Stephanie Hsu is a movie star. You heard it from me first! Although the majority would consider Hsu to be a talented motor mouth comedian, I see the halo. “Laid” is the exact tv series that she needed to separate her from the rest of the pack. I am reminded of Eddie Murphy from Beverly Hills Cop, and Rose Byrne and Melissa McCarthy from Bridesmaids. I totally get the feeling of “Who the fuck is that?” in a good way. Stephanie Hsu plays Ruby Yao, a promiscuous party planner who tries to solve the question mark as to why all her sexual partners keep on dying in mysterious ways. Zosia Mamet, of “Girls” and “Flight Attendant” fame, plays AJ, Ruby’s best friend and sidekick. She is mousey as usual and just does enough to complement the potent protagonist. David Denman, who played Roy from “The Office”, plays a confused detective and adds to the chuckles quite well.
There isn’t one boring scene in this series. Even when the characters are having a serious conversation about trauma, the background is unfolding in a humorous fashion setting up the next laugh. “Joy Ride” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” both established Hsu as having good screen presence and chemistry with other actors as long as there is a Sherry Cola or Michelle Yeoh to hold the scene with her. But “Laid” is like 2006 Kobe Bryant running iso’s and scoring 81 points against the Raptors. Hsu is an absolute one-woman army and it’s impossible to take your eyes off of this dominant performance.
