Unbelievable Baby Reindeer Drama

[@YTuser5992]

I agree that him realizing or deciding in that moment that he was not like Martha is part of it. If I'm completely honest, I'm annoyed at people assuming that Donny would become like his stalker just because of the parallels between the two scenes. That's just tv thriller nonsense. I much prefer to believe that this scene is about healing, accepting compassion from others, and coming to term with guilt and self-hatred. In that moment, Donny saw the parallels and likely realized he was not to blame for the way Martha treated him - because, put in the same situation, he would not and did not do the same thing she did. That last scene, at least in my view, is about healing and learning to let go. It's about hope and survival ❤

[@TroyDRamos]

Very interesting, love those thoughts. Man that’s good stuff… Healing, accepting compassion from others, coming to terms with guilt and self hatred… I’m glad you wrote that because I’m gonna let that sink in for a few days. I think you’re right. Some of those things I was thinking of but Sometimes it takes someone else saying it before you get the full picture. The guilt and self hatred thing is really interesting because, kind of in general, we may tend to think of ourselves as doing things wrong. But in reality, that way of thinking does not take into consideration the fact that there are all kinds of stories (other ppl’s stories/lives) happening all around us at all times and sometimes we’re just interacting with that. If that makes sense. Like, let’s say that he’s blaming himself for what happened or he is feeling guilty or whatever. But having had a taste of how she may have arrived in his life, he’s now realizing that whoever the bartender was (for him or for Martha) can be random. It doesn’t matter in a way. so that relieves his guilt, I think, because he just happened to be there that night or whatever. The random factor negates almost any idea we have that we are the ones who are attracting things. Not that we don’t attract things, but maybe it drops it from 100% down to whatever percent. We’re acting and being acted upon in the world

[@YTuser5992]

@@TroyDRamos Np! Glad I could share my thoughts and be heard ❤️

[@cliffarroyo9554]

People pay too much attention to the stalking aspect and not enough to the underlying theme of malign interest. And..... not enough attention is paid to the final bartender looking a little like... Darrien. Both sides of his abuse are meeting and he's simultaneously himself, Darrien and Martha all at the same time.

[@TroyDRamos]

Interesting take! I’ll have to think about this more. The last point you make, so is this a subconscious thing that’s happening, that he’s not just meeting but drawn to these ppl? Not necessarily predeterminism but maybe in that direction sort of.

[@cliffarroyo9554]

@@TroyDRamos More like they're drawn to him... they say abusers can detect vulnerable personalities and then they target and latch onto them and he clearly has trouble establishing boundaries and distinguishing begnign and malignant attention. For far too long he thinks of Martha as a kind of super fan... and he's clearly flattered by the attention he gets from Darrien and ignores all sorts of warning signals (this is not to excuse either Martha or Darrien). I think the ending is more a lady or tiger situation... will he be more straight or gay? will he seek professional help or keep flailing? ... it's not a happy ending and the big issues are still left unresolved.

[@TroyDRamos]

I can see that definitely. That’s interesting. It makes sense too, like some sort of inner radar where a person can pick up on people who might be more susceptible to whatever their twisted intentions are. And who knows what happens, even tho it’s a true story. It’s more open ended cuz the story becomes more general thru its specific delivery here. So it’s not really about his personal experience anymore. It’s more something about a part of the human experience I think

[@cicileigh393]

I think the end is showing us that he's really not healed AT ALL. Throughout the series, we see him making great strides in his healing journey. However, by the end, it almost seems like he's right back where he started. It probably started by the way his father treated him during his childhood. We find out why his dad was the way he was and their shared hug seemed to melt away all the hurt. However, the last scenes keep us just as confused as Donny still was. He goes back to his abuser (as if it really "won't be like last time", why? because he'll "get paid" this time!) He goes back to living in the house where he lived that all the abuse began, and still in a place where he will have constant flashbacks. He also shows how similar he was to Martha because he became absolutely OBSESSED with her and how her mind worked. In the bar scene, I first wondered if the bartender and Donny were going to hit it off and start dating but the look in his eyes let us know that he realized he was now in the EXACT same spot where Martha once was. Someone felt sorry for HIM. Now what...

[@TroyDRamos]

One of the things that I really like about what you just said, and I hope that I am understanding part of it correctly, is that we don’t really know where he’s at. I think you’re right about that. For example, let’s say that he is basically living in a loop. he does something, something happens, he heals, and it just repeats. When he looks up at the end, I think your argument is very strong for the idea that we don’t really know where he’s at in the loop. So it’s a very interesting question to ponder.

[@cicileigh393]

@@TroyDRamos Right. We almost need a Season 2.

[@HelenaOlivier-l4q]

I think what we leave out is the fact that he returned to Dorian, and agreed to work with him again, continuing the cycle of violende. Donny is not free, and he may very well be on the same path as Martha. Perhaps his expression in the bar, is his realization of exactly that, and that he NOW has to make the choice, being faced with this mirror of the scene in the beginning of the series.

[@TroyDRamos]

Excellent points! Also the Dorian character is so creepy that it almost bleeds onto the actor haha. That is, if I see the actor in in another project I’ll be like… uggh this guy

[@ShortzTrendz]

I think it's him telling you he is martha

[@TroyDRamos]

Interesting hey who knows! It’s a wild ending. Could be lots of things I suppose. But interesting to think about his being Martha