Brandon From College – The premiere episode begins with Ruby (Stephanie Hsu) trying to warn Caleb (Amro Majzoub) at the bank that he is going to die because he once slept with her. Being that Caleb doesn’t even remember her and has an even harder time hearing her, this doesn’t go so well. Things start looking really bleak when the guard, Hal, gets involved.
Three months earlier, Ruby is ranting about the horrors of dating apps while on her third date with Jason (Finneas O’Connell). She briefly tells him about a personal experience before they decide to see how compatible they are in bed. As it turns out, they are about as compatible as Macintosh and Windows. Although Jason admits to the incompatibility, he appears hurt when she doesn’t want to give it another go.
AJ (Zosia Mamet) appears just as hurt as Jason the following morning when Ruby tells her about their incompatibility. As they continue to discuss Ruby’s dating failure, Zack Bridgerton (Andre Hyland) interrupts and brings up the intriguing point that Ruby herself might be to blame for her still being single. Ruby takes this insultingly but admits that she does have things she could improve on.
Later that day, Ruby tries to convince her therapist, Debra (Elizabeth Bowen), to continue their sessions remotely by claiming to be swamped with work. Debra doesn’t appear to be as gullible as Ruby assumes and tells her that until she faces the baggage from her past she’ll keep encountering the same hurdles in her romantic pursuits.
Ruby is thrown for a complete loop when she meets with Isaac (Tommy Martinez) to help him plan his parent’s 40th anniversary party. Not only does he share her distaste for digital communication, but she is clearly physically attracted to him. Ruby is even brought to tears after hearing his parent’s backstory. Before their conversation can go much further, Ruby receives a text from AJ, informing her that Brandon from college has passed. Apparently, Ruby does not remember him.
It isn’t until much later that evening at the bar where AJ works that Ruby remembers Brandon as Brandon Rafferty. In addition to his, she remembers dating him for about two months and having sex with him. When she searches for his name online, she realizes that he had sent her a friend request 8 months ago. After debating it for several seconds, she approves it. While browsing his profile, she not only learns that the funeral is this Saturday but she also learns that she is intrigued by not knowing how he died.
Ruby and AJ show up at the funeral to discover a barren tree containing nothing but photos of Brandon and Ruby. One photo only contains Ruby. Things only get more awkward when Brandon’s parents show up and greet Ruby like a long-lost relative. Brandon’s girlfriend, Danielle (Melanie Chan) also makes an appearance and shares a shocking resemblance to Ruby. This encounter doesn’t go much further thanks to Brandon’s parents pulling Danielle away. In the process, they tell Ruby that she has a seat up front with them.
After meeting Danielle, Ruby waits in line to say goodbye to Brandon at the front of the church. Not only does she spend more time than the average mourner but she is also joined by Jeffrey who she immediately and fondly remembers from college. After this brief meeting, Ruby finds herself back outside AJ’s running into Carrie Friedman. Apparently, she didn’t recognize AJ, which did not sit well with her. The discussion doesn’t get much further thanks to Brandon’s parents, who want Ruby to ride to the wake with them. Ruby agrees and ends up getting stuck in the back with Danielle and Brandon’s Saint Bernard.
Things become even more heated between Ruby and Danielle at the wake when Danielle confronts her at the refreshments table and tells her that she has some nerve showing up after how poorly she treated Brandon. Ruby’s lack of knowledge of the situation only makes Danielle madder but she finally ends up revealing that Brandon was a virgin when he slept with Ruby. Apparently, Ruby taking his virginity and then making fun of him crushed him.
Ruby shares her discovery with AJ, who is equally distraught over Hannah not recognizing her. Their conversation doesn’t get too far before Jeffrey makes another appearance. Much to AJ’s surprise, he does remember her but embarrasses her away when he asks if she left school early because of the whole Pell Grant scandal. With AJ gone, the conversation turns to Brandon and how he would have hated the funeral. It isn’t much longer before Jeffrey decides he’s had all he can stand at the funeral and asks if Ruby wants to share an Uber. She agrees.
Although the Uber ride begins with laughs and fond memories of college, it takes a dark twisty turn the moment Jeffrey brings up their hooking up. Matters only get worse when Ruby tries to kiss him. He tells her that she ruined his and Brandon’s friendship in college and broke Brandon’s at the same time. Jeffrey becomes so upset that he makes the Uber Driver stop and let him out. It’s only a few seconds later when he is mauled by an oncoming vehicle.
Ruby can but help feel guilty when she discusses Jeffrey’s death with AJ. She also realizes that two of her ex-boyfriends have died. It isn’t much longer after this that AJ opens what she calls the ‘good wine’ and they get drunk. The alcohol does help but it doesn’t completely drown out the memory of Jeffrey and Brandon. This time, the memory leads to talk about virginity, leading Ruby to remember that it was someone named David who took her virginity.
The episode ends with Ruby remembering that she has David’s landline. After calling it, she discovers that he is also deceased.
Laid Review
I cannot say that I was too thrilled with the first episode of Laid. That said, I wouldn’t say that I was completely dissuaded from continuing watching either. The show wasn’t great but it certainly wasn’t awful enough to immediately give up on. I did like some of the scenarios and happened to find some of the characters likable.
Although there have been a lot of series/movies with similar premises, this one seems to be a bit different for the moment. Of course, there is always the chance that might change, but we’ll have to wait to see. As for now, I’d give the first episode a 5.2 out of 10 and am slightly hopeful for the next.
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