Baby Reindeer is a limited series currently ranked number one on Netflix USA. The show depicts a stalker story based on actual events and is gritty, dark, and frequently depressing to watch. Fans have been perplexed by the film's ambiguous ending.
The show is based on the real-life experiences of comedian Richard Gadd, who portrays Donny (himself). It all begins when Donny offers tea in the house to the stalker known as Martha on the show. Although this appears to be a harmless act of kindness, it sets off a chain reaction that leads to Martha's obsession with Donny.
Note: Major Spoiler Warning for anyone who hasn’t watched the show.
Throughout the show, Martha sends Donny 41,071 emails, 350 hours’ worth of voicemails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, and 106 pages of letters. Martha also targets his loved ones, including his parents and ex-girlfriend.
The most traumatic aspect of the show was the flashback in Episode 4. It shows the sexual abuse Gadd went through while working under a TV writer named Darrien. He subjected Gads to all kinds of abuse while dangling the prospect of fame and success in front of him. Richard himself stated while working on the show:
“It was difficult going back to these things. A lot of people who worked on the show found it incredibly hard to read and do. I hadn’t admitted some of it to anyone. I think I’d said that I’d been sexually abused and various other awful things that had happened to me before, but I hadn’t gone into that detail, and it was quite confronting.”
The show concludes in episode seven when Martha is arrested. Gadd receives a threatening email from her and files a case against her. She is then brought before the court, where she pleads guilty to three counts of stalking and harassment.
After Martha is arrested, Donny isolates himself to process his emotions. He listens to Martha's voicemail, attempting to comprehend everything that has happened. Amid this, Donny's ex-girlfriend visits his apartment and advises him to move back with her mother to get his life back on track. There, he discovers an old script from Darrien that triggers his trauma, and he pays a visit to his assaulter.
The scene where the two meet is uncomfortable. Both of them talk as if they have forgotten their dark past. Darrien admits he saw the video and praises Donny's bravery. He then offers him a job, but Donny becomes overwhelmed by emotions and flees. To calm himself down, he listens to Martha's voicemails, which he categorises into various emotions.
The whole sequence has just so much depth to it. Gadd himself stated that,
“I love that sequence. I like the surprise of going back to Darrien’s door. I love the surprise of listening to the voicemails. I just think there’s a deep psychology to it that I like the idea of,” Gadd told Tudum. “Someone being so lonely and so isolated that they decide to listen to their old stalker’s voicemails.”
The episode ends with Donny at the bar listening to Martha’s voicemail. He then orders a vodka Coke and returns to Martha's voicemail, in which she explains why she called Donny "baby reindeer".
After listening to this, Donny is overcome with emotions and starts crying. The bartender then interrupts the moment by asking to pay the bill. Donny then reaches for his wallet, realising he has forgotten it. The bartender then tells him it is on the house, reminding Donny of the day he met Martha and offered her tea on the house.
The finale beautifully weaves the show together in a loop. The ending has no constructive meaning and is open to interpretation. It demonstrates that there is no winner; Donny needs Martha to assure him she does not feel sorry for him. Of course, he did not want to be constantly followed, but Donny wished for the kind of kindness that Martha provided.
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