WHEN it launched last year, Laid was billed as a comedy. And, for all intents and purposes, it was one. Each of its six 30-minute episodes offered a few laughs, the plot developed nicely and it ended with a cliffhanger that has kept fans guessing.
But Laid’s central plot line was as dark as anything that has come out of the ABC in years. Roo McVie (theatre veteran Alison Bell) found herself with an undiagnosed medical affliction that meant every man she had ever slept with had died.
As our protagonist struggled to make sense of what was happening, a relationship with her work colleague Charlie (Abe Forsythe) began bubbling along. In the final episode, McVie finally believed she was cured – only to consummate her relationship with Charlie and find him out cold the next morning.
The second season of Laid, penned by Marieke Hardy and Kirsty Fisher, returns this week. And if you thought it would be any less bizarre, you thought wrong. The series picks up almost where the first left off. Charlie is in a regretting-sleeping-with-Roo coma when a bearded Shaun Micallef – who reprises his role as Roo’s left-of-centre gynecologist – passes over the details of a mysterious man named Marcus Dwyer.
‘‘You’re on opposite sides of the coin… you’re the platypus and he’s Her Majesty the Queen,’’ he helpfully offers. So Roo and best friend EJ (Celia Pacquola) set off in search of Dwyer (Damon Herriman), a disturbingly creepy character whose sexual partners are healed of all their health concerns, to find out whether Roo can harness his talents to save Charlie.
Laid requires a wholehearted suspension of disbelief. But if you like things a little dark and disturbed, it’ll be right up your alley.
