Baby Reindeer | TV Show Review

 

A nice gesture leading to a series of dangerous incidents with a stalker forces Donny (Richard Gadd) to confront a hidden dark trauma.

I can never decide if I'm going to review TV shows or not, but when a show like this comes along, it's a really easy decision.

The trailer for the show was what originally made me want to watch it - it was really interesting. But there is so much more to the show than what the trailer (or description) tells you.

It's so well written and acted, and everything is so authentic and realistic, which is probably helped by the fact that it's based on a true story.

Tension is created perfectly - some of the episodes are so harrowing you can't look away from the screen. Each episode is more tense than the next!

The characters were great, and written really well, particularly the characters of Donny and Martha (Jessica Gunning).

Donny is a great protagonist. You feel sympathy and empathy for him while also being able to be frustrated with his actions because he's a 3-dimensional, human character.

And in the same way, Martha is an amazing antagonist. She does awful things, but also can provide moments of levity in the show (particularly towards the beginning). Like Donny, she's written really well and is a 3-dimensional, interesting character.

The characterisation is incredible and really complex.

It's definitely a bingeable show - once one episode was done I was itching to watch the next, and that was true the entire way through.

Without giving anything away, the monologue in episode 6 kind of captures the entirety of the show. It's raw, real, powerful and heart-breaking. And it's perfectly placed in the episode and in the series as a whole.

Overall, this isn't an easy watch by any means, but it's so worthwhile. If you've heard anything about this and haven't decided whether to watch it or not - watch it.

5/5