Baby Reindeer Review: Richard Gadd’s Series Delivers a Haunting and Emotionally Resonant Experience 

Baby Reindeer Review: Based on a true story, Scottish comedian Richard Gadd turns his one-man play into a 7-episode series that takes the saying ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ to a whole new level. The series follows a failing comedian and barkeep named Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) who cheers up a crying woman – only to have her become his worst nightmare. 

Imagine being a good person but having that come and bite you back. It may sound dumb but in this series, the viewers get to see a twisted relationship between a stalker and her victim and how he becomes attached to her maniacal ways, no matter how many times he denies it. 

A free cup of tea becomes the worst decision of his life as Martha seeps into all the cracks of his life and worst of all – his insecurities. She becomes the only person who sees through his struggles and failing jokes and sees a broken man who suffered a tremendous amount of pain. Over a few years, she sends him multiple hours of voicemails and over 40,000 emails – detailing the emotional rollercoaster of a relationship they shared. 

Donny Dunn is a failing comedian who keeps at it because he has a dream. With Martha in his life, he finds himself back in an abusive relationship – which seems comforting to him at some points in the story. He also falls in love with a trans woman, Terri and she helps him see a new side of him – a more confident and less self-loathing man.

– Spoilers ahead –

Warning: The following review contains mentions of sexual assault, physical assault and drug use. Reader’s discretion is advised. 

Baby Reindeer Review

Episode 1 to 3 is spent showing Martha and Donny going back and forth with their strange and twisted relationship. She sometimes helps him out – bringing confidence during a comedy set, making him feel good about himself, etc and other times, keeping a hold over him, thinking she is in a relationship with him. Donny goes mad seeing Martha everywhere – online and offline. He does some research on her and finds out that she is a serial stalker and has even been to prison for the same. 

We also get to see his budding romance with Terri but he feels like a cheat because of the false identity he keeps with her – a construction worker named Tony. Eventually, he confides in her about Martha as well as his real identity. While she helps him with Martha, it takes her a little more time with the betrayal. He endures the onslaught of questions and strange behaviour from Martha for reasons unknown to him, encouraging her further. 

He finally tries to get rid of her when she appears in the house he shares with his ex-girlfriend’s mother, Liz, as a lawyer named Sheila. She does not take it well and decides to see him from afar but is close enough to catcall him and harass him even more. 

Episode 4 is the hardest to watch as the viewers get an insight into his past life and the reason for his broken self-esteem as well as his meek personality. A victim of sexual abuse and an addict – Donny Dunn views his past as a mistake he made because he would go back to his abuser to achieve the taste of success he so wanted. It cost him his sanity, and his relationship with his girlfriend – emotional and sexual and got him confused about his sexuality.

Soon after, he threw himself into meaningless one-night stands and dates to feel something other than shame and guilt. His chance meeting with Terri led him to believe that he could be better but the thought of sex with her took him back to the painful nights he tries to forget. 

Episodes 5 and 6 take a sharp turn as his relationship with Martha twists further as she goes unhinged. Donny files a police complaint regarding the stalking and Martha feels hurt by his gesture and hurts the people closest to him – his family. While spending time with Terri when he gets thrown out of Liz’s house, she makes up that he was in a car crash, causing his parents to spiral. He goes to meet them to solve the misunderstanding and she continues to call his father but it turns out his father is not as nice and repeatedly tells her off. 

At the end of episode 6, he irks Martha with her past and she hurts him physically. Tired of the same routine, he uses his comedy set to spill about his past and present – the abuse, Martha’s stalking and losing Terri. The last episode goes through highs and lows as his set makes him viral in an instant – leading to many work engagements like podcasts, radio interviews, stand-up sets, etc. 

Martha loses the last string of sanity and leaves him hundreds of voicemails, detailing many things – her hatred for him, his bone structure, comedy, her love for him, etc. He captures all the voicemails and sends them to the police officers, leading to Martha being arrested and given a five-year restraining and no-contact order. The loss of her leaves him feeling sad and dejected when he ends up at a bar – crying. A barkeep gives him a drink and when he forgets his wallet, the barkeep looks at him and tells him ‘on the house’. 

Baby Reindeer Final Thoughts 

What. A. Show. Baby Reindeer was an amalgamation of Gone Girl, You and tropes of a dark comedy series. Richard Gadd did a brilliant job of bringing his own story to life and turning a one-man play into a one-man show. He gave a human touch to Martha – not just making her out to be a mindless stalker with a thirst for revenge. The obsession, uncomfortable thoughts and tortured minds of two people were on display in a beautifully dark manner. 

He was also not afraid to show Donny Dunn as someone who took pleasure in the attention that was showered by Martha – so much so, that she became the reason for his repaired libido. In the end, he became unhealthily attached to his stalker – which may seem far-fetched to many but for someone with low self-esteem and a horrible past – it would make sense why he loved her back in a strange way. 

The series is definitely a must-watch but beware, you may be obsessed with finishing 7 episodes in one night itself! 

Baby Reindeer is streaming on Netflix.

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