Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadd opens up about the ending of his Netflix series, sharing his view that it can be interpreted in different ways. An adaptation of Gadd’s one-man show of the same name, Baby Reindeer is based on true events. The story is based on Gadd’s experience of being stalked and sexually assaulted during his 20s. Consisting of seven episodes, the drama has received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences and has been cited among the best new shows of the year.
In an interview with Radio Times, Gadd discussed the ending of Baby Reindeer. The creator particularly touches on the closing scene, as his character Donny plays back a crucial voicemail from his stalker Martha (played by Jessica Gunning). He also elaborates on the ambiguity of Donny being on the receiving end of the same kindness that he’d first extended to Martha, sharing that “I think it can be interpreted in multiple ways and I like that it can.” Read his full comments below:
“I quite like the ambiguity of the ending, I sort of don’t want to put a meaning on it. I think it can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. I know what it is in my head – that ending’s my favourite thing in the whole series, the way it ends.
“From plugging in the headphones to going all the way to the end, hearing the voicemail, looking up, that’s my whole favourite bit in the whole series. I think it can be interpreted in multiple ways and I like that it can. I’m quite keen to see what people think actually.”
Baby Reindeer’s Ending Is A Fitting Conclusion To A Difficult Series
At the very end of Baby Reindeer, Donny plays a voicemail from Martha. He’d been doing so as a form of comfort, underlining that his curiosity about the stalker hadn’t gone away. In this voicemail, she tells him about the origins of the baby reindeer nickname. In essence, Donny reminds Martha of a baby reindeer toy that she used for comfort during her volatile childhood. Donny is moved to tears, possibly wishing things could have been different with Martha. But whatever he’s feeling, it goes unstated.
At the same time, as he’s clearly overwhelmed, a bartender extends the same kindness to him that he showed in the first episode: Donny gets a free drink, which ends up being the last moment of the show. Donny never sees Martha again, he says. In some ways, he’s in a better place. In others, he will always be working through what happened to him.
It’s especially hard to watch during some scenes, knowing it’s based on Gadd’s experiences. The series dispenses with any effort to be a quirky comedy or a conventional thriller halfway through its run, turning into something far more real, remarkable, and at times uncomfortable. But in leading the Baby Reindeer cast and crafting the narrative, Gadd offers up something that’s well worth stopping to consider.
Source: Radio Times
