Half Man: The Overlooked Follow-Up To Baby Reindeer

After the cultural grip of Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd’s next project was always going to come with pressure. And Half Man is not exactly trying to make things easier for itself.

The six-part drama, written and created by Gadd, stars himself as Ruben alongside actor Jamie Bell as Niall, two men whose almost brotherly relationship stretches across three decades.

The series opens with Ruben appearing at Niall’s wedding, before a violent incident sends the story backwards through their adolescence and young adult lives, slowly unpacking how their bond became so complicated, destructive and in some ways inescapable.

It is not light viewing. But then again, neither was Baby Reindeer.

That is probably why Half Man feels like such a solid follow-up, even if it has not dominated the conversation in quite the same way. Baby Reindeer became one of those rare shows that seemed to blow up overnight, bringing with it a much wider conversation about trauma, obsession and the ethics of turning real-life experience into television. Half Man feels quieter, slower and harder to immediately explain, but it tackles themes that are just as dark, if not darker.

At the centre of it is the relationship between Ruben and Niall. As teenagers, they are brought into each other’s lives when their mothers become partners, forcing the two into a strange kind of brotherhood neither of wanted. Niall is anxious, quiet and a closeted homosexual, while Ruben is loud, violent, protective and terrifying in almost equal measure.

This leads to a dynamic that is very uncomfortable to watch. Ruben is in someways a bully while also being Niall’s protectors. He is the person that scares Niall the most but also the person he turns to in his time of need. That confusion sits at the centre of the entire show, and it is what makes Half Man feel so claustrophobic.

The series is a study of masculinity in some of its rawest forms. Ruben represents aggression, dominance and the need to appear untouchable, while Niall shows the damage that comes from being forced to hide softness, fear and sexuality in a world that treats all of those things like weaknesses. Long before the manosphere became an online talking point, Half Man looks at the same ideas in a much more physical and personal way, showing how love, fear, loyalty and control can all become tangled up when men are never really taught how to express anything without turning it into power.

It is exactly this messiness that makes the show so difficult to shake off. Half Man is not really interested in presenting Ruben and Niall as simple opposites. Instead, both men are performing versions of masculinity that are slowly destroying them. Ruben is constantly trying to be the toughest, loudest and most untouchable man in the room, while Niall is performing straightness, silence and emotional control in order to survive.

Neither performance really works.

The show does not offer a clean victim/villain dynamic. It sits in the messy in between where nothing is quite as simple as it seems and even relationships where love is present can still be harmful.

Critically, the reaction has been solid, even if it hasn’t reached the overwhelming praise and popularity or praise of Baby Reindeer. At the time of writing, Half Man holds 77 percent with critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, which feels about right to be honest. The show is heavy and, at times, deeply triggering, so it is definitely not going to be to everyone’s taste.

Half Man is not an easy to watch and does not share the crime pull or internet mystery surrounding it. Instead, it is a slower and more brutal character study about male relationships and the long-term consequences of emotional damage.

But that does not make it less powerful.

If Baby Reindeer was about trauma that follows you from the outside, Half Man feels more interested in trauma that grows inside the relationships that are supposed to shape you. The people who are meant to protect you. The people who become part of your identity. The people you love, fear and resent all at once.

So yes, Half Man has been slightly overlooked compared to its predecessor but is still a very strong follow-up by Gadd. Heavy, uncomfortable and definitely not to everyone’s taste, but if you know what you are getting into, it is worth a watch.

Words by Andrew Connolly