Netflix's 'Eric' Ending Explained: Does Benedict Cumberbatch Find His Son? (2024)

Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers for Netflix's Eric.

Netflix’s Eric, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch in his latest television appearance, tries to achieve many things with its hopeful ending. Created by Sex Traffic’s Abi Morgan, Eric provides a resolution to the many mysteries spawned through its ending while addressing the many themes that it explores. Set in 1980s New York, the thriller series brings to screen many harsher realities of the period it reflects, all while keeping the stakes high until the very end. Following Cumberbatch in the shoes of a distraught father struggling with alcoholism and mental health issues, Eric treats the mysteries at hand as importantly as it treats the issues it highlights.

Eric (2024)

TV-MA

Drama

Thriller

A compelling drama that follows Vincent, a father tormented by the disappearance of his young son, Edgar, in 1980s New York City. As Vincent delves into the chaotic urban landscape to find his boy, he becomes increasingly dependent on Eric, a puppet he created, to cope with his despair. Eric transforms from a mere puppet into a significant presence in Vincent's life, helping him navigate the complexities of his emotions and the challenges he faces.

Release Date

May 30, 2024

Cast

Benedict Cumberbatch , Gaby Hoffman , Jeff Hephner , McKinley Belcher III , Amy Louise Pemberton , Donald Sage Mackay , Erika Soto , John Doman

See Also

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Seasons

1

Creator(s)

Abi Morgan

Streaming Service(s)

Netflix

Benedict Cumberbatch Is a Father in Disarray in ‘Eric’

Eric takes off with the sudden disappearance of the only son of the creator of the famed children’s show Good Day Sunshine, Vincent Anderson (Cumberbatch). Vincent is the son of the New York real estate mogul, Robert Anderson, and he is known for his eccentric ways, which are seen as the mark of a genius. Vincent has gone through a stretch of mental health issues in the past. Consequently, he also shares a turbulent relationship with his wife, Cassie (Gaby Hoffmann). On the morning of Vincent’s son Edgar’s (Ivan Morris Howe) disappearance, Vincent lets Edgar walk to school alone after a rough night with Cassie. As the news of Edgar’s disappearance spreads through New York City, Detective Michael Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III) from the Missing Persons department takes over the investigation. Before taking over the investigation, Ledroit was consistently looking into a local nightclub named The Lux, run by Alexander Gator (Wade Allain-Marcus), who was previously been suspected of encouraging pedophilic activities at his previous establishment.

After the disappearance of Edgar, Vincent goes into a spiral as he starts losing himself in alcohol over the guilt of allowing Edgar to walk alone on the day of his disappearance. On the other hand, Cassie starts losing hope despite the ongoing efforts. The discovery of Edgar’s t-shirt with blood on it leads Cassie to believe that she may never meet her son again, whereas Vincent strongly believes that his son has only run away. Vincent tries to get a puppet named Eric, which was ideated by Edgar, included on Good Day Sunshine in the hopes that the gesture will bring his son home. However, Eric’s raging alcoholism and general conduct get him fired from the show. Moreover, Cassie and others start believing that Vincent is probably in need of medical help once again.

What Happened to Vincent's Son, Edgar?

While Vincent and Ledroit continue to look for Edgar, it is revealed that Edgar is not dead. Instead, he is seen being held captive by Yuusuf Egbe (Bamar Kane), a homeless man living in the illegal colonies located in the subway tunnels. On the day of the disappearance, Edgar started following Yuusuf instead of going to his school. Edgar has been keen on getting to know Yuusuf, whom he saw putting up graffiti on the streets.

Yuusuf’s friend Raya (Alexis Molnar), who struggles with drug addiction, suggests that they should sell Edgar to TJ (Orlando Norman), who pimps boys at Gator’s club, The Lux. However, Yuusuf rejects the idea and decides to cut a deal with Cassie after seeing the reward put up for Edgar. Unfortunately, the deal goes wrong when Edgar’s grandfather, Robert (John Dorman), alerts the NYPD about the call from Yuusuf. When Yuusuf’s identity is revealed by the NYPD on television, Yuusuf is forced to hand Raya the responsibility of taking Edgar to Cassie, not knowing that Raya intends to sell Edgar to TJ.

Vincent Uses the Eric Puppet To Find Edgar

After finding that Lennie (Dan Fogler) has messed up Eric entirely after firing Vincent from the show, Vincent almost gives up all hope of bringing Eric back. But upon seeing the drawings made by Edgar on the walls of neighbor George Lovett’s (Clarke Peters) basem*nt, Vincent quickly realizes that it’s actually a map possibly hinting at the location where Edgar could have gone. Following his gut instinct, Vincent starts following the map and reaches the subway tunnels. But before he can locate Edgar, the commotion created by the police raiding the tunnels to vacate the illegal colonies prevents Vincent from finding Edgar.

Amidst the chaos created by the raid, Raya and Edgar try to escape the tunnels. In an unfortunate turn of events, both Raya and Edgar slip from the ladder they were climbing, and Raya drowns in the water. Somehow, Edgar manages to escape the tunnel and reach a diner. After catching a slight glimpse of Edgar in the tunnels, Vincent is convinced that his son is really alive. In his last attempt, Vincent steals the Eric costume and hijacks the stage during a protest being telecasted on television. Finally, Vincent uses the opportunity to appeal to his son and apologize for his errors. At the end of the message, Vincent challenges Eric to a race to reach home, following a ritual between the father and son. After seeing Vincent on the television, Eric races out of the place to reach his home. Finally, Vincent and Edgar reunite as Vincent has now learned how important it is to sometimes let others win.

'Eric' Ends With a Plea to Society

While investigating the disappearance of Edgar, Detective Ledroit continued to look into the disappearance of 14-year-old Marlon Rochelle (Bence Orere), a boy who went missing the year before. Through his investigation, Ledroit concludes that the “8” mentioned by Vice Detective Kennedy (Bobby Schofield) in Episode 1 was in fact Marlon himself. The wife of Kennedy’s partner, Detective Nokes (Amy Louise Pemberton), reveals to Ledroit that Nokes had a part to play in the accidental death of Kennedy. Ledroit also finds out that Marlon visited The Lux. Through Gator’s help, Ledroit manages to get his hands on the footage from when Marlon was last seen alive. It turns out that TJ, behind Gator’s back, employed underage Marlon at the club. TJ cleverly removed the CCTV tape from the records. But upon being threatened by Gator, TJ hands over the tape, which Gator passes on to Ledroit. Upon watching the tape, Ledroit finds the final piece of the puzzle he was eagerly looking for.

In a shocking twist, the final episode of Eric reveals that Marlon was being sexually exploited at The Lux moments before his death. The footage shows Deputy Mayor Costello (Jeff Hephner) engaging in sexual activities with Marlon before Detective Nokes comes in and beats Marlon to death for meeting Costello without their approval. As shown in Episode 1, Nokes and Kennedy used to frequent The Lux to fish the place for money in return for silence on the many secrets of the club. In return for not exposing Costello and sabotaging his political career, Nokes gets Costello’s brother-in-law, Bruno Di Bari (Gerard Monaco), who owns the Hudson Sanitation Company, to clean up the body. After finding the truth behind Marlon’s disappearance, Ledroit does not hold back from standing for justice and decides to hold everyone involved responsible, including his senior, Captain Cripp (David Denman). In a final attempt to help Marlon’s mother Cecile (Adepero Oduye) reunite with his son, Ledroit leads a search for Marlon’s body in the massive landfill where his body was dumped.

At the end of Eric, Vincent returns to taking charge of Good Day Sunshine as the creative mind behind the show. He also acknowledges that Cassie has moved on with her new partner Sebastien (José Pimentão). Slowly but steadily, Vincent keeps up his attempts at rebuilding a relationship with Edgar, despite his own strained relationship with his father. Ledroit finally finds time to grieve for his lover William (Mark Gillis), who died from HIV, after fulfilling his duties as a cop. Marlon’s mother, Cecile, hopes for society to change so that the death of another child like Marlon never occurs or goes unnoticed. Eric’s ending makes an appeal for society to change for the better, in tune with the Leo Tolstoy quote, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves,” which is heard multiple times throughout the series.

All episodes of Eric are available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix