This is an absolutely gorgeous, dark, hard hitting brilliantly created series about an alcoholic puppeteer whose son Edgar, goes missing on his way to school, and a detective who uncovers corruption while searching for the boy. Cumberbatch's Vincent is a very unpleasant man who pretty much alienates everyone at work and at home with his abrasive behaviour and vulgar abuse. But while his character Phil in the Power of the Dog was violently sadistic, Vincent is simply utterly clueless as to how he affects everyone - due to the vileness of his cold, privileged parents, and their complete lack of understanding of mental health. If you are not embraced with the basic needs of love and support as a child, what chance have you got later in life? Detective Mike Ledroit, a black gay cop in charge of finding missing people, must conceal his sexuality and love for his partner, a much older man dying of AIDS and he is pressured by a lot of angry frustrated people to find young boys that continue to go missing. The world-building that Abby Morgan has created is truly phenomenal. When a show runner/director brings you full throttle into a completely different world with some similarities to our world, it's a winner. She really has captured the roughness and the griminess of the 1980s. It's certainly not an easy watch, especially for those who have children. But it is an important one. It's really about the toxicity of fathers and how that affects their children. About being true to oneself and fight for justice rather than just stand by and ignore everything. I honestly don't usually bingewatch series all in one go as I love to pace myself while watching them. But with this one, I just couldn't stop. It was THAT addictive.

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