Today is Saturday, May 18, 2024. It’s getting late here, so I’ll cut to the chase. Elliot and I have been binge-watching Netflix’s series Baby Reindeer, where we’ve watched four episodes of a seven-episode arc. Tonight we watched two episodes back to back; I generally like to take my viewing slow, but this series compels you to watch as many episodes as you can since the show is so compelling from the start.

This British series could be characterized as a dark comedy and a psychological thriller, as it tells the real-life story of Scottish comedian Richard Gadd, here known in the series as Donny Dunn. The series originally premiered on the service on April 11, and we just discovered it only two days ago. It has launched to strong critical acclaim and has strong viewership on the platform.

The story concerns Dunn dealing with a deranged woman admirer in the form of Martha Scott who walks into the bar where he is bartending one day and never leaves his side. She develops a strong attachment to Donny and starts coming to the bar every day and harassing him online, sending him hundreds of emails a day. She even attends his comedy shows, where she serenades the audience with her less-than-stellar singing voice.

The last episode we watched involves how Donny first meets a TV writer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival named Darrien O’Connor, who offers him career advice, promises opportunities, and lastly, supplies him with drugs. O’Connor also takes advantage of Donny when he’s in a drug-induced stupor. Thus he is repeatedly assaulted by the smooth-talking writer during drug-induced blackouts. Eventually, Donny realizes he has been seduced by this older predator and leaves him.

In this last episode, Donny questions his own sexuality after being molested by the “pansexual” writer. Because of his confusion regarding his sexual identity, we realize why he puts up with Martha’s stalking behavior for at least 6 months before he decides to report it to the police. The situation that convinces him that Martha is truly dangerous is when she confronts him and his new girlfriend, Teri, in a bar, and pounces on her and calls her a “whore.” Teri, by the way, is an American transgender therapist who is lied to by Donny initially; he first tells Teri that he’s a builder and that his name is Tony.

Googling the series, I came across several articles that were just as disturbing as the production. They concern the meddling of armchair detectives, actually, viewers of the series, who are so obsessed with learning the identities of “Martha” and “Darrien” that they forced the real Martha to identify herself. Now this true inspiration for Gadd’s series is threatening to sue Netflix and British journalist Piers Morgan for an in-person interview conducted with her recently. In the series, Martha has been imprisoned in the past for her stalking behavior, but this is not true at all. The real Martha character has not served time in prison. So this is all very hard to digest.

The series is quite good. That’s why we’ve watched so many episodes in so short a time. Also, the length of the episodes is not long: a little over 30 minutes an episode.

The writer and creator of the show, Richard Gadd, has tried not to share the identity of his stalker and even asked online sleuths to call off an Internet hunt to reveal her identity that began after his show took off. All I can ask these people is “Don’t you have a life?” I wonder why these viewers couldn’t just enjoy the show itself and not undertake an effort to uncover the woman’s true identity. Why is that even necessary? I would ask. Viewers have even slammed the broadcaster for exploiting a woman whom Gadd called “mentally unwell.”

So it seems that with fame comes more headaches, as Gadd is experiencing with the phenomenal success of his creation. We can ask then, “Is it all worth it?” Only Gadd can answer that.

Despite the inherent issues with the series and its aftermath, I would still recommend viewing it, but please don’t come to any conclusions as to who Martha or Darrien really are. It’s not central to enjoying the show.

Have a good Sunday.

Stay safe and be well.