Baby Reindeer creator Richard Gadds next show Half Man is just as brutal and should sweep the Emmys: review

He’s the man. “Baby Reindeer” creator/star Richard Gadd is back with another show — and it’s brutal. Called “Half Man,” the six episode limited HBO series is a gnarly watch that’s hard to stomach at times, but it’s riveting, provocative, and filled with searing performances.It should sweep the Emmys, just like “Baby Reindeer” did. Created by and starring Gadd and set in his native Scotland, “Half Man” is about a toxic relationship between two pseudo stepbrothers, spanning decades.

So, it’s sort of “homoerotic Normal People,” with more violence.The story gets creaky at times, especially in the final two episodes, but the characters are captivating.

It’s a morally thorny big swing that makes a splash and stands out, in our current landscape of tired reboots and revivals. Ruben (played by Gadd as an adult and Stuart Campbell as a teen) is charismatic and volatile.When the show flashes back to his youth in the ‘80s, we’re told he’s recently done two years in juvenile prison for biting someone’s nose off.

Alrighty then. Niall (played by Jamie Bell as an adult and Mitchell Robertson as a teen) is afraid and appalled when he’s thrown into close proximity with Ruben as a teenager. Ruben has neck tattoos, a swagger, and that wild reputation; Niall is meek with nerdy posters in his room, and he gets bullied in school. Before long, the teen boys forge an unlikely bond.Over the years, it gets tested. In a similar vein to another awards-sweeping hit miniseries, “Adolescence,” the show is interested in masculinity. “Half Man” dives into male sexuality, violence, anger, aggression, repression, shame, bravado, trauma. At times, it makes you wonder if Ruben and Niall are in love, and won’t admit it on a conscious level.

In other moments, their bond seems brotherly.Sometimes they seem like enemies.

Their relationship is shifting and ambiguous, and the tension leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering where it’...