When something like Baby Reindeer makes as big a splash as it does, it should be assumed that the next project from its creator will be highly anticipated. Two years after Richard Gadd’s breakthrough, the Emmy-winning writer, executive producer, and star returns with another six-episode limited series that’s sure to leave people talking. It’s not nearly as enchantingly whimsical but boasts a similarly dark underbelly that makes the experience of watching it equally chilling and captivating.
Niall (Jamie Bell) is about to get married, and he and his guests are deeply troubled when Ruben (Richard Gadd) shows up to crash the party. Years earlier, a young Niall (Mitchell Robertson) is constantly bullied at school but finds his world rocked when Ruben (Stuart Campbell), the son of his mother’s girlfriend, moves in with him. Quick to lose his temper and resort to violence, Ruben is the polar opposite of Niall, yet their relationship serves as an inexplicable source of comfort as he enters, exits, and re-enters his life without warning over the years, seemingly determined to introduce as much chaos as possible every time Niall thinks he’s seen the last of him.
Those looking for another iteration of Baby Reindeer will arrive to find something very different here, which is welcome since doing the same thing twice in a row wouldn’t be nearly as interesting as starting fresh. In addition to the absence of a Martha-like character, it also represents a role swap for Gadd, who might on paper have seemed like a perfect fit for the part of Niall based on his previous experience but instead shows up as the muscular and legitimately terrifying Ruben, who is extremely intimidating and capable of making anyone around him cower, uncertain about what he might do but quite sure that he’s not going to let anyone control him or tell him what to do.
The casting for this show is exceptional, particularly with the younger actors chosen to inhabit the earlier versions of these characters. Watching the shy and awkward Niall played by Robertson transform into a more reserved, slightly more confident interpretation by Bell is fascinating, and the same is true for hothead Campbell developing into Gadd’s take, who has evidently learned that not rushing to react and show emotion is often more effective than lashing out to establish dominance. While there are worthwhile supporting characters, including the women, both mothers and girlfriends, in each of their lives, this show’s most electric scenes are the two-handers between Robertson and Campbell and Bell and Gadd.
Just as Baby Reindeer touched on disturbing themes without much warning, so too does this show, though it might be clearer from the start that Ruben is bad news and that audiences are in for a grim ride. Brief teases of that cold wedding are peppered throughout the series’ first half, offering only clues to what’s truly going on, and while they might invite a bit too much guessing, the dramatic weight and impact of the series is not dependent on any surprise or plot twist. These characters are interesting enough just on their own, and seeing their parallel journeys play out over the course of six riveting episodes is narratively satisfying even if certain events are placed deliberately out of order to push audiences to make their own conclusions about true intentions and whether surface power dynamics do indeed correlate to who’s good and who’s bad.
There are parts of Half Man that seem designed to make audiences squirm, daring them to remain present to follow these characters on miserable journeys rooted in pain and bad decisions. Yet Gadd has proven that he’s an exquisite storyteller, and even if the subject is off-putting, as pieces of Baby Reindeer undeniably were too, there’s a clear commitment to deeply fleshing out characters and confronting real issues in a genuinely intriguing and insightful way. Niall and Ruben are starkly different pictures of masculinity and relationship partners, and watching as they navigate the challenges life throws at them – and which they present each other – is at the same time upsetting and invigorating.
Series grade: 8/10
