Martha Scott’s 10 Most Shocking Acts In Baby Reindeer Explained

May 3, 2024, 12:45 p.m.

Movies

Martha Scott’s 10 Most Shocking Acts In Baby Reindeer Explained

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Summary Martha's escalating fixation with Donny in Baby Reindeer showcased the harrowing reality of stalking and its profound impact on victims.

The series touched on themes of mental health, personality disorders, and trauma, shedding light on important yet rarely depicted issues.

Martha's constant communication with Donny infiltrated every aspect of his life, highlighting the dark psychological effects of incessant abuse.

This article features discussion of mental health, psychological disorders, sexual abuse, and stalking.

The obsessive ex-lawyer Martha Scott in the Netflix black comedy-drama Baby Reindeer committed so many shocking acts as her infatuation with the struggling comedian Donny Dunn grew worryingly large. Throughout the seven-episode series, which was created, written, and starred Richard Gadd, who based the story on his own experiences of being stalked and sexually assaulted, Martha’s behavior went from eerily uncomfortable to downright criminal. From relentless emails to violent confrontations, Martha’s escalating fixation revealed the harrowing reality of stalking and its profound effect on victims.

Throughout Baby Reindeer, Martha’s infatuation with Donny became a worrying concern that had a detrimental impact on his bartending job, comedy career, and romantic relationships. The sad truth at the heart of Baby Reindeer, which was based on Gadd’s original stage show, was that Martha was a troubled woman, and the series brought up powerful themes related to mental health, personality disorders, and trauma. While Martha’s acts in Baby Reindeer were incredibly shocking, the show also addressed important issues that were not often depicted in such a powerful way.

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10 Showing Up At Donny’s Stand-Up Show

Baby Reindeer, Episode 1

When struggling comedian and barman Donny Dunn first met Martha Scott in Baby Reindeer, he had no idea the true scale of her issues or the impact she would have on his life. Donny liked the attention Martha gave him; in a way, he felt sorry for her and did not mind chatting with her from behind the bar. However, Martha's infatuation with Donny became concerning when she began sending him countless emails, and it turned shocking when she showed up at his stand-up comedy show unannounced.

By this point, Martha had already displayed frightening characteristics by incessantly contacting him and screaming at him on their café date. When Martha turned up at Donny’s comedy show, it was the first hint that no matter where he went or what he did, she would find a way to insert herself into his life for. Donny played off the interaction well, as she jokingly heckled him and sang from the audience, but this slightly uncomfortable appearance merely foreshadowed Martha’s shocking determination and obsessive nature, which soon turned into an even more brutal version of Stephen King’s Misery.

9 Sexually Assaulting Donny

Baby Reindeer, Episode 2

As Martha, who was based on Gadd’s real-life stalker, became increasingly obsessed, Donny tried to forge a new relationship of his own with Teri, a therapist he met on a trans dating site. While Donny and Teri had a strong connection, Donny was haunted by his past sexual assaults at the hands of an exploitative older comedian and found it hard to give himself over to the relationship entirely. It was out of this context that Donny abandoned Teri on their date, and as he tried to go home, Martha confronted him, pushed him against the wall, and grabbed his crotch.

This highly traumatic and shocking experience was the first time that Martha’s infatuation had crossed the boundaries into a physical altercation. Martha’s invasion of Donny’s personal space brought up hordes of issues from his past that negatively impacted his ability to form a new relationship and proved for the first time that Martha’s shocking acts could have dangerous physical and criminal consequences.

8 Showing Up At Liz’s House With A False Identity

Baby Reindeer, Episode 3

After Donny’s relationship with Keeley broke down, he never moved out of Keeley’s mother Liz’s house, and although it wasn’t an ideal situation, this acted as one of the few safe spaces he had away from Martha. Keeley allowed Donny to stay in Liz’s home on the condition that he “never brought chaos to his mother’s door,” but sadly, after meeting Martha, chaos became his new normal. This, unfortunately, burst to the forefront when Donny arrived home to find Martha at Liz’s house posing as a woman named Sheila at her cooking group.

Donny panicked at the sight of this shocking act but did not want to reveal just how much chaos he brought directly into Liz’s home, so he stayed quiet and demanded that she leave when he was alone with Martha. Martha’s willingness to take on a false identity, convincingly lie to those around her, and then left revealing photos of herself on his bed showcased just how far her infatuation had gone. While Donny had already started to feel uncomfortable over Martha’s actions, they became increasingly complex and spread to the other people in his life.

7 Confronting Donny While He’s On Stage

Baby Reindeer, Episode 3

Although Donny had messed up his relationship with Teri, he was given an opportunity to salvage it when she came to see him perform stand-up comedy at a local competition. Things were going quite well for Donny until Martha revealed she was in the audience and, in a fit of anger, publicly confronted and humiliated him in front of the entire crowd. In a shocking subversion of the first time that Martha showed up at one of Donny’s shows, this time, she made the audience uncomfortable and proceeded to scream after Donny called her his “stalker.”

The altercation got downright scary as Martha demanded an apology, went into a violent rage, and had to be physically removed from the performance. This horrific moment allowed Teri to see how worrying Martha’s behavior was, and after this, she and Donny tried to patch up their relationship. Sadly, Donny could not save his stand-up show from disaster, as even his final joke, “can’t take my mum anymore,” did not land with the mortified audience.

6 Attacking Teri In The Pub

Baby Reindeer, Episode 3

The one positive thing that came out of Martha’s outburst at Donny’s comedy show was that it allowed him to leave with Teri, and the two went to a nearby pub to talk things out. Donny and Teri had an honest heart-to-heart, and it seemed like he was just starting to feel like he could open up and allow himself to be vulnerable in a new relationship after all the trauma he had been through. However, this positivity was short-lived as Martha soon arrived at the pub, confronted them, and physically attacked Teri.

It became clear that Martha was not only dangerous but also capable of great violence.

Martha’s unannounced appearance in the pub was one of the most shocking moments in Baby Reindeer and was the heartbreaking confirmation that Donny would never be able to relax until he had found a way to remove her from his life. In her rage, Martha was incredibly cruel to Teri, started to berate her, made horrific racist remarks, and even got to the very heart of her insecurities when she said, “you look like a man.” As Martha kicked Teri and cut her face, it became clear that Martha was not only dangerous but also capable of great violence.

5 Assaulting Keeley On The Street

Baby Reindeer, Episode 5

Martha’s obsessive stalking of Donny soon spread to the other people in his life, as she felt jealous, insecure, and spiteful about other women he knew. This led to Martha abusing Donny’s ex-girlfriend Keeley on Facebook, warning her to stay away from him, and eventually, it turned into an in-person attack. Donny learned that Martha attacked Keeley on the street after she told him someone threw a "fizzy drink" at her, and upon hearing this, Donny knew it could be none other than Martha, who, throughout the series, was seen drinking Diet Coke.

Keeley's mother, Liz, could identify Martha as she remembered that she had come to her cooking group. This forced Donny to admit that Martha was his stalker, and now that he had “brought chaos” to Liz’s house, he was forced to move out. Having ruined his place of work, put his comedy career in jeopardy, and left him without a home, through acts like this, Martha slowly chipped away at Donny's existence.

4 Telling Donny’s Parents He Was In An Accident

Baby Reindeer, Episode 6

Once Donny had cut off all friendly contact with Martha, she needed to find new, more creative ways to impact him. After having already destroyed so many of Donny’s relationships and torn apart his personal and professional life, she moved on to his parents. In a shocking twist, Martha falsely told Donny’s mother and father that he had been injured in a car crash, forcing him to reveal everything about Martha, the stalking, and all he had been through in the previous months.

Donny trying to beat her at her own game, but he should have known he was dealing with an experienced stalker and ex-lawyer.

Martha didn’t stop there and even accused Donny’s father of being a pedophile to try and get him in trouble at work. This was a step too far for Donny, and he came up with a plan to entrap her and asked her to email him outlining all the things she wanted to do to him that he could show to the police. By bringing Donny’s parents into it, Martha’s underhanded tactics led to Donny trying to beat her at her own game, but he should have known he was dealing with an experienced stalker and ex-lawyer.

3 Secretly Recording Everything

Baby Reindeer, Episode 6

Donny thought his plan to entrap Martha by encouraging her to send an incriminating email would give him the leverage he needed to get her out of his life forever; however, she completely turned the tables against him. With this act, Donny had played right into her hand, and she went to the police to let them know that Donny had actually asked her to contact him. At this point, the police revealed Martha had recorded every interaction since their first meeting and had lots of evidence she could use against Donny.

While this shocking act made it difficult for Donny to pursue legal action against Martha, it also uncovered the most sinister sides of Martha’s obsessive nature. The fact that Martha had gathered all this evidence and had been recording Donny from the start meant she knew exactly what she was doing and had been carefully preparing for the day she needed to blackmail him. Martha’s calculated actions meant there was a possibility that she had set her sights on Donny even before he gave her that first free drink so long ago.

2 Smashing A Glass In Donny’s Face

Baby Reindeer, Episode 6

After Martha went to the police and showed Donny that she had the upper hand against him, she returned to the pub where he worked, and Donny had no legal recourse that could force her to leave. Donny tried to ignore her, but before long, Martha mocked and taunted him with another customer about his comedy career. This infuriated Donny so much that he told the customer to Google “serial stalker torments barrister’s deaf child,” and in a fit of rage, Martha smashed a glass into Donny’s face and started to attack him.

Martha’s enraged behavior was a true point of no return, but Donny’s co-workers begged him not to press charges as the CCTV footage would have revealed how they had mismanaged the pub. Martha’s attack meant that Donny had to do his stand-up show with a bloodied face, and it was out of these dark events that he had a breakdown on stage and publicly told his story for the first time. Martha’s violent behavior truly broke Donny, and all his guilt, shame, and trauma surrounding his history of sexual assault came pouring out in an emotional speech.

1 Hundreds Of Emails, Messages, And Phone Calls All Day, Every Day

Baby Reindeer, Episodes 1 – 7

Martha’s most shocking act throughout Netflix’s hit thriller Baby Reindeer was, more so than anything, her constant communication with Donny that infiltrated every waking moment of his life. While Donny’s relationship with Martha started as friendly banter in the pub, once she secured his email address, he began to receive hundreds of emails per day. Although Donny managed to keep his phone number a secret for a long time, he was subjected to near-constant texts, phone calls, and voicemails once he accidentally revealed it.

The obsessive-compulsive communication that Martha subjected Donny to extended even beyond the messages themselves, as during the brief periods she did not contact him, he found himself oddly fixated on them. Donny’s need to understand his abuser led to him obsessively cataloging and pouring over her messages to find their hidden meaning and uncover some truth about his own trauma. The long-lasting consequences of Martha’s incessant communication and Donny’s fixation on them were just one of the many ways that Baby Reindeer highlighted the dark and often illogical psychological effects an abuser can have on the people they abuse.

Richard Gadd’s real-life stalker, who inspired Martha Scott, sent Gad 41,071 emails, 350 hours of voicemail, 744 tweets, and 106 pages of letters over four and a half years (via Deadline).

Source: Deadline