MIDNIGHT REVIEWS Baby Reindeer Episodes 5–7 Review
Midnight Reviews features reviews and thought pieces written and edited by a parent, at night, after bedtime.
Baby Reindeer Episodes 5–7
Read the review for episodes 1–4 here.
Series created by: Richard Gadd
Featuring: Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau
Synopsis: We have now seen Donny Dunn’s (Gadd) trauma, the reason for his instability. But where will he go, when it’s clear he doesn’t want to share this information with anyone else? It might help him with his stalker Martha (Gunning) but he seems unable to open up.
Review: It certainly wasn’t intended with how these reviews of Baby Reindeer were set out, but this really is a show of two halves, in a sense. The first was the emotional trauma being teased, then revealed. This second block of episodes sets us on a rollercoaster as the feeling remains that things have to find an ending.
The first four episodes showed a complexity, letting us know that even if everything turned out alright for Donny, it wouldn’t be easy. This second block of episodes has more in common with a straight thriller. All the pieces are set in place, needing to play out their own movements.
Emotional and not a little raw.
Episode four showed us Donny’s abuser. It also showed the guilt he felt in what he thought was his part in the abuse. He is yet to reveal what happened to anyone beyond us, the viewer, but obviously things have to be revealed, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.
But the way they are revealed is emotional and not a little raw. The staging is a possible holdover from the one-man show but it’s effective enough to work. Gadd’s performance is clear and communicative, and human enough to draw us in. However, another possible holdover from the one-man show, the voiceover, needs to come under scrutiny.
Catharsis comes with a heavy dose of pity.
I was hesitant to place it under too harsh a spotlight in the first review, particularly with its use enabling a furthering of the dreamlike qualities in episode four. But did we need the voiceover? At times it seemed to be a distraction, telling us things performances and mise-en-scène could have told us much more organically.
This is the one negative of a wholly positive review. The reveal that another character close to Donny was abused could’ve elicited laughter but is handled with the right language and pacing that it’s genuinely heart breaking, leading to the sorrow of a character who seemed to be nothing more than a combination of a piece of granite and a foghorn.
A reality reveals itself at the end of Baby Reindeer. Catharsis comes with a heavy dose of pity for both Donny and Martha; Donny because he has a long road ahead of him, Martha because she is damaged. The show doesn’t justify her actions with the allegations related to her childhood. Rather it’s an explanation as opposed to an excuse. It might’ve pulled the rug from under our feet through genre trappings or a change of view point, but instead Baby Reindeer would rather completely and sincerely, even if at times it seems harsh, show us the lack of simplicity, the graininess of life. Sometimes we do what we can, sometimes we do what we must.
Baby Reindeer is available to stream on Netflix. Read the review for episodes 1–4 here.
Matthew D. Smith likes to overshare his views on movies and TV shows whenever and wherever he can. Indulge him, and follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Smith_M_D
