It was fun watching Justina Machado descend into madness in 2023 as the star-crossed title character of "The Horror of Dolores Roach" - even as the series ruined empanadas for me and (I'd wager) many other Amazon Prime viewers.

(Photo : Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Prime Video)
Justina Machado attends the New York red carpet special screening for Prime Video's 'The Horror Of Dolores Roach' at Regal Union Square on June 28, 2023, in New York City.

Onscreen and through narration, Machado sharply trades biting wit for laughs to put the "comedy" in "dark comedy," as the show is billed, while also capturing Dolores' desperation and vulnerable side as she re-enters society following a 16-year prison stint.

Soon after viewers are introduced to Dolores, she's returning to Washington Heights fresh out of prison for marijuana offenses and assault of a police officer, crashing against the reality of how much said neighborhood has changed.

Dolores searches in vain for an ex-boyfriend, but finally encounters someone she knows in Luis Batista (Alejandro Hernandez), owner of Empanada Loca, a restaurant that got its name from the real life, off-Broadway play that the TV series was adapted from.

Luis, it turns out, complements Dolores in a way that's too extreme for her, which says something because she's serially homicidal.

"The Horror of Dolores Roach" was cancelled after one season, but not because it was met with a wave of excoriating reviews. The show received scores of 80 and 87 percent from critics and audience members, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes, a 65 on Metacritic, and a 7.1 rating on Internet Movie Database (IMDB).

Machado's committed work as Dolores Roach made hers a standout performance, even in a cast that included comedian Marc Maron as racist landlord Gideon Pearlman, "Scrubs" star Judy Reyes as drug dealer Marcie, 2015 Drama Desk Award winner K. Todd Freeman as Jeremiah, and Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Cyndi Lauper as private investigator Ruthie.

In a meta role, Jessica Pimentel - formerly of "Orange Is the New Black" - appears in the series as playwright/actress Floria Frias, who stars in an increasingly popular theatrical production about the life of Dolores Roach.

Born in Chicago to Puerto Rican parents, Machado shares a 2003 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award with her castmates on HBO's "Six Feet Under" for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. She has dozens of TV and film credits, including the upcoming comedy film "The Throwback" - co-starring comedians Will Sasso and Bobby Lee - and double-digit episode runs on "Jane the Virgin" and "Queen of the South."

(Photo : Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Prime Video)
(L-R) Kita Updike, Justina Machado, K. Todd Freeman, Alejandro Hernandez, and the empanada man attend the New York red carpet special screening for Prime Video's "The Horror Of Dolores Roach" at Regal Union Square on June 28, 2023 in New York City.

Machado also starred on Netflix's "One Day at a Time" - based on the so-named 1975 sitcom - as main character Penelope Alvarez (2017-20), for which she won a pair of Imagen awards. On that show, the Windy City native would get to work alongside fellow Boricua and EGOT recipient Rita Moreno.

Before saying goodbye to 2023, I'd like to give Ms. Machado her flowers for brilliantly bringing Dolores Roach to life on TV. I'd hitherto never cringed and laughed so often - at times feeling a little guilty for finding any humor in the macabre - while watching a show.