The conversation around limited series keeps coming back to Netflix’s Baby Reindeer for several reasons. It has been a while since a show has allowed a straight male lead to open himself up without inhibition, and the confrontations between Donny and Martha build to disturbing heights and anchor the show with a buzzy nerve. A hopeful core, though, comes from the performance from Nava Mau, Donny’s love interest. Another show would treat Mau’s character like window dressing, but her Teri is packed with patience and understanding while never sacrificing her self-respect.
There are many shots of Mau’s face in close-up, especially as we learn about how she and Donny (writer and creator Richard Gadd) met. It’s easy to see why Donny was drawn to her, because her face disarms us, her smile and flirtation taking hold. Even if Donny has his own mental hurdles to get over in order to date a trans woman, we are confronted with how amazing Teri is.
In lesser hands, Baby Reindeer would be exclusively a two-hander and only focus on how Jessica Gunning’s Martha is affecting Gadd’s Donny. We cannot ignore how Martha’s actions directly affect Teri, especially after the viscous physical, verbal, and emotional attack after Teri and Donny escape Martha at the comedy club. As Teri and Donny try to evade Martha, their chemistry picks up as naturally as it did before with their narrow escape falling into that easy rhythm that signals to their initial attractions.
As we ended our conversation, Mau reveals that there was a scene that was cut that gave the audience some closure of the relationship between Teri and Donny. Teri tells Donny early on that she doesn’t want to hide, and she, like all trans people, deserve to live her life on her terms. Maybe they can reconnect as friends later in life, but we should celebrate that a love interest is afforded the opportunity to break free into her own narrative..
Baby Reindeer is streaming now on Netflix.
