Note: The following article contains discussion of sexual misconduct.
Baby Reindeer spoilers follow – including its ending.
After years of looking over his shoulder, peering out from behind curtains and waiting for his phone to buzz, Donny Dunn's (Richard Gadd) stalker "Martha" (Jessica Gunning) was finally removed from his life.
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Yet he continued to walk the streets with 350 hours of her voicemails still ringing in his ears, narrating his life, only to go back to a bedroom that was decorated with a timeline of their interactions and her photos.
"I'm trying to make sense of it," he tells his former girlfriend, who has come to do a welfare check, prompted by a worried flatmate.
To anyone on the outside looking in, Donny has got his life back. "Martha" has been sentenced, a restraining order preventing her from making contact. He is free.
But instead of dusting his hands and moving forwards, Donny is stuck, spiralling, spending weeks on end in his room and picking at the wound.
The lasting effects of trauma stay with you long after the event ends. The aftermath can be just as devastating; re-tracing everything, the fog slowly clearing, learning how to navigate life again.
And it's in this space, the place of "Why did this happen?" and "What does it say about me?" that Baby Reindeer's final episode lives.
Richard Gadd's trending Netflix show, inspired by his own true story, is unflinching in its narration, and all the better for it.
His character Donny talks about sometimes missing his stalker and finding an odd sense of comfort in her constant stream of messaging, because at least it gave him a read on her mood. For the unburdened onlooker this might not make much sense, but for others it will be relatable in a way that provokes shame.
Donny hates what "Martha" brought to his life, but he also has empathy for her. He wants her gone, but also appears drawn to her. Donny must also reckon with the ways in which he might have encouraged her behaviour.
There are also moments in the series, particularly in the first two episodes, where Donny could lose the audience, particularly when it feels like "Martha" is the punchline. Gadd has acknowledged he "made mistakes", and wanted the series to incorporate that nuance.
In doing so, Baby Reindeer dismantles the myth of the 'perfect victim' – that someone must be beyond reproach, untouched by criticism, in order for their experience to count.
Much has also been made of Baby Reindeer's fourth episode, which is an exceptional – albeit harrowing – 40 minutes of television. The series takes quite a tonal shift from this point, taking us back to Donny's debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where he meets a man who would eventually become his rapist.
Baby Reindeer's character Darrien (Tom Goodman-Hill) claims to be connected to the TV industry, seeing something in Donny that he can't quite see in himself. He takes him to exclusive VIP bars while name-dropping connections to Donny's comedy heroes, and he helps him work on his flailing one-man show.
Then he disappears for a while, leaving Donny to chase him. When he does eventually call, Donny drops everything and goes straight to his flat armed with a 60-page pilot script.
It takes Donny quite some time to allow himself the realisation that he has been groomed. He is assaulted and abused on many occasions, but he continues to go back. It's a brave but vital, piece of storytelling, holding a lens up to the nuance that's often involved in abusive dynamics.
People love to ask "Why didn't you just leave?", as though you're not tethered through layers of shame, fear, admiration, or even a wish to excuse or protect. The details and individual experiences are always different, the patterns universal.
In the final moments of Baby Reindeer, Donny finds himself once again at Darrien's door. After returning to the place of his abuse, whether to confront the events or to try and process what had happened there, his body has a visceral response – and it's Martha's voicemails that he returns to.
"I love that sequence," Gadd explained to Netflix. "I like the surprise of going back to Darrien's door. I love the surprise of listening to the voicemails. I just think there's a deep psychology to it that I really like the idea of. Someone being so lonely and so isolated that they decide to listen to their old stalker's voicemails."
Baby Reindeer excels within its own complexity. It doesn't have all the answers. And its ending – which Gadd underlined as being open to interpretation – is the perfect embodiment of that.
Baby Reindeer is available to stream on Netflix.
If you've been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information from Rape Crisis England and Wales, who work towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct, on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.
TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).
