[1][2] Gelbman's storyline revolves around her being murdered on the night of her birthday and finding herself reliving the day repeatedly.

On her birthday in 2017, Gelbman was murdered by somebody wearing the university's mascot mask but finds herself reliving the day.

With the aid of Carter, another student who gave her a place to rest after a party the previous night, Tree uses the loop to work out the identity of her killer.

[4] The 2020 "Treehouse of Horror XXXI" segment "Be Nine, Rewind" serves as a parody of Happy Death Day and Russian Doll, with Lisa Simpson (voiced by Yeardley Smith) taking the role of Tree.

[5][6] John Squires of Bloody Disgusting described Gelbman as a modern example of the "final girl" trope and contrasts her to Friday the 13th's Alice Hardy, writing "The Happy Death Day movies present a heroine so wonderfully and completely realized that this may very well be the first ever slasher franchise with a 'final girl' character as the main selling point.

"[8] Style Island described the character as "the coolest girl in horror" and proceeded to say "Rothe plays the role with refreshing wit and the perfect amount of edginess mixed with empathy.