Baby Reindeer is one of the most disturbing shows on Netflix. And, if it already wasn’t strange enough, the “Sent from my iPhone” bits make it even weirder. Initially, the sign-off from Martha seems humorous because it’s obvious to the audience and Donny that she doesn’t have an iPhone.
But when examined in-depth, this detail is significant as it may hint at her mental state, her past life, and what’s in store for Donny. To provide context, in the first episode, just in the first three minutes, Martha reveals that she has an out-of-date cell phone, and name drops that she has some important figures in her contacts list, including former British Prime Minister David Cameron.
Martha also talks about her supposed career as a criminal lawyer who has won many awards. Red flags are immediately raised as Donny notices the iPhone sign-off when she starts to spam him with explicit messages, mentioning that he didn’t see her with one at the bar he worked at, which also leads to other odd discoveries.
What the sign off may hint about her mental state
The significance here is more obvious: The “Sent from my iPhone” signature shows that Martha may be delusional and a compulsive liar. Through the sign-off, she may think she’s fooling Donny into thinking that she’s a busy person and is on her mobile constantly. She’s working so much but she’s making time to message him back and pay attention to him. This is not true at all as her messages to him are incessant.
She also doesn’t even think about the fact that she showed him her brick-like phone at the bar because she thinks she’s clever enough to get away with what she’s doing. It never registers to her that Donny just hasn’t confronted her about the strange things he’s noticed.
What it could say about her past life
The fact that she knows that an email sent by an iPhone would have the “Sent from an iPhone” sign-off shows that she might have had one previously, especially as she was a lawyer. But, she most likely would have gotten that phone taken away and lost her job because she had gotten arrested for stalking. So, it can be assumed that she may have felt lost and as if her identity were taken away as she started over with just an old cell phone to her name.
To her, that sign-off could’ve brought her a sense of self-importance that nothing else could. And she was able to bring those same feelings back by including it in her messages with Donny, and became addicted to the power it brought her.
How the sign-off can foreshadow her time with Donny
From what the audience can see, it appears all her messages were signed off with “Sent from my iPhone.” Once it’s realized that she doesn’t have an iPhone, but keeps going on with the sign-off, this comes off as extremely obsessive. To viewers, it could seem as if she’s trying to prove something to Donny because she won’t give it up, even after the spelling mistakes.
If she was willing to put up an act for something so trivial, this could represent how she would do anything to keep his attention. And how far she was able to go definitely became clear throughout later episodes.
It’s important to note that “Sent from my iPhone” is never specifically explained in the series. But, just those four words provide significant insight into who Martha is as a person. While it may never be confirmed why she constantly used this sign-off, it can be agreed that it only adds to her unsettling nature.