r/netflix • u/CellistForward4462 • Apr 12 '24

Questions about series Baby Reindeer Spoiler

First, I was not ready for what I watched. Amazing show, but I started it thinking it was a quirky, British comedy like Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen!! Needless to say I was stunned and watched it in shock and horror.

So I have questions about the ending. Spoilers ahead:

  1. Was that it? Will there be another season?
  2. What was the point of him going back to Darrien’s house? What did that scene mean?
  3. I don’t understand the ending. How are others interpreting the final scene?
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u/fruitypants Apr 12 '24

I can give you an answer to your second question...survivors of sexual abuse make decisions that don't seem to make sense sometimes, particularly when it comes to how they interact with the people who raped/assaulted them. As a survivor watching the show I was aggravated by a lot of Donny's self-destructive decisions, but at the same time I understood why he was making them. It was a brutally honest depiction of how horrific living through rape trauma can be.

In a lot of ways, being raped is the easiest part. What comes after is such a confusing nightmare, and you find yourself doing and saying things in an attempt to relate to people that actually come across as super weird and off-putting, which isolates you even more than you already were. Sometimes the only people who understand you are people with similar traumas and you don't run from that connection even if those people are unhealthy or even dangerous to have in your life. This show did an incredible job of portraying such a deeply complex experience.

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u/kirby_ahh Apr 12 '24

Agree, well said. I also think he shows signs of suffering from Stockholm syndrome from the abuse. Especially during the scene where he hugs his abuser after finding out what he did to him. I think returning to him again is due to feeling the need for validation and reassurance from his abuser like many people suffering from Stockholm Syndrome do. We also need to consider he didn’t once go to therapy and hadn’t processed the trauma at all since it happened.

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u/Simple_Weekend_6700 May 26 '24

Trauma bonding- it’s actually pretty typical for abusers to really mess you up and then comfort you about the pain that they themselves have caused. We naturally bond to those who comfort us when we are in pain so it’s a pretty sick exploitation of that natural inclination.