Gadd’s retelling of his real-life encounters with a stalker through the fictional Donny Dunn in “Baby Reindeer” is also a story of trauma and healing. (From left) Richard Gadd as Donny and Jessica Gunning as Martha in "Baby Reindeer." Ed Miller/NetflixGunning plays Donny’s stalker Martha, a troubled woman who claims to be a lawyer but is more than anything a career creeper and repeat offender. By the end of the journey, it’s clear that “Baby Reindeer” was made with purpose, something that often escapes projects that earn their popularity on the merit of being about incidents so messy (and sometimes horrifying) that you can’t look a way. “Baby Reindeer” might be is a sign that true crime TV is finally growing up.

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Persons: Dateline ” –, bartends, Richard Gadd’s, Donny Dunn, Donny, Gadd, hasn’t, Jessica Gunnning, ”, That’s, Reindeer’s, Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning, Martha, Ed Miller, Netflix Gunning, ” Nava, Teri, Shalom Brune, Franklin, Tom Goodman, Hill, Danny Kirrane Organizations: CNN, Dateline, Guardian, Netflix, HBO Locations: British