Ruby Yao (Stephanie Hsu), the protagonist of the Peacock comedy “Laid,” is variously described as “selfish,” “a nightmare,” “the worst person I have ever met” and belonging “in jail.” Hsu’s performance and Ruby’s characterization as a whole are indeed intensely off-putting, in ways both intentional and not. But Ruby’s karmic comeuppance in this series, adapted by sitcom veterans Nahnatchka Khan (“Fresh off the Boat”) and Sally Bradford McKenna (“The Goldbergs”) from an Australian show of the same name, doesn’t affect her directly. Instead, everyone she’s ever slept with starts to die — often in outlandish ways, always in the order she had sex with them.
This morbid premise evokes the late, great “Lovesick.” But unlike that British series, in which the hero’s STI leads him to revisit past relationships, the heightened stakes of “Laid” present a tonal hurdle the eight-episode season proves unable to surmount. “Laid” is breezily casual about Ruby’s (literal) body count without fully embracing the horror or bleak, slapstick comedy of its implications. In teaching Ruby a lesson about her narcissism, “Laid” ends up only reinforcing it by communicating that no actual life, or even more than a dozen lives in the aggregate, matters as much as Ruby’s inner one. The problems with “Laid,” much like those in Ruby’s own affairs, largely stem from Ruby herself.
“Laid” marks a series lead debut for Hsu, an Academy Award nominee for her breakout role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Hsu had no problem playing an out-and-out villain for long stretches of that film, but her Ruby is more of an oblivious blabbermouth prone to shocking bouts of callousness, like failing to remember the names of people she’s inadvertently condemned to die. She’s neither foul enough for her sheer monstrosity to be the joke, like the Dubek siblings in “The Other Two,” nor sweet enough for her inevitable redemption to feel even slightly earned. Instead, she’s just annoying. In a redundant illustration of her overall obnoxiousness, Ruby is a superfan of musicals in general and “The Greatest Showman” in particular.
If Ruby fails to compel in the moment, “Laid” also struggles in its efforts to explicate the roots of her romantic dysfunction. This is mostly done not through organic interactions, but through Ruby’s therapist (Elizabeth Bowen) explaining her problems — from abandonment issues to fixating on a kind of love that only exists in popular culture — to her face. As professional practice and compelling television, the tactic is equally deficient.
“Laid” perks up a bit when Ruby partners with Richie (Michael Angarano), an ex with an obvious incentive to figure out what’s going on. Richie’s low opinion of Ruby makes him a qualified sparring partner and sorely needed foil; he’s better suited to the part than either AJ (Zosia Mamet), Ruby’s roommate and best friend, or Isaac (Tommy Martinez), her latest event-planning client and potential love interest. (Anganaro even gamely shoulders some clunky product placement for Toyota. I think “Laid” is trying to be tongue-in-cheek about the plug, but like the rest of its attempts at dark humor, the sarcasm doesn’t translate.) Sadly, Richie is late to the party, depriving “Laid” of its own sharpest tool and indicating a broader issue with pacing. Ruby’s co-worker Brad (Ryan Pinkston) turns out to play a pivotal role in the plot, but it’s not clear she even has a co-worker until several episodes in.
There are moments when a snider, sillier version of “Laid” peeks through; a scene where John Early plays himself is, per usual for the comedian, sublime. The season nonetheless ends on a cliffhanger, leaving its central mystery as well as its own identity unresolved. In the end, “Laid” lacks a perspective on Ruby’s affliction. Is it a metaphor for how she treats her exes, or just a chance to make comedy from the sheer agglomeration of tragedy? Whichever metric one uses, “Laid” ultimately falls short.
All eight episodes of “Laid” are now streaming on Peacock.
