“How about tea on the house?” There is no more innocent and kind question a bartender can ask a cash-strapped customer. It was out of pity, he admits his own arrogance, that Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) offered the drink to Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning), who had just walked into the pub where she worked.
Little did he know what kindness would generate. From this meeting, which marks the beginning of the “Baby Rena” series, the lives of the two involved were never the same again.
The British production is ranked first globally among Netflix’s English-language series for several reasons. One’s own merits as achievement; the topics it deals with (stalking and male sexual assault); and the fact that it is a true story.
Furthermore: the victim of the persecution that occurred between 2015 and 2017 acts out his own life in fiction. Richard Gadd, Donny Dunn’s interpreter, is the author and protagonist of the story that he himself experienced in the not-so-distant past.
True crime
If you haven’t been caught up in the series yet (the title doesn’t excite anyone, but it makes the most sense and gets a moving explanation in the final part), you can surrender. “Baby Rena” guides the viewer to a myriad of emotions based on a fact already explored extensively in true crime productions: stalking, that obsessive pursuit that in Brazil only became a crime three years ago, when it entered the Penal Code.
Even if the principle is a true crime theme, forget it. The narrative is a drama with a good dose of acidic humor. At times it can cause discomfort in the viewer. The agile pace (which sometimes gains a certain suspense) and Gadd’s intelligent and sincere narration complete the scenario. It’s the type of production that you can’t say much about, as any detail could spoil it.
What we can tell is that Dunn is a bartender who lives out of favor at his ex-girlfriend’s mother’s house. He tries to carve out a career as a comedian when he is overtaken by Martha’s arrival. She presents herself as a successful lawyer who handles some of the loudest cases in London’s courts.
Disorders
Of course it’s pure nonsense, as that tea was offered to her because she had nothing in her pocket to pay for it. In the series, Dunn is a very troubled person who struggles with his sexuality. And he’s flattered by Martha’s interest, which anyone will quickly see is deranged.
It’s strange as hell, but at a given moment, the stalker and the stalked end up feeding their own desires and frustrations with this unlikely relationship. Topics such as sexual identity, rape, bullying and family relationships are addressed by the series, through the entry of other characters.
Richard Gadd, 34 years old, came to “Bebê Rena” after having worked on this same story on stage. He achieved his first stage success in 2016 when he debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival “Monkey see monkey do”, where he won the comedy award. Confessional, the montage dealt with his experience as a victim of sexual assault.
Richard Gadd in the play “Baby Reindeer”, in a 2019 production
Internet Playback
On stages
Three years later he returned to the same Scottish event, the largest arts festival in the world, with “Baby Reindeer” (Baby Reindeer in Portuguese), in which he recounts the drama of the chase. Both productions were very successful not only at the Fringe, but also had seasons in London theaters.
In parallel to these original works, Gadd played some roles in films and series – “Between Weddings”, a comedy in eight episodes, is available on Star+. He was also one of the writers on the team for “Sex education”, another Netflix attraction.
Currently, Gadd works on a BBC production – he is the creator and one of the executive producers. Drama in six episodes, “Lions” (working title), will follow two men from the 1980s to the present day. Set in Glasgow, it will show the relationship between two brothers, from adolescence to their disagreement in adulthood.
Right now, however, there’s no room for anything other than “Baby Reindeer.” As soon as the series premiered, internet detectives set out to find Gadd’s stalker. Speculation about her identity reached such a point that the actor and writer took to social media to ask for calm. “Please do not speculate about who any of the real-life people could be. That is not the point of the show,” Gadd said.
“BABY REINDEER”
• 7 episodes
• Available on Netflix
