“With Great Power Comes a Whole Lot of Nasty Conversations.”
I wasn’t planning to jump into Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist when it premiered at the beginning of the year. I have tried a few musical shows over the years, and I felt like they either didn’t work or didn’t last long. But after a friend recommended I give this one a try, I did – in September, months after she recommended it to me. Never let it be said that I rush into things. But I’m glad I gave it a shot because I was quickly hooked.
The show focuses on Zoey (Jane Levy), a computer programmer in San Francisco, who has been experiencing weird headaches recently. When she goes to get an MRI to try to see what is happening, an earthquake causes things to go haywire. The result is that now Zoey can hear what people are truly feeling, but she gets these revelations in the form of full out song and dance numbers.
This new ability comes in handy in helping Zoey get a promotion at work. She is even able to use it to bond with Simon (John Clarence Stuart), the cute new guy at work that she’s been crushing on. Of course, that’s before she learns that Simon has a fiancée. Then again, it might not matter since it turns out that her best friend, Max (Skylar Astin), has been silently nursing a giant crush on her. Meanwhile, her father, Mitch (Peter Gallagher) is slowly dying, and her new ability helps her entire family, including her mother Maggie (Mary Steenburgen) connect with him better despite his limitations. When Zoey has a problem with her newfound powers she turns to her neighbor Mo (Alex Newell).
Clearly, there is plenty going on here, and I haven’t even gotten into some of the other sub-plots the season presents as it goes along. As I said, I was hooked early. The show is a great mix of comedy and drama, sometimes in the same scene. One episode is particular made me laugh so hard. Other scenes made me tear up, and the season finale is appropriately heavy.
This show works because of the cast. Not only can they act wonderfully and bring their characters to life, but they can also sing. I know that shouldn’t be a surprise in a musical show, but some of the performances are absolutely beautiful. I suspect we will see much more of these stars in other musical productions. At least I hope so. This even applies to the guest stars, who have some standout numbers. The choreography is from Emmy winner Mandy Moore. At times it works perfectly, and other times, it feels a bit overdone. But that’s a minor complaint.
My bigger issue is with the character of Mo. Mo is gender fluid. Clueless viewer that I am, I didn’t pick up on that for several episodes even as a character that usually presents as female was being referred to as “he.” It wasn’t too long into the season that we got an episode focused on Mo, and it fell into typical anti-Christian stereotypes. I found that truly disappointing.
But that was the only disappointing episode out of a truly entertaining show. For the first season, we got 12 episodes. Since the show was intended as a mid-season replacement, that was all that was intended for the first season, so the story arcs introduced here reach the conclusions the writers intended and weren’t shortened by the pandemic. Of course, not everything is resolved, since the show will be back next year for season 2. I can’t wait.
Yes, there are definitely connections to Eli Stone, a very similar show (both are even set in San Francisco) which I also enjoyed. But it’s only the most superficial set up that is the same.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is something different on TV that is completely enjoyable. This mix of comedy, drama, and music is addicting, and you’ll find yourself caught up in the story and rooting for the characters.
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