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Spoilers below.
Ruby (Stephanie Hsu) on Laid might actually be the death of her lovers. Literally. But the Peacock dark comedy doesn’t pass judgment on her long line of sexual partners, who mysteriously begin dying in the order that she slept with them; instead the mystery around their deaths is a device that gives us a peek into Ruby’s inner personal and familial demons.
In the sixth episode, “More Handsome than Joe Jonas,” we finally find out what’s causing her sex cluster to die off one by one—or so we think. Ruby’s best friend AJ (Zosia Mamet), a true crime enthusiast, discovers a video in which Ruby’s coworker and former makeout buddy Brad (Ryan Pinkston) puts a hex on her. He admits to it, revealing that he was peeved by her very vocal regret about their dalliance. At a bar drinking his feelings, he met a witchy figure who promised to curse Ruby, and his drunken self agreed and then completely forgot about it as time went on without anything happening to Ruby.
The group—Ruby, Isaac, AJ, Zack, and Richie (Michael Angarano), who is inexplicably her “sex loophole,” a.k.a. the one man she slept with who hasn’t died—visits the mystical woman at her day job, which is hilariously in the corporate office of Cinnabon. She reveals that the hex can’t be reversed, but it can be transferred to someone else. Ruby immediately begins to brainstorm who it can be transferred to (a virgin on death row is the front runner) but AJ, who is furious with Ruby after discovering she slept with AJ’s boyfriend Zack (Andre Hyland), can’t believe Ruby’s selfishness. AJ correctly identifies that the only reason Ruby wants to pass off her curse is to sleep with her new crush Isaac (Tommy Martinez), her client who recently confessed his love for her. Even though Zack would technically be on death’s door without Ruby’s transfer, AJ is more concerned about her best friend’s motives.
AJ’s read hits Ruby in the heart. She decides that AJ is right, and tries to atone for her sins (of which there have been many, but treating the men she’s slept with like absolute garbage is at the top of the list). Both Zack and Ruby are trying to win AJ back, and here, the show’s concentration on female friendship shines through: Zack’s idea of a grand gesture is inviting a stranger over to make her fresh guacamole, like the kind she enjoys at a Mexican restaurant, while Ruby goes big and creates a puzzle that leads AJ to a private dinner with her idol Amanda Knox (who really appears in a cameo in the finale).
There was no note on the invitation, but AJ knows immediately that her best friend is the only one who could have pulled off a surprise like this. She marches over to the party Ruby planned for Isaac’s parents and AJ tells her that she deserves happiness too. Just as she’s agreeing to help Ruby transfer the hex, all three members of the band die a violent death—they’re all Ruby’s victims, which expedites her plan.
Stephanie Hsu as Ruby, Andre Hyland as Zack, Zosia Mamet as AJ.
After some contemplation, the group decides that their cranky elderly neighbor Jill Blanch should be their target. They retrieve a special stone, bring something that Jill touched and a lock of Ruby’s hair, and walk the three hours that was required for the transfer ceremony. Once they throw the rock into the nearest body of water, they decide to wait a full month to see if the curse has really been lifted.
The series flashes forward to show Ruby’s love interest from the first episode and the second-to-last person she slept with, Jason (Finneas O’Connell), finishing a marathon. Elated that he’s alive and thriving, Ruby and Isaac plan to finally consummate their love. As they’re walking home, an elderly man dies in front of them, giving them momentary pause. But Ruby quickly confirms that she’s never seen him before and begins making out with Isaac, ecstatic by the confirmation that she’s no longer cursed, while the fire department tries to revive the poor man in the background. Isaac and Ruby finally hook up and it’s everything they ever wanted.
So it’s a happy ending, right? Not exactly. Things were going great until AJ discovers that Jason actually died after his marathon during a post-run celebration. Just as they’re realizing that Zack and Isaac’s time is limited, there’s a knock at the door. It’s Ruby’s dad (François Chau), whom she has been estranged from for many years. The series never fully reveals what happened between her and her father, but the conflict is mentioned throughout the series as a wound she’s working through in therapy.
Francois Chau as James, Ruby’s father.
But here he is, standing at her door, holding the therapy letter she wrote to him but never sent. We see that Richie sent it, likely not knowing that it details Ruby’s curse. She tries to brush off her dad, telling him she doesn’t have time to work through their problems right now, when he reveals that he knows exactly what’s going on. In fact, the same thing happened to him, too.
The season ends there, leaving a lot of questions about the mythology and background of the hex and what’s causing the ex-lover death count. Peacock hasn’t announced its plans for a second season yet, but I hope this one comes back—aside from the mysteries still lingering, the show is an incredible vehicle for Hsu and Mamet, aided by rapidfire jokes and a worldview that doesn’t judge female promiscuity. The world could use more of it.