Peacock’s Forgotten 8-Part Dark Comedy Series Is the Perfect Weekend Binge

There’s nothing like binge-watching an entire series all in one weekend, and single-season shows are the perfect choice. Intense drama shows will have viewers watching one episode after the next in order to see what will happen, while silly comedy series bring viewers in for a binge-watch experience that’s more comforting and full of laughs. For those looking for a combination of the two, there’s nothing better than a great dark comedy series. These shows are great for binge-watching because they combine suspenseful cliffhangers and shocking twists with laugh-out-loud comedy and a strong focus on character dynamics. One of the most underrated dark comedy series in recent years is Peacock’s Laid, which is just eight episodes long.

What Is Peacock’s ‘Laid’ About?

Based on the Australian series of the same name, Laid follows Ruby Yao (Stephanie Hsu), a 33-year-old party planner with a string of failed relationships behind her. Sometimes, Ruby is just unlucky in love. Other times, she self-sabotages, or her selfishness gets in the way. Still, despite her past issues in relationships, Ruby is holding out hope that she will meet her person one day. Sure enough, Ruby develops a new crush on Isaac (Tommy Martinez), a client of hers who is planning a 40th anniversary party for his parents. Ruby has hit an impasse in her life, and she decides to become a better person, starting with attending her ex-fling’s funeral. Soon, though, more of her exes start dying, and she realizes that it’s more than just a coincidence.

After enough of these strange deaths, Ruby realizes that she’s cursed, and that every person she’s ever slept with is dying in the order that she slept with them. Ruby is already struggling with the fact that Isaac has a girlfriend, and that multiple people in her life have recently called her out on her questionable patterns. This curse comes at exactly the wrong time, and Ruby becomes desperate to figure out what’s going on and stop it — both to keep her exes from dying, and to allow herself to still find love one day. Ruby’s best friend, AJ (Zosia Mamet), helps her investigate, along with Richie (Michael Angarano), the one exception among Ruby’s previous flings who somehow survived.

‘Laid’ Makes for a Captivating and Hilarious Binge-Watch

Laid is a darkly funny series in which Ruby confronts an impossible reality: somehow, she is the reason that all of these people from her past are now dying. The series takes Ruby on a journey as she digs into the mystery of why all of her exes are dying, both related to her own issues and to the specific problems that she had in each of these relationships. In the process, Ruby reconnects with everyone from her past, from brief flings to past loves. This forces Ruby to look inward and finally examine her worst patterns in relationships, as well as how she’s contributed to many of her past romances falling apart. All the while, Ruby grows closer to both Isaac and Richie, giving the show an exciting central love triangle. Before she takes any steps forward in her love life, though, Ruby has to resolve her past issues, or the next person she dates will eventually die.

With its compelling main mystery and nuanced leading lady, Laid is the perfect binge-watch. Ruby is such a messy and chaotic protagonist, so it is impossible to look away from her story, even when she’s making terrible decisions and embarrassing herself. Laid is sharply funny and has excellent romantic storylines, but its dramatic element is what makes it so bingeworthy. The stakes at play are quite literally life and death, so Ruby is on a time crunch to solve the mystery of what is going on and why, before more of her exes die. Laid was sadly cancelled after just one season, but even though it ends on a cliffhanger, it still tells a pretty complete and very entertaining story.