As the finale of Baby Reindeer begins, Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) finds out that someone recorded his breakdown and uploaded it to YouTube. He claims he went from a walking ghost to the center of a media storm. Donny didn’t notice that Martha had stopped emailing him. Everyone wanted a piece of him and his career was thriving. He just needed to be honest with himself to achieve what he wanted. Martha (Jessica Gunning) calls to ask Donny if his parents know about the stuff in the video. She threatens to tell his parents that he’s an ugly little bum boy. Donny says Martha somehow got his number at the worst possible time. He unplugged from Martha for a few days and made plans.
Donny wanted to tell his parents before she did. He tells his parents about the video in which he confesses about a lot of things. Donny doesn’t know much anymore but he doesn’t know if he is straight anymore. He tells them that he might be bisexual. Donny says they have a choice between a bi son, a gay son, or a dead son because he can’t handle it anymore. He tells them that he was raped by a man as well. Donny doesn’t want them to see him as less of a man for letting it happen. Gerry (Mark Lewis Jones) asks if he’d see him as less of a man. Donny says no. Gerry explains that he grew up in the Catholic Church. He suggests something happened to him as well. Elle (Amanda Root) assures Donny that they’re always there for him.
Donny felt lighter when he wakes up to a new dawn. He spent time with his parents and told them everything. As he returned, he thought there was nothing in his way except for Martha. While on the train, Donny decides to turn his phone back on. He finds 50 new messages. In a voicemail, Martha harasses him. Donny goes to Daniels (Thomas Coombes) to try to get help. Daniels asks how Martha got his number. Donny says she stopped emailing so he set an out-of-office. It must’ve replied to her. Daniels says that must hurt giving it away so easily after keeping it from her for so long. Speaking off the record, Daniels suggests waiting for her to say something they can use to expedite the case. He tells Donny to mark down moments where Martha says something threatening.
Donny admits he started listening to Martha’s voicemails all the time. He started to download, load, and categorize them. Donny canceled appointments so he could spend time unpacking the mystery of Martha. He tried to find out why she was that way, but he never even got close to an answer. Donny felt himself relating to her again. She distracted him from the things he’d lost. Martha threatened him many times and said things that were violent and phobic. Donny found himself ignoring it. When Culver (Alexandria Riley) asked him about it, Donny refused to say anything about it. He found any excuse to keep Martha in his life. Donny had to fight every fiber of his being not to call her back. He eventually reported her because she started on his family and it felt like a risk he couldn’t take any longer.
During one voicemail, Martha threatens to stab someone. Martha was arrested the next day and charged with three counts of stalking and harassment. Donny goes to Martha’s plea hearing in which Martha pleads guilty to everything. Martha gets nine months and a five-year restraining order was also issued. That was the last time Donny ever saw Martha. He deletes the police timeline and writes that he felt sorry for Martha. One day, Keeley (Shalom Brune-Franklin) shows up at Donny’s place because Francis was worried about him. She finds all the stuff he’s been keeping about Martha. Donny says he’s given up on comedy. Keeley asks him to move back to her mom’s place and sort himself out. She’ll pay for the lease so he can move back. Keeley admits the video really upset her.
Liz (Nina Sosanya) is there to greet him when he returns. She tells him she got something for him in the cupboard. Donny looks at the script he wrote for Hangman Harry. He finds the notes from Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill) so he decides to visit him. They go inside and talk about Donny’s friends. Darrien tells him he saw his video and he thought it was really brave. He wants Donny to come back and work with him. Darrien insists it won’t be like last time. They’re bringing Cotton Mouth back for a reboot. Donny accepts the offer. When he leaves, he has to stop outside to collect himself. He listens to Martha being complimentary to him. He goes to a bar.
Donny listens to Martha about the baby reindeer thing. She says she had a cuddly toy when she was young. It went with her everywhere. Martha says she still has it and it was the only good thing from her childhood. She’d hug it when they fought and they fought a lot. Martha tells him he’s the spit of that reindeer. A guy at the bar checks on him since he’s crying. The bartender lets him have his drink for free because he left his wallet at home.
Baby Reindeer Review
The finale of Baby Reindeer was at least better than the other episodes because it tried to take the story seriously. In particular, Donny’s conversation with his parents was very strong. It’s unfortunate that the rest of the series didn’t follow this path because it could’ve been so much more impactful. The performances have mostly been good throughout with Jessica Gunning regularly stealing the show.
While the series is billed as being based on a true story, there are inconsistencies along the way. Therefore, there are likely embellished scenes and made-up components for dramatic effect. That term doesn’t specify how much of the show is actually based on a true story. For instance, the series says Martha was stalking Donny from August 14, 2015 to March 22, 2017.
Throughout the series, Donny has been portrayed as an incompetent comedian who had limited success besides performing in a small bar in Edinburgh. In reality, Gadd had recognition well before that. His shows won awards in 2015 and 2016. Furthermore, his shows were big enough to be reviewed by big publications such as The Guardian which was mixed on his Breaking Gadd show.
In fact, the show was described by Brian Logan as a “comedy of relentless degradation”. That show was reportedly obsessed with gay sex with Gadd being molested or threatened with molestation by predatory gay men three times in the first-half hour. These acts were portrayed as being hilarious. In that show, Gadd’s parents are portrayed as junkies and prostitutes. Interestingly enough, that show’s been scrubbed from Gadd’s official website with only Money See Monkey Do and Baby Reindeer remaining.
For such a raunchy act, it’s hard to imagine Gadd’s parents would be a bit shy about the idea of having a homosexual or bisexual son. Blending fact with fiction makes it difficult for viewers to decide exactly what to believe. Nevertheless, there is an interesting dilemma at the heart of Baby Reindeer that isn’t often explored and that’s the fact that there are two sides to every story. As Gadd himself admits, he did loads of things wrong and made the situation worse. For better or worse, the series attempts to show this.
For some, this will probably be the biggest issue with the series. Portraying Donny Dunn in this way can make it very difficult to genuinely care about the character because he’s playing just as big of a role as Martha at times. It also creates a believability issue. The finale was at least somewhat logical when Donny finally took action and decided to put an end to the torment. It’s a bit humorous though that IMDB has an episode eight with an 8.7 with 68 ratings and two critic reviews. The system must’ve malfunctioned there or something.
It scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Baby Reindeer can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this show and others at the Reel Mockery Forum.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
