alive thanks to the ransom call. However, there was no clarity on whether Yussuf was arrested.
Vincent had figured that his son had gone away from his home to avoid being bombarded by his father’s anger and to avoid seeing his parents argue. Edgar immersed himself in the world of puppets and cartoons to avoid thinking about the fact that his parents were not happy. Since Vincent and Cassie were on the verge of getting divorced, he wanted to give all his time to his son if he was rescued. To make that happen, he wore Eric’s blue colored puppet monster costume and appeared on the television channel requesting his son to race him to their apartment, which had been their ritual for a long time.
Vincent apologized to Edgar for being a father he could not look up to all these years, and with his speech to his son through the television broadcast, he could finally open up. Vincent never wanted to become emotionally stunted like his father. Edgar could sense the sincerity in his father’s tone. Vincent and Cassie found Edgar near their apartment, and all three of them were happy to have found each other.
Eric, the miniseries ended with Vincent and his father having a one-on-one about the need for development in the city of New York. Vincent had another political idea, while his father was an ultra-capitalist man. Vincent’s father’s character mirrored Donald Trump, who was responsible for some major development changes in New York City. Even though Vincent’s father had justification for his actions that made many people homeless, the son considered it a theft. A few months later, Vincent and Cassie were divorced, and Edgar was living with his mother. Cassie, Sebastian, and Edgar visited Vincent at his studio. The segment ended with Edgar wearing the Eric costume proudly, as he was happy his father considered his puppet for the show. As Edgar began to ask questions of his father, Vincent happily responded to his son’s questions. It was his way of opening up to his son, unlike that of his father. Vincent and Edgar seemed to be on the same page from this point on.
