Baby Reindeer fans react to ‘brilliant’ hidden reference

Netflix user spotted secret code in Martha’s emails to Donny

Netflix series Baby Reindeer features a hidden reference that’s been detected by one viewer.

Baby Reindeer follows struggling comic Donny Dunn (Gadd) as he is relentlessly harassed and stalked by Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) for four and a half years.

Martha arrives at the pub Donny works at and he takes pity on her by giving her a free cup of tea, and from then on, she clings to him, invades his personal life, and sends him a flurry of emails each day. She starts turning up at his workplace each day, follows him to his home and turns up at his comedy gigs.

In one scene, Donny can be seen being inundated with emails from his stalker Martha, and he describes her email addresses as being made up of a “random series of numbers like spam”.

However, The Independent’s chief culture reporter Jacob Stolworthy noticed that the numbers used in the address are actually the infamous set of cursed numbers that appear frequently throughout the hit TV show Lost.

After watching Baby Reindeer’s first episode, Stolworthy, who hosts The LOST Boys podcast with Jack Shepherd,wrote on X/Twitter: “The ‘random series of numbers like spam’ used in the stalker’s email address are, in fact, the cursed numbers from Lost,” he said.

A superfan replied: “[It’s] 2024 and we still getting Lost Easter eggs. We love to see it!”

“This is a brilliant, brilliant spot,” another added.

Lost, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in September, follows the survivors of a plane crash, who find themselves stranded on a mysterious island.

Throughout its six seasons, the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 recur consistently, regularly appearing in the background of flashbacks that show the main characters’ lives before the plane crash.

Other viewers were left stunned after finding out that Baby Reindeer is based on the real-life experiences of actor Gadd. While Gadd has changed many details about Martha’s character to make her unidentifiable, he was a victim of stalking and, like his character Donny, wasn’t taken seriously when he initially reported his experiences to the police.

Jessica Gunning as stalker Martha in ‘Baby Reindeer' (Netflix)

“Baby Reindeer is insane but the fact that 1) it’s a true story 2) the main actor is the actual victim of the true story in real life makes it that much CRAZIER,” wrote one viewer on X/Twitter.

“I am speechless,” said another. “The fact it’s a true story AND the lead actor was the victim of the true story. Wow.”

Another praised Gadd for his portrayal of his experiences, writing: “Imagine taking the worst period of life and making it into a masterpiece, then reliving it by acting as the main lead.”

In The Independent’s four-star review of the series, TV critic Nick Hilton writes that Baby Reindeer “is a visceral testimony to the psychological torment that Gadd experienced”.

“This is twisty, mature, self-interrogating stuff that will leave you more troubled than tickled.”

Baby Reindeer is now streaming on Netflix.