Who Is Erin Carter? is a British thriller limited series from Netflix. It stars Evin Ahmad in the titular role, with Sean Teale, Indica Watson and Pep Ambros. The series was released on August 24th and consists of seven episodes.
When the series begins, Eric Cater and her daughter Harper have fled British town Folkestone for Barcelona, Spain. Five years later, Erin has made a life for herself as a substitute school teacher at Saint Joseph's International School (where Harper also attends) and has a loving husband in emergency nurse Jordi Collantes. Things seem to be going relatively well...until Erin and Harper happen upon a robbery at a supermarket, during which Erin is forced to kill one of the robbers in self-defense. And said robber appears to recognize Erin as someone else. Soon, Erin finds her seemingly ordinary life unraveling as dark secrets from her past come back to haunt her and put her family in jeopardy.
Who Is Erin Carter? provides examples of:
- Action Mom: Erin has combat training from her time at the police academy and knows how to handle a gun well.
- Affably Evil: Zig-zagged with Daniel Lang. Despite being a crime boss, he is nonetheless a friendly and charming man who doesn't relish in violence. His threat towards Erin in episode 6 makes it clear he does not want to harm her and will avoid doing so as long as she doesn't give him a reason to view her as a threat. He also offers to pay for the education of Emilio's son Rafa and orders his men to make sure Harper is not collateral damage when they kill Erin as a favor to Lena. However, he makes it clear that if provoked, he will have his men slaughter Erin's family and make it look like a robbery, including her daughter first because, according to him, "children can make a lot of noise when they're startled."
- The Alcoholic: Erin pretends to have a drinking problem to cover up her strange behavior after the supermarket incident.
- All Asians Know Martial Arts: The only Asian member of Daniel Lang's organization is Moses, played by Indonesian martial artist/actor Yayan Ruhain. Erin herself would count as she is a trained martial artist and is played by Kurdish-Swedish actress Evin Ahmad.
- Amoral Attorney: Benecio Agustin is a crooked lawyer involved with gangs and helps them run a money laundering scheme through his law firm.
- Badass Driver: One of Erin's skills. She used this talent as a getaway driver while infiltrating Thomas Ramsey's gang.
- Blackmail:
- Erin catches Penelope having sex with her tennis instructor and threatens to inform her husband unless Penelope drops her demand to get Harper kicked out of school for hitting her son.
- Agustin's assistant Valeria Estrada threatens to give Erin's picture to the crime ring Agustin was working for unless Erin can come up with money for her to escape Barcelona. Due to Erin showing up late, Valeria calls the gangsters before Erin arrives, leading to a shootout in the hotel and Valeria herself dying.
- Captain Obvious: Harper notes that Daniel is bleeding a lot from the gunshot wound Erin gave him. Daniel responds by calling her "Little Miss-state-the-fucking-obvious".
- Dead Person Impersonation: When infiltrating Thomas Ramsey's gang, Erin used the name of a deceased child named Kate Jones.
- Defiant to the End: Despite being beaten and threatened with a knife by Daniel, Emilio refuses to rat out Erin and even gives the crime boss the finger before being killed.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
- Lena dearly loves her daughter Harper and will do anything to give her a good life. She also had a genuine friendship with her fellow thief Margot Muller and was devastated when she died.
- Daniel Lang is ruthless crime boss who loves his son.
- From Camouflage to Criminal: Daniel Lang's henchman Moses is stated to be ex-Special Forces. He has the fighting skills to prove it, as seen in his fight with Erin in episode 6.
- Hairpin Lockpick: Lena uses a paper clip to pick her handcuffs while she is being transported to a high security prison in episode 5.
- Harmful to Minors: Daniel Lang invokes this trope when Erin tries to kill him as revenge for killing Emilio, stating that he doesn't want his son to be traumatized by the death of his father.
- Heroic Sacrifice: To give Erin time to find Harper and Jordi, Lena sets off an oil explosion that kills her and some of Daniel's men.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen: Margot Muller, once a member of an elite heist team, is reduced to holding up supermarkets to make ends meet. She refers to this as just being a step above purse snatching.
- Improvised Weapon: Erin is very good at using available items around her as a weapon. In the first episode alone, she fights an armed robber using a jar of tomato sauce and a cake tester. The final episode has her fending off an assassin using various kitchen utensils, including a frying pan.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Penelope Reyna is introduced as Erin's smug, vain neighbor who is trying to get Harper expelled from St. Joseph's for assaulting her son Antonio. However, episode 3 does show she isn't without a heart as she brushes Harper's hair after the latter gets it wet from swimming and encourages her to ask her mother questions about her family. She also shows support for Emilio's widow Ana and his friend Jordi. In episode 6, she notes that Erin looks terrible but doesn't mean it as an insult (though she wishes she did).
- Made of Iron: Despite being shot in the stomach, Erin has enough strength to walk several miles to find a convenient camping site with medical aid equipment for a bandage and drive home. Even while still recovering after proper aid is administered by Jordi, she is still able to fend off Daniel's assassins.
- More than Just a Teacher: The premise of the show is that Erin is not the simple school teacher she presents herself as. She was a police academy washout who was recruited by DI Jim Armstrong of Centralized Intelligence and Operations to infiltrate an armed robbery gang who were planning on stealing a shipment of gold bullion. The plan went awry and the gang wound up in a gunfight with the police. In the midst of the chaos, Erin escaped with the gold and Harper, the daughter of one of the thieves.
- Nightmare Fuel Coloring Book: Harper's artwork consists of graphic violence and people in creepy looking masks. These are actually repressed memories of her witnessing her mother being shot and seeing the armed robbery gang in their masks.
- One Last Job: Daniel says that the Harwich job, the heist Erin sabotaged, was supposed to be his last job. There were "11 or 12 last jobs" over the years for him after that.
- Parental Abandonment: Erin's mother abandoned her one night when she was only a child. She was bounced from foster home to another growing up.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Thomas Ramsey stresses that the gang should only pull their triggers if absolutely necessary during the heist."Difference between armed robber and armed robbery with violence, is 20 to 30 years."
- Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: Lena had taken a bullet the last time Erin saw her. She truly believed Lena was dead and is naturally surprised when she is confronted by her in episode 6.
- Shoot the Hostage: Erin takes one of Daniel's men hostage to force him to release Jordi and Harper. Daniel responds by shooting the man.
