The first two episodes laid a strong foundation for Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Zoey’s Extraordinary Boss adds to that strong foundation by ramping up the comedic moments and allowing ample room for character development.
In general, a large aspect of life is making difficult decisions and overcoming obstacles that test our resolve. In this episode of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Zoey has accepted her musical powers, but figuring out how to handle a heart song when the situation is uncomfortable is another story. In Zoey’s Extraordinary Boss, Zoey’s faced with a few difficult situations, which she initially fails to solve by trying to skirt problems instead of facing them head-on.
On the family front, Maggie has placed all of the responsibility for taking care of Mitch on herself. Zoey’s trying to find a way to lessen the load her Mom is carrying, but broaching the subject is easier said than done.
Meanwhile, at SPRQPOINT, Joan, Zoey’s Extraordinary Boss, is having a hard time feeling much satisfaction especially when it comes to her marriage. To say that Zoey is uncomfortable serving as a relationship guru for her boss is an understatement.
One of the strongest elements in this series is watching Jane Levy’s mannerisms during uncomfortable conversations and this episode is full of them. I’ll be diving into these scenes more in the spoiler section on the next page. Levy’s facial reactions and body language are always a strength of hers, but she elevates these mannerisms to another level in this episode. Just look at Zoey’s panged facial expression and stiff as board body language in this still shot.
This is just one moment in an excruciating, yet endearing scene for an episode that’s full of similar moments from Levy. Also deserving recognition is Executive Producer Sam Laybourne’s script for this episode. Not only does Laybourne take full advantage of Levy’s comedic chops, but every member of the ensemble is given a moment to shine due to some strong character development and sharp dialogue.
Laybourne provides Joan with some much-needed depth that garners sympathy from Zoey. Bubbly dialog and portraying sympathy is a much better fit for Lauren Graham than being the authoritative, dismissive boss we’ve seen in the series so far. Mary Steenburgen also receives some much deserved time in the spotlight. There’s a scene in a grocery store that escalates to an unbelievable scale.
As for music in this episode, the song choices continue to amaze. In one episode, we have songs from Jesus Christ Superstar, Miley Cyrus, The Rolling Stones, Meghan Trainor and more. An added bonus is Graham and Steenburgen perform their first heart songs in this episode. The former actually has 2 songs in this episode. Continue to page two to learn more about what they sang and how the song correlates to the episode story.
If all of those comedic and dramatic family moments aren’t enough, Zoey’s Extraordinary Boss caps the best episode in the series so far with one of the most poignant lines I’ve heard on television in years:
There is nothing in the world that I love more than your smile. But not if it isn’t real. So maybe if we take a little bit off your plate… you can find that real smile again.
-Zoey to Maggie
Zoey’s Extraordinary Boss does have a couple of missed notes. Joan’s husband, Charlie (Justin Kirk), is a one-note character. He’s the epitome of egotistical, talks down to Joan and forces Joan to humble herself after he bailed on her. Every other character on this show is given opportunities to show their strengths and their flaws with the exception of Charlie.
My other issue is with a specific story element that I thought the show was hinting at with the lemonade bit, but never resolved. Essentially, when life gives you lemons, well you know the rest…
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is currently streaming on Hulu and Peacock.
This ends the mostly spoiler-free portion of review. Go to the next page for the unabridged musings on the film’s plot, characters and more. For now, here’s the rating.
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Satisfaction is Hard to Find
The episode begins with all of the employees working late so they can demo the smartwatch at an event in a few days. Joan lets the employees go home, but before Zoey and Max leave the office to meet up with Mo at a club, Zoey is treated to Joan’s rendition of “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones.
Roundabout: Lauren Graham does a great rendition of The Rolling Stones hit. However, the star of the musical number is Mandy Moore’s choreography. The song starts with Joan and Zoey in the women’s restroom. In order to avoid hearing the song, Zoey leaves the restroom, which does offer a temporary reprieve. Only for the song to pick up again in the elevator.
After discussing the song with Mo, Zoey decides to tiptoe around the problem and offers to help Joan in a professional capacity. There’s a quick scene with Zoey, Simon, Autumn and Max at the club. After some quick interplay among the quartet, Autumn and Max hit the dance floor, while Simon discusses how hard it’s to enjoy simple pleasures like dancing since his Dad died.
Roundabout: Special shoutout to returning guest star Stephanie Styles as Autumn. She does an excellent job of making the character likable with very little screentime.
Back at the Clarke residence, Zoey unveils a touching side project. She’s used her coding skills to create an application that allows her father to use a mouse to click the letters on the screen. While the app is useful, the response from Mitch is unexpected. He types in one word: LEMONADE
Roundabout: Loved everything about this touching scene, with one exception. When Mitch typed LEMONADE, I thought he was referencing making lemonade out of the proverbial lemons due to Mitch’s PSP (progressive supranuclear palsy). However, it doesn’t appear that was the intent after all.
Zoey returns to work and tries to talk to Joan. Immediately, Joan makes it clear that she’s happy with the engineering team’s performance and makes a small comment about her marriage. Zoey makes an awkward exit to meet with Mo.
Roundabout: You’re going to hear this a lot in this episode. Every interaction between Graham and Jane Levy in this episode is comedic gold that ends with a touching notes.
We get a funny sequence using different parts of “Satisfaction”
- A ringtone in an elevator, which belongs to the passenger’s mother.
- Traffic jam featuring blaring horns to the tune of “Satisfaction.”
- A marching band playing “Satisfaction” to Zoey, while Mo hears a rather bad version of “Yankee Doodle.”
A brief conversation with Mo reveals that Zoey has to deal with the situation that inspires a heart song. No matter how ill-equipped Zoey might be to handle solve the problem, she has to help the person out in order to stop the song from haunting her.
She enters Joan’s office, starts the conversation with “Ahoy!” and well I’ll let Zoey’s face paint the picture.
After being awkward and delicate about the issue, Zoey eventually just blurts out that she wants to know about Joan’s marriage. Joan relents and details the many issues in her marriage while coercing Zoey into drinking during the middle of work.
Roundabout: Levy’s stiff body language and wild facial expressions in this scene are tremendous. When Zoey finally has her outburst, Levy delivers the lines as if they’re being compelled out of her or since The Rolling Stones are haunting Zoey, it’s as if a demon is being exercised from Zoey’s body.
Zoey returns to her parents’ house. The delightfully day drunk Zoey fills her Mom in and we learn that communication with Zoey’s father isn’t easy either. A knock at the door interrupts the conversation.
Some friends of the family stop by with saltwater taffy. Zoey bluntly points out that her Dad would most likely die, but she can just describe the taste to her father. Before Zoey can exit the Clarke house, we get Maggie’s rendition of “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” by The Bee Gees.
Roundabout: Mary Steenburgen has a unique singing voice that adds to the heartbreaking message of the song.
Zoey responds to Maggie’s heartbreaking song by bribing her brother David with bagels. She’s worried about her Mom and wants David to look after her since Zoey has to focus on Joan and the drama at SPRQPOINT.
Louboutins Provide No Satisfaction
Joan’s in a better mood. She thanks Zoey for helping her work through some of her marriage issues. Joan follows up by giving Zoey a pair of Louboutins, which Zoey has never heard of before.
Roundabout: I love everything about this scene between Levy and Graham. My appreciation of this scene starts with the small physical choices these actresses make and ends with some nice insight into the male-dominated industry Zoey works in.
Instead of taking the shopping bag with shoes inside, Zoey reaches into the bag and takes the shoebox out of the bag. Joan begins to tell Zoey she can take the whole bag before sheepishly giving up, shrugging her shoulders and just setting the empty bag on the floor.
The fact that Zoey has never heard of Louboutins let alone know they’re expensive shoes is a small but really cool look inside of Zoey’s male-dominated bubble. It may seem ludicrous for Zoey to never have heard of these shoes, but if you look at her professional and personal environment, it makes complete. She has a brother and no sister. Her best friend is Max and she is the only female on the programming team in a heavily male-dominated career field. Her confidante, Mo, is genderfluid, doesn’t believe in labels, but is referred to as “he” by the characters in the show.
The arrival of Joan’s husband, Charlie (Justin Kirk) is heralded by the entire coding team lead by Leif singing “Jesus Christ Superstar.” There’s some fun dialogue between Charlie, Tobin and Max about whether losing your virginity in Charlie’s game counts… it does not. The meeting featuring Joan, Charlie and Zoey doesn’t go well. There’s not much discussion about the watch demo as it quickly devolved into an argument over Joan and Charlie’s marriage woes. Joan puts Zoey in an awful position and Zoey’s response leads to Charlie quitting the event.
Roundabout: Michael Thomas Grant’s vocal range in this song is just nuts.
Now with Charlie quitting the event, Zoey has the unenviable task of breaking the news to the rest of her team. Tobin and Leif are pissed. Max is really into all of the sushi still in the conference room. Simon’s response to the news is to sing his response via Meghan Trainer’s “NO.”
Roundabout: My favorite part of this is actually after the song concludes. In response to Zoey’s request to find a replacement for Charlie, he says “yeah” after the song. However, John Clarence Stewart delivers the line at least an octave higher than his regular speaking voice.
Here is the best scene in the episode. Maggie and David are at the grocery store to buy lemonade. Unfortunately, the stock is empty. She starts to slowly unravel, while David tries to calm her down. Then the mother-son pair run into a couple of sorority girls. They’re in the process of buying every single container of lemonade in honor of Beyonce. Maggie calmly asks for a couple of bottles. One of the sorority sisters tells Maggie that if her husband is dying for some lemonade, she can make it herself. Here’s the back-and-forth that takes place:
Maggie: You’re going to give me three bottles before I beat them out of you…
Sorority Sister: Whoa… What did you just say to me?
Maggie: You heard me
David: Mom, it’s uh. —
Maggie: I have bras older than you.
Sorority Sister: That’s not even a diss.
Maggie: Oh, it’s a diss. It’s a damn diss!
Back at SPRQPOINT, everyone is racing to find a replacement for Charlie. Max comes up with potential save via Mr. Nintendo Shigeru Miyamoto. While making the call to Miyamoto, Joan informs the team that Charlie is back in. An exhilarated Max returns only to find out that his help is no longer needed.
Mo shows up at SPRQPOINT. Zoey reveals that she feels bad for Joan and even though “Satisfaction” is no longer plaguing her, Zoey still wants to help Joan.
Roundabout: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. In this episode, Zoey goes from trying to avoid helping Joan, reluctantly delving into Joan’s marriage issues so she can stop hearing “Satisfaction” to wanting to help Joan even after Mick Jagger has stopped strutting.
Zoey gets a call from prison and finds out that Maggie has been banned from the grocery store for life. After a sweet brother-sister chat, the Clarke siblings decide to create a schedule to give Mom a break. Before that discussion can take place, Zoey is back at work. Joan is in a bad mood again and reveals to Zoey that she had to beg Charlie to come back.
Roundabout: Charlie is truly awful. Professional and physical attraction aside, I wish there was something else about his character that would explain the reason Joan and Charlie’s marriage has lasted 20 years.
Zoey returns home to have a family discussion with her brother and Mother. The discussion concludes with this whopper of a line mentioned on page 1, but it’s worth repeating.
There is nothing in the world that I love more than your smile. But not if it isn’t real. So maybe if we take a little bit off your plate… you can find that real smile again.
Mitch chimes in that Maggie should let the Clarke siblings help.
The episode concludes with the SPRQPOINT event. Charlie bails on the event. Zoey encourages Joan to demo the watch herself. Joan gathers up her courage via Katy Perry‘s “Roar.” The final scene of Zoey’s Extraordinary Boss is the entire SPRQPOINT team on the dance floor including Zoey and Simon.
Roundabout: I actually liked Graham’s voice in this song more than her strong rendition of Satisfaction. Using the different colors of the watch screen in a similar swaying motion to a concert is a nice touch.
Final Thoughts: Satisfaction Guaranteed
Three episodes in and this series is improving with each episode. In light of the direction that Joan appears to be heading in, here’s a song about starting over again:
