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“Ten years ago, I was in the pit.” These were Richard Gadd’s opening words as he accepted the Emmy award for best writing in a limited series last night, for his work on a little show called Baby reindeer. “And here I am!” With his kilt and chiseled frame, Gadd didn’t look out of place among Tinseltown’s elite. On the biggest night of the year for prestige television, the multi-hyphenate Scottish comedian-actor-writer looked like a man who had conquered the last vestiges of imposter syndrome.

And yet, in a way, imposter syndrome is exactly what propelled Gadd into the stratosphere. His debut show, Baby reindeertold a deeply personal story of stalking and abuse. It showed how easily people can worm their way into your life, the lies they tell to get there, and how hard it is to chase them away. And yet, despite the darkness of that premise, it was funny, challenging, surprising, and deeply human. It came out of nowhere on Netflix—a service that seemed to have given up on making awards-winning drama—and took audiences by storm. And then, of course, the backlash began.

If you’re not familiar with the gossip magazines that go around Baby reindeerIt revolves around one, but disturbing, question. Who has the right to tell their story? For Gadd, the project was a personal one; a semi-autobiographical journey into the worst moments of his life. But that story was a two-hander with his stalker, Martha (wonderfully played by Jessica Gunning, also a winner last night at Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater). When the show became a surprise hit – topping Netflix’s ratings in English-speaking territories – the right of the “real” Martha to tell her own story was hotly contested. It resulted in front-page headlines, an appearance on Piers Morgan’s talk show that put Prince Andrew on the spot News evening seem like a slick PR job and inevitable lawsuits. In the media maelstrom, analysis of Baby reindeer because a creative enterprise was lost.

One of the strange pleasures of being a television critic is getting to watch shows before they’re consumed by the discourse. Not only are you not burdened by other people’s opinions on the show’s merits, but most of the controversies have yet to erupt. With its elliptical title and lack of star names on the cast list, Baby reindeer was a real unknown quantity. And yet it was good. “This is a complicated, adult, self-interrogating subject,” I wrote at the time, “that will leave you more confused than pleased.” And yet that didn’t come close to the problems the show itself would encounter.

The New Yorker claimed that it “dodges some ethical questions with its relatively helpless, almost unwitting hero,” The guard called the show’s consequences “dangerous,” while The Wrap called it a victim of the “Netflix true crime disease.” All of these headlines remained Baby reindeer topped the streaming service’s charts, as clips from both the show and the “real” Martha (a Scottish lady named Fiona Harvey) became memes. The internet started eating it up. Within months of airing, the show seemed to be swallowed up by tabloid mania.

And yet, its creators now walk away with a handful of Emmys and, I presume, carte blanche for whatever project tickles their fancy next. It’s an important reminder to tune out the noise — for all the hand-wringing debates about the show’s moral compass, nothing got in the way of it being a good piece of TV. And in a year that has struggled to generate standout programming (The Bear was the other big winner of the night, miscategorized as a comedy show, while mediocre to bad dramas like The morning show And The Crown (scooped gongs), Baby reindeer has been a triumph. Provocative, yes, but in the way TV should be.

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“The one constant in any successful television show is a good story that speaks to our times,” Gadd told the audience and viewers at home as he accepted the award for best limited series for the show. “So take risks, push boundaries, explore the uncomfortable.” Dressed as William Wallace, it felt like a rallying cry for the entire industry, from commissioners to critics. And yet it was also a reminder for those watching from the comfort of their own homes. Speculate, dissect and moralize as much as you like, but don’t lose sight of the ambitions of art.

The 2024 Emmys proved that good television lives on a knife edge with bad television, or as Gadd more succinctly put it, “Dare to fail to achieve.”