While Netflix’s limited series Eric is partially dedicated to the downward spiral of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Vincent, after the abduction of his son, there’s more at work in writer/creator Abi Morgan’s series. The unique entry on the 2024 TV schedule also tells the equally heartfelt story of McKinley Belcher III's Detective Michael Ladroit, the man who’s investigating this disappearance.
As we see his professional life intersect with his closely guarded personal life, a tale of heartbreak and concealment plays out thanks to Detective Ladroit hiding his queer lifestyle from the world at large. Though the Mercy Street alum is open with his own sexuality, McKinley did see a special worth in playing this role as a black queer actor. This yields an impressively emotional performance that makes Eric one of the best shows on Netflix to debut on the 2024 calendar.
I was able to speak with both McKinley Belcher III and Abi Morgan during the recent round of press for Eric, as they were paired together for the festivities. Besides his own personal connection to the representation being shown on screen, Belcher admitted to CinemaBlend that part of the reason he took the role was what it made him feel as an artist:
I guess I would start by when I first read the episodes that I was given, I was sort of thrilled by it, and a little bit scared by it. For me as an artist, that’s always something to lean toward; as it means there’s something to investigate there. The whole experience of doing this has been a real gift. Not only because the show is interested in the man and his heart. Not just what he has to do, but also what he’s experiencing.
Shown to the audience as a detective with a strong moral compass, Eric’s Michael Ladroit has two emotional wounds to tend to throughout his investigation into the disappearance of young Edgar Anderson. In his professional life, Michael tries to avoid the prejudices offered to him by his fellow NYPD officers, as being a black queer man presents him as a target in more ways than one.
That’s on top of a previous missing child case that haunts him and forces him to question that case’s results. Personally, Detective Ladroit is experiencing the slow AIDS-related death of partner William Elliot (Mark Gillis). William and Michael’s romance is a tender, but bittersweet affair, as it seems that the end is near.
Detective Michael Ladroit’s plot acts as a complimentary story to the slow-motion breakdown of Vincent (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his disintegrating personal and professional life. The thin thread that connects these two men is their own sorrowful lives being affected by Eric’s missing child. As the father is inspired to fall deeper into psychosis, his potential rescuer becomes more resolute to bring him home, while also questioning the world around him.
This story’s impact on McKinley Belcher III was another part of that driving feeling of fear as an actor that inspired him to jump into the part. Continuing to describe that motivation to CinemaBlend, Belcher had this to say:
As a black queer man, to get to step into a show where I get to fully investigate what it was to live through the AIDS epidemic, what it is to be forced to compartmentalize your life in a way that you can’t be fully out at work. And in some ways, that’s incredibly dangerous. We see ways, over the course of this show, in which it is weaponized and used to leverage against him. I fell in love with Ladroit’s heart, and I think his journey over the course of the show is really exciting to me. Because it’s a man stepping into his power fully, and embracing himself, and understanding that he is far more powerful being all of himself.
McKinley Belcher III’s excitement to tackle these issues shows in his portrayal of Detective Ladroit. That much was noticed by series creator Abi Morgan, who, upon being impressed by McKinley’s work on set, expanded his character’s arc within Eric. Further along in this same conversation, Morgan told me that she wasn't sure if she would put Michael through the "full grief experience" in the series.
Abi Morgan also mentioned that the detective was supposed to have a sidekick character, but that prospect was eventually dropped. With a keen eye to weave these stories of loss together through an intriguing central mystery, Morgan’s work with Belcher as her muse only enhances the story being told, so leaving the sidekick behind only benefitted the story all the more.
While there were also magical puppeteer experiences on Eric, McKinley Belcher III’s role of Detective Michael Ladroit brought another layer of personal verisimilitude into the fold. Once again blurring the lines between reality and fiction, it’s another example of why this limited series is so compelling to watch.
If you have a Netflix subscription, you can dig into the world of Eric for yourself. That’s thanks to all eight episodes currently being streamed on the platform, waiting to be discovered. Just be sure to prepare yourself for an experience that’s at times darkly comic, while also being deeply affecting.
