Winter's Cumin' Streaming 24' - Baby Reindeer - Miniseries

Baby Reindeer is the miniseries everyone is talking about right now. If we were still all working in offices, it would totally be a water cooler moment!

Created by & starring Richard Gadd, this is Netflix's adaptation of Gadd's autobiographical one-man show of the same name.

So why all the fuss? It's raw, real and terrifying AF. The seven episode run is based on Gadd's real life experience of being stalked and sexually assaulted in his twenties. 

Landing earlier last month on Netflix, this is really a return to form for the streamer. Following the flop revival of Girls5Eva and the less than bumper second season of Heartbreak High, Baby Reindeer is a breath of fresh streaming air.

So this needs a massive content warning. The show goes deep, dark and real. Below the trailer you will find spoilers of episode seven. However if you want to go in like me ditch the trailer and just start the series ASAP! If not beforehand! SPOILERS below!

In the final gripping episode, a video of Donny's confession goes viral, earning him a significant boost in his career. He thoughtlessly sets an out of office message on his email that includes his phone number, leading to Martha gaining access to his phone for the first time. 

She calls him and threatens to tell his parents about his rape and sexuality. Hoping to pre-empt her, he travels to Scotland and tells his parents everything. His father confesses that he too was sexually abused, and Donny spends a week with his family.

These scenes were highly emotive. It was so raw, so emotional, it was TV well done.

Martha begins calling Donny incessantly, leaving him hundreds of voicemails. The police suggest he listen to the voicemails and report any threats. Over months, his habit of listening to Martha's voicemails becomes an obsession as he once again begins to pity her and catalogs her messages. However, after she threatens to stab his parents, he finally reports her and she is arrested. Martha is sentenced to nine months in prison and five years of probation. Donny never sees her again.

Donny struggles to adjust in a world without Martha's constant presence, shuts himself away at home, and continues building a sequence of events of his relationship with Martha. 

His roommates call Keeley, who, worried for his mental health, asks him to move back to Liz's house. As he moves back in, he finds the screenplay he was writing for Darrien. 

In an attempt at closure, he goes to Darrien's apartment, but instead of confronting him, politely chats with him. Darrien, who has seen Donny's video, offers him a writing job. Donny accepts, but has a panic attack after leaving. 

Stopping at a pub, he listens to a voicemail where Martha explains why she calls him "Baby Reindeer": it is because he reminds her of a stuffed animal she would hug when her parents would fight, the only positive memory from her childhood. Donny begins to cry, gets his drink, and realizes he has forgotten his wallet. The barman, feeling sorry for Donny, gives him the drink on the house, in a mirror of Donny's first encounter with Martha.

This was TV excellence. Wait for the awards season, as Baby Reindeer may steal the show. Netflix has really done well with this truly gritty, addictive series. Excellent.