As the fifth episode of Baby Reindeer begins, Martha (Jessica Gunning) is barred for attacking Teri. Nevertheless, she shows up to warn Donny (Richard Gadd) that he’s made an enemy of her. Martha harasses and belittles him wherever he goes. Donny thought about moving or pausing the comedy, but he didn’t want to give Martha the satisfaction. Later, he finds out that someone attacked Keeley (Shalom Brune-Franklin). Liz (Nina Sosanya) believes it was the woman from the cooking group. Keeley admits she said it was for having sex with Donny before throwing it in her face. Donny is forced to come clean about Martha. Keeley calls him an idiot. Donny says the cops haven’t taken it seriously.

Liz thinks he should move out. Donny moves to Kilburn with two guys from his drama school days. Once he opened the door, his dread and frustration vanished. Donny talks to his friend about his comedy and his gap year. He asks what the catch is. Soon, Donny learns that they host a lot of parties. Francis and Bijou had failed to mention they had taken time off to fulfill their cultural, psychoactive destiny. Donny says he became overcome with his hatred for Martha. Donny goes to the pub where he finds Diggsy (Josh Finan), Gino, and Greggsy watching his comedy. They tell him that it’s more depressing than funny. Martha told them about it. Donny started spending more time around Teri’s place. His relationship with Teri (Nava Mau) became tighter after the attack.

In a strange sense, Donny got everything he ever wanted. Teri asks him when he decided he’d be open to dating trans women. Donny says he might be bisexual because he feels like a fraud no matter who he sleeps with. Teri dances for him and urges him to dance too. Teri asks if he feels like a fraud with her. Donny doesn’t know because they haven’t put it to the test yet. They also have sex, but Donny stops because he’s not ready. Donny admits to himself that it all felt too much. He tries to have sex with Teri but he can’t. Donny started noticing a change in Teri as a result. Teri complains it’s like his body is manifesting all the awful things Martha said that night. She asks what he’s doing to fix the situation. He claims he told the police what happened to Teri, but she questions why they haven’t been around.

Teri accuses him of not saying anything. She goes on to say he stopped everyone from calling the police that night. Teri complains about Martha saying she looks like a man. Donny says she doesn’t. Teri says that’s rich coming from someone who has always treated her like a man. Donny knows he should’ve taken Teri to the police station right then, but he was ashamed and needed to find a different way. Daniels (Thomas Coombes) tells Donny why they can’t charge Martha just based on the emails. Donny urges him to check Martha’s name in the database. Daniels takes him to the back so his supervisor can look into this. Before long, Culver (Alexandria Riley) joins them. Culver tells him that Martha is so serious she once stalked a policeman.

She questions whether Martha is in possession of Donny’s phone number. Donny says that’s correct. They want him to draw up a timeline while they warn Martha. Culver insists the presence of the police can change things. Donny admits their presence brought a strange silence. He became concerned because the emails told him about her emotions. He worries he’ll wake up to an email from Martha blaming him for her suicide. Donny tries to create a timeline but just stops. He wonders if he missed the drama, distraction, and attention. Donny admits he started to masturbate over Martha because there was something thrilled about doing something that would devastate his life even further. The idea became an obsession to him. Donny has sex with Teri while thinking about Martha.

He felt abused again. Back at the police station, Donny admits to Culver that he didn’t create a timeline. Martha told the police she was embarrassed and accepted their offer of help. She has attended two social-adjustment courses since they last spoke to her. Donny wants to know if she was upset or said anything else. Culver says she took it well. If Martha contacts him again, they’ll move the process to the CPS. That’ll likely result in him obtaining a full restraining order. Teri and Donny admit it’s weird that Martha just accepted it. Teri believes he was expecting a big showdown. Donny wonders if she wasn’t that crazy to begin with. Donny gets a call from his mom but he doesn’t answer. His mom and dad believe he’s been taken to a hospital because that’s what they’ve been told by Martha.

 

Baby Reindeer Review

This episode of Baby Reindeer wasn’t as annoying as some of the others although it felt a bit dull at times. However, there were still odd moments that Gadd probably should’ve kept to himself. For instance, it’s still easy to question whether Donny actually wanted this whole thing to end. It’s also odd that the rape was put on the back burner and not mentioned at all in this episode.

Donny’s behavior makes the character unlikable and foolish. When he nearly loses his new partner, he finally goes to the police to press matters. Nevertheless, Donny still doesn’t want to resolve anything considering he was too worthless to create a timeline. It’s also odd that he moved in with old friends, but it appears he moved out at some point after that. The parties were over and Donny doesn’t appear to go back to the party house. Those scenes were pointless.

It’s easier to sympathize with Keeley and Teri since both have been correct. Keeley is right that Donny is an idiot. Teri is right that Donny didn’t want to stop Martha and that’s why he didn’t let anyone call the police following the attack. It’s unrealistic that Martha would be able to get Donny’s email and his parents’ phone number but not his. If this had been billed as a mockumentary of sorts, it probably would’ve hit it out of the park.

In reality, it doesn’t know what it wants to be and it’s really not anything except a frustrating experience. This episode scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Baby Reindeer can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support us at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.