Laid: Season 1 – Review

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Plot Summary

33-year-old Ruby has just gone on another date she doesn’t see going anywhere, and she is frustrated. She wants a relationship that could lead to marriage, potentially kids, and while she has had some great loves in her life, they didn’t work out. But, to much surprise, after an incident visiting an ex’s funeral, she and her best friend and roommate, AJ, learn all of the people Ruby had sex with are dying.  

Season 1 covers the who and the potential why of Ruby’s exes dying and ends with a notable character appearing who might have answers.

Review

Our Rating (70/100): Mixed (Stick Around)

“Laid,” at best, is a show that needs multiple seasons to understand what it wants to say and depict and the best way to do so. In the first season, we see glimpses and moments of maturity, but because Ruby doesn’t grow throughout the season, it often seems that exes die quickly in succession, and things happen in Ruby’s life, but where she begins and ends as a person, over 6 months, barely shifts.

Audience

Stephanie Hsu fans, who can be very forgiving regarding the material she is involved in, could take an interest in “Laid” and maybe enjoy it.

Highlights

Occasionally, Some Conversations And Monologues Felt Real And Necessary

When it comes to Ruby, there is the sense she is supposed to be considered fun, flirty, and open to love but bad at committing. However, as we get to know her, we’re shown someone immature, seemingly doesn’t understand or want to know what reciprocity is, is more willing to give over her body than feelings, and relies on someone enabling her in order to function.

In many ways, the character can come off as complex, and as she has a handful of conversations about love and life, there are signs there is more to her than her shortcomings. However, “Laid” is far more invested in being a comedy with surface-level jokes than consistently diving into the depths of any characters. So, while there are moments when it is clear these characters aren’t in their twenties and know they need to grow up, sadly, those moments are rare, and situations to set up drama, jokes, and illogical storylines are far more focused on.

Low Points

It Speeds Through The Exes In Such A Way That Makes Their Lives Expendable

Regarding Ruby’s exes, or who she has slept with, the terms are treated as interchangeable; there are approximately 20 people, with a few noted as “Big Love,” implying that the relationship was meaningful. Unfortunately, outside of maybe two relationships, you hear a chorus of criticism directed at Ruby and not the kind that she takes note of in a way that could inspire growth. Instead, it is damn near most of them saying the same thing about how Ruby is the worst person they have ever been with or known, that she’s selfish, and few notable details.

This I found frustrating for the actors and scenarios push you to wonder more about how the relationship started, the likely good points, and about the end more. We know Ruby has abandonment issues, but what led her to join a throuple? How did she exist within that, considering her personality and how she is as a person? What about being with a woman? Ruby notes she is more queer than she thought, but it only explores her being LGBT+ for one single episode.

Add in Hsu may have star power but generally lacks romantic chemistry to believe any of the relationships presented, and it makes what is part of the core of “Laid” fall flat. Never mind nearly every ex, except Aubrey, being rather forgettable unless the actor is someone famous.

Ruby’s Lack Of Growth

The most frustrating thing about “Laid” is that Ruby doesn’t grow as a character despite everything happening to her. Let me begin by saying that Ruby doesn’t need to be likable, but I do feel like she barely evolves into someone you can understand. For example, it is established her dad abandoning her when she was 18 is likely the source, if not one of the sources, of Ruby’s failed relationships. However, it seems almost disrespectful to make “Daddy Issues” the crutch for everything we see.

Now, I would be remiss not to mention her mom is dead, but after a certain point, there is a need to question if we’re expected to give Ruby a pass and be like AJ and barely hold her accountable. If not quick to forgive because Ruby can be fun and zany, and she is effectively an orphan. But here is the thing, people are dying because of her issues. Yet, after a certain point, despite seeing some of her exes die in front of her, it seems Ruby doesn’t want to take accountability and truly do better. Hell, what discounts the whole mom dead and dad abandonment thing is how unaffected Ruby seems by the majority dying.

If anything, we see her wanting this hex or curse gone because she met a cute guy, and how he talks about love fits her fantasy. A fantasy I’m sure, once the relationship gets real, will lead to her dumping him or potentially doing whatever is necessary so she can be dumped and potentially play the victim.

On The Fence

You May Not Feel Like You Really Get Know The Characters

A lot of “Laid” is about giving you tidbits about a person but not showing how that led to one decision or another. We already went into how the show cheapens Ruby’s abandonment issues to try to justify how selfish she is, but what isn’t talked about is what in her life led to her deciding to be a party planner? What triggered her and AJ to become best friends? Never mind; live together.

Heck, focusing on AJ, what is her relationship with her parents like? What led to her relationships before Zack failing and what standard was set, or lowered, for him to become someone she dated for 5 years, after being in a 8 year relationship previously?

Also, we see her bartend once and spend the rest of the season obsessing over Amanda Knox or Ruby’s situation, yet she is able to get a lease on an apartment in Seattle and afford rent? Is she a trust fund kid? What was that scandal she had in college about?

In many ways, the central situation of Ruby’s exes is treated as the be-all to end-all in such a way it sometimes presents the idea that they forgot to make these characters feel like people, at least beyond some of their more casual conversations, mentioning shows and movies not owned by Comcast/ NBCUniversal.

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