‘Baby Reindeer’ review: Netflix delivers a brutal character study

Whatever you do, do not binge the Netflix series Baby Reindeer. This dark comedy is not for the faint of heart. After you finish an episode, please take a beat. Go outside, touch some grass, and watch something more pleasant like The Circle or Irish Wish — especially after you watch Episode 4. That episode is the equivalent of viewing a lion tear apart a baby antelope in devastating slow motion.

That said, Baby Reindeer is one of the best television series on Netflix. Instead of giving the audience the ideal predator and victim, the creator and star, Richard Gadd, presents these extremely problematic but intriguing leads as murky and grey. Donny (Gadd), the series’ protagonist, is not the perfect victim, as he leads his abuser on. Martha (Jessica Gunning), Donny’s stalker, is a predator, but in some ways, she is a victim as well. Thanks to Gadd’s brutally honest writing, he shows how unresolved past traumas can turn anyone into a monster and prey.

Baby Reindeer opens with Donny telling an officer at a police station that he has a female stalker. After a bit of back and forth, the officer, who barely believes Donny’s story, asks him how long the woman in question has been stalking him. Donny responds it has been going on for about six months. Astonished, the officer asks him why he waited so long to tell the police about Martha’s mistreatment. Donny claims he took so long to report her to law enforcement because he felt sorry for his abuser. Yet, that is not the whole story. His nightmare is much darker than that.

Donny and Martha first meet at a bar where Donny works in Camden. Martha, fully disheveled, takes a seat at the bar and cries. Feeling empathetic and pity about Martha’s plight, the stand-up comedian/bartender offers her a drink, but she cannot afford it. So, as an act of kindness, he gives her a cup of tea on the house. Unfortunately for Donny, this simple act of kindness leads to trouble. The woman visits him at the bar, befriends him on Facebook, attends his comedy shows, and harasses any woman with whom he had a previous relationship. To make matters worse, she drags his family and friends into their vortex of chaos, including his ex-girlfriend Keeley (Shalom Brune-Franklin) and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Teri (the incredible Nava Mau).

There is no easy way to say this: Donny is not a good dude. Baby Reindeer does not portray him as the perfect victim, which is a good thing for the series as it doesn’t revel in stereotypes. Due to his inability to healthily process a traumatic experience, Donny fumbles into one catastrophe after another. Throughout the series, he treats his girlfriend Teri poorly, refuses to move out of his ex-girlfriend’s childhood home, and indulges in Martha’s more troubling behaviour. Yet, what makes Donny a sympathetic figure is that he knows his behavior is self-destructive. Donny is at such a low point in his life he is willing to accept the attention of a mentally unstable person. And it takes a literal bottle to the head for him to finally admit he is just as problematic as his abuser.

On the other hand, Martha is a monster. There is no denying her treatment of Donny is horrific. However, Baby Reindeer reminds the audience in each episode that she is just as much a victim as Donny. Just like her memorable villainous contemporaries like Dre from Swarm and Annie from Misery, Martha’s past, particularly her troubled childhood, informs the decisions she makes as a mentally ill middle-aged woman. Martha gravitates toward Donny because he reminds her of a reindeer plush toy she had as a child. Though Donny is unaware of this fact until the finale, he still uses Martha’s vulnerabilities to his advantage, particularly when he wants to avoid his problems. Nonetheless, Martha’s past and mental instability do not excuse her behavior. She is homophobic, transphobic, and a convicted stalker.

Baby Reindeer also does a fantastic job of not making Teri a tragic figure. As a trans woman of color, the professional therapist must navigate the world differently than her cis-white counterparts. Even with the rapid transphobia and rejection, both from Donny and Martha, Teri’s self-assurance in herself rarely wavers. Sure, she makes terrible life choices, like when she welcomes Donny back into her life despite his lies and mind games. Yet, she is unafraid to hold her boyfriend accountable. Take Teri and Donny’s date at the gay nightclub in Episode 2 for example. Teri rightfully tells Donny that he enjoys the attention Martha gives him because he views her as “harmless,” “sympathetic,” and not “relevant.” It’s a brilliantly performed moment that showcases Teri’s strength and durability and Mau’s acting chops.

I will not deny that Baby Reindeer is a difficult show to watch. The thriller is dark, cynical, and absolutely jarring. However, if you stick with the show to the end, the payoff is worth it. As with Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You, Gadd manages to take control of a dark moment in his past by sharing his story with unadulterated rawness. In any case, his show will have a lasting impact on the cultural zeitgeist.

Baby Reindeer is out now on Netflix.

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Images Courtesy of Netflix