Ruby (Stephanie Hsu) is obsessed with falling in love. All she wants is to have someone calling her name in a crowded room, or dropping a romantic confession in the pouring rain. But she’s 33 and running out of time waiting for it to happen, so she’s quick to cut her losses when things aren’t working as this frees her up to meet the right one. After all, if the sex is bad and the guy can’t be bothered to pay a little extra to get Spotify without ads, is he really a catch?
Ruby’s built in the same vein as messy protagonists like Carrie Bradshaw, Fleabag and Issa Dee. She’s a little self-involved, toxic and not the most reliable friend – in other words, she’s a blast to watch. Ruby’s just broken up with yet another guy when she finds out that one of her college boyfriends passed away. She attends his funeral, but that’s not the end of the body count, there are more ex-lovers dropping dead all over the place. 1 or 2 dead exes is a coincidence, 3 or more is a certifiable pattern. What’s a girl to do when she realises that her body count is translating into an actual body count? Create a sexcapade timeline of course, with a blowjob overlay.
Laid takes a bit of time to get into the swing of things, but when it does, it’s absolutely hilarious. Hsu is amazing. She’s one of the few actresses who can toggle between comedy and emotional beats so effortlessly. One moment she’s wackily dancing towards someone, and the next she’s crying in a truly poignant and sincere way. You will feel for her and you’ll laugh with her. Her comedic performance is what makes Laid so entertaining. She’s doing impressions – badly but in a way that’s funny and not cringe – and she has great chemistry with anyone she shares a scene with. Even a trip to the police precinct becomes the funniest thing because of Hsu’s chemistry with with the ensemble.
By her side to figure it all out is best friend A.J (Zosia Mamet), who is supportive enough to help her make said sexcapade timeline and follow her as she goes around visiting all her ex-lovers to tell them the devastating news of their impending demise. As she makes the rounds, another pattern begins to emerge: all her exes pretty much hate her because of how she treated them. The moment Ruby discovers any flaw with the person she was with, she would either ghost them, cheat on them, or literally run away from them. She never treated these relationships with care, pulling the cord and leaving when things weren’t up to her expectations.
We’re so inundated with media about the meet-cute and falling in love that we forget that the obstacle is also an inherent part of the rom-com. Being in a relationship entails riding out the lows and accepting that sometimes things will just be average and okay. Oftentimes we’re falling in love in our heads and not with how it is in reality.
Laid is a dark rom-com, but it’s also a pretty sincere straightforward rom-com. We’re all rooting for Ruby to fall in love and be in a proper relationship, and there are plenty of romantic set pieces. What I feel the TV series lacks is a sense of atmosphere. The visuals are static and so much of the show is set indoors; the music is also scarce and not really memorable besides the theme song. If we consider shows like Sex and the City, Fleabag and Insecure, the cities and spaces are as much a character as our protagonists. It also helps us feel like they’re real people living real lives. While the absurdist nature of dark comedies doesn’t require realism per se, developing the space outside Ruby would help give the show proper tone and atmosphere so it doesn’t just feel like it’s all filmed on a set.
There’s enough twists and turns to keep the viewer invested, and with Stephanie Hsu at the helm, Laid is worth the TV investment.
Review screener provided.
REVIEW SCORE: 3.5/5
