Laid

The first episode was hard to watch, but you need it because it lays out how horrible Ruby is. It's necessary. It gets so much better and more ridiculous as the season goes on, especially the gravitas Stephanie and Zosia give the most inane situations and conversations. Give it time and get to know the characters. Everyone has a weird and shiny moment, and there's a big laugh almost every episode. There are a couple of surprise guests along the way, adding to the zaniness, although with one of them, I got a little uncomfortable with how she sent up some of her famous history for a laugh, but with the other, who to me will always be the doctor from Lost, I had no complaints. He needs to be a mysterious figure on every show, in my opinion.

I love a good romance and I love true crime, this show was a nice blend of the two in a way that was, yeah, kind of over the top, but ultimately fun. Ruby isn't really likeable and she's not meant to be but that was kind of endearing and I enjoyed the show from start to finish. She was incredibly selfish but people are and I don't think the heroine in a rom-com needs to be perfect and bubbly and all that each and every time.

I loved her best friend, AJ (back to my own true crime obsession) and her dry delivery of every single line. The dark and raunchy humor was a nice twist and I hope there's a season 2.

First.. watch the original 2011 New Zealand show (same title - same premise).

This incarnation of the concept is decent.

Hsu does a fantastic job. No complaints with any of the cast really. The acting across the board is pretty good.

However, the writing is a bit lackluster.. funny in spots for sure, and it shines when the focus is comedy or the dark humor. Unfortunately, this show moves a bit too far into the "sappy" side of things. It's a bit too much of a "love story" overall. Seemingly just sticking with dark humor was not enough. In addition, it gets a tad tiring listening to every single character berate Ruby episode after episode after episode.

If anyone has seen the original NZ version of the show, it's based on the same premise.. "killer v"... but is far, far, far less "sappy" or "love story" oriented. That was the charm of the show originally, the dark nature of the humor without all the over indulgent self-reflection and apparent need to create some drippingly sappy love story.

In this series, by the end of episode 6 the series ending starts getting fairly predictable. It becomes so easy to predict how the last 2 episodes will play out.

Overall.. if they removed all the "love story" stuff it would have been a MUCH better series, but even with that in mind, it wasn't that bad. I don't regret watching it once, but will probably never watch it again. I'd tune in to a renewal, but wouldn't be surprised if one season, ending on that ever-present cliffhanger, is all it gets. The NZ series did have (only) 2 seasons, so there's precedent for that.. we'll see.

Zosia alone is worth watching the series. She eats up every scene she's in. Her humanity and warmth to Ruby's vapidness and self absorption plays so well. It took me a few episodes to understand how I was supposed to view Ruby and once I caught on? I was down for the ride! I liked each episode better as they went on. I'm not sure there is redemption for Ruby but would like a second series to see where these characters go. I have many questions about Issac, I have a feeling there is a lot more there not yet explored. Ritchie isn't done yet either. Fun celeb pop ups with Simu Liu and Chloe Fineman.

I understand the hate that some people have for this show. It is tough in the beginning to like the characters and the best friend's obsession with the deaths of her ex's can feel like it's lacking empathy but as the show goes on I think it really grows. I like that her ex's are calling her out on being a selfish person because I think we always see ourselves as the one doing the right thing or being the good one in a relationship. I like that it makes the Ruby analyze her relationships with others in her life and her relationship with her father. I just wish it didn't end on such a cliff hanger!