Yes, yes – we know we should have watched this on time, when it came out in December. But here we are, talking about it and kicking off the new year with it.
When we sat down for interviews with the cast of LAID late last year, one person that blew us away with her kind heart and just genuine personality was Stephanie Hsu. We’ve been familiar with all of her work and we love her. She sold us on watching the show and reminded us that even though the premise seems like a nightmare, it’s actually going to make you laugh.
And well, we definitely need laughter right now.
While we know that LAID has gotten mixed reviews and we can see why, our truth is that we loved it. We laughed and we cringed, but overall, we loved and appreciated the dark humor of it.
The first episode premise is, “After hearing an ex from college has died, Ruby attends his funeral to reflect on her love life.”
And it’s definitely more complicated than that, but hey, they can’t give everything away in a synopsis. That doesn’t make sense to do.
Oh where to begin.
IS SOMETHING WRONG HERE
We open with Ruby at what seems to be a bank – not really sure. She’s on a quest to find her exes and tell them that they are going to die. Not exactly the message that you want to be delivering, but here we are.
She’s got some questionable taste and so immediately, we’re like girl, you need to aim higher in relationships or situationships.
The dude can’t hear her through the partition and what’s meant to set it up to be kinda funny, has us cringing. She slips him a note – which is such a bad decision. She should have listened to the Real Housewives knowledge that we all live with – write it, regret it, but say it, forget it.
While this scene made us laugh a little, we cringed. Not because it was really bad, but because it’s not something we would want to do. It was a good setup for the beginning of the story. It intrigued the audience to pay attention to everything that is about to happen in the show.
Ruby is going to have to tell everyone that she’s ever had sex with that they are going to die.
This is not going to be fun for her.
THREE MONTHS EARLIER
Ruby is dating and trying to find her one. Her date is guest star Finneas. The two seem to have chemistry and it doesn’t take long before they are both like lets have sex. Don’t even shame her for that, because like a test drive isn’t a bad thing.
This test drive showed her that she definitely didn’t have chemistry with him. It was bad. The sex was BAD. We have to respect that and realize that it was good that they tried. She’s ready to bounce, he’s ready to try again.
At this point, you can’t help but love Ruby. She’s seemingly strong and just going to do her thing. She know that “that thing” isn’t there and why put herself through more, if that’s not what she wants. That’s something that we can respect.
Her roommate, AJ, is disappointed that it didn’t work out. We get it – friends supporting friends and wanting better for them. But then again – AJ’s boyfriend ain’t a catch. Maybe Ruby’s standards are too high, but maybe AJ needs to raise hers.
Ruby is at work and meets a man that makes us swoon. Look, we’ve watched Tommy Martinez in other things, but the moment that he walked into the room, our jaws dropped. When did he get so damn hot? Were we blind before?
His character Isaac, is planning a party for his parents. It’s their 40th anniversary. Now, while he’s describing their love, there were tears shed out of this writers eyes. That’s the kind of love that we want. We also agree with Ruby and her feelings at this moment – we started looking at our lives and realized a 40th wedding anniversary is out of the cards for us.
THE FARTER
AJ texts Ruby and lets her know that a man that she dated in college has passed away. Brandon wasn’t very memorable to Ruby, but she did remember that he farted with every thrust during sex. Now, I think we can all remember things about people we’ve been with, but that made me wish that Ruby didn’t remember him at all. It’s definitely not a good thing to remember that about someone.
Now, Ruby deciding that she needs to go to the funeral – well, that for me was a WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT. It’s a choice, one that I probably wouldn’t make, but here we are.
When she goes to the funeral, she finds out that she meant more to Brandon than he did to her. It was weird to see, and left so many questions that we’d like answered. Like how did Brandon die? What happened that made him so enamored with her? Why are there pictures of her everywhere?
Everyone is treating Ruby with kid gloves. Brandons parents are so glad that she was there. Ruby runs into Jeffrey, Brandons BFF. She remembers that she slept with him right after Brandon. Wondering if Brandon knew that.
RIDING WITH THE PARENTS
Brandons parents want Ruby to ride with them and she doesn’t say no. Why she keeps putting herself in a position where she may have to lie, I don’t get. The car ride is awkward – don’t think breaking out into song was a good choice.
She finds out at the wake that she took Brandon’s virginity and then dumped him. Is that why he was so attached? I actually feel so bad for him after learning that.
AJ is struggling with anyone remembering her and Ruby is trying to figure out why everyone does. AJ doesn’t realize how lucky she is that she’s not Ruby in this situation. But it’s their friendship that really makes me enjoy this episode.
AJ lets Ruby know that another one of her exes has passed. Ruby leaves with Jeffrey and in the car, thinks there is a moment so leans in for the kiss, only to find out that is not what Jeffrey wanted. So Jeffrey gets out of the Uber, only to get hit by a truck and pass.
Ruby is not having a good week – it’s now a pattern. Her exes are passing away quickly.
Have to admit that we are really wondering why this is happening. We’re sure that there will be some answers over the episodes, but who knows.
WHAT A BESTIE
AJ is a gem. She’s such a beautiful gem in this show. That’s not a surprise to us, because hey, Zosia Mamet is a gem. She comes into every scene with this beautiful combination of comedic timing and drama. Zosia has made AJ this character thar you can’t help love and wish that your bestie is like her.
She’s the best.
Having recognized that it’s a pattern, AJ has fallen into a hole and has made a chart of all the people that Ruby has been with. She’s even made a blow job overlay. Now, this is no offense to Ruby’s body count, but like she’s got a lot of people to warn. This is why one must always get emails – could have just sent out a paperless post and not had to see anyone.
Overall this episode of Laid set up the show perfectly and made us smile. We’re ready to see Ruby and all of the hijinks that she’s about to get herself into.
Laid is streaming now on Peacock.
