Hi, y'all! I can't say enough how much I freaking love this show. It has all the right things: moments that makes you laugh, cry, want to sing along, cringe, etc. It's just something that brings me so much joy that the whole world pauses for an hour on Tuesday nights as I immerse into the world of Zoey and her friends' musical thoughts.

This episode is one of my favorites this show has done thus far, so if you haven't seen it yet STOP! Because this is an official spoiler alert warning!

We pick up right where we left off with Max and Zoey about to ~get it on~ for the first time. Zoey's mom Maggie accidentally disturbs them when she arrives with popcorn for TV night with her daughter. Too comfortable openly discussing Zoey's sex life, she leaves them to it, but of course the moment is ruined. Zoey vows to plan a perfect date night for their first time, which means: what could go wrong?

David and Emily come over and give their own two cents on the Max v.s Simon debate, David pointing out that Max has put in a lot more time and effort into his relationship/friendship with Zoey than Simon. He's not wrong.

Emily's sister shows up with breakfast burritos and it's an awkward moment as everyone gathers at the Clarke household bright and early. Emily starts singing 'Poison' which is an entire mood all of the time. Turns out her sister is a little more spice than sugar, and Emily wants everyone to know it (but only Zoey truly hears it).

As Zoey returns to work, it is so nice to see her goofy side again as she's been really down and out the past few episodes (and rightfully so). She has a lot on her plate as the new watches at SPRQ are literally catching fire on their customers' arms. She confronts Leif, who blames it on Mercury being in retrograde which honestly, fair argument to make.

Our fave coders have a meeting with THE Danny Michael Davis (who is still on house arrest, by the way) who makes Tobin go outside and promotes Simon to head of PR ("I mean my expertise in marketing but okay"). And that's all for Simon this episode! (But it looks like he gets to be front and center next week so...)

Back at Zoey's apartment, she and Max are finally having their romantic dinner date when Mo interrupts from his apartment, blasting opera and being sad. The vibe is very much dead and Zoey vows to figure out what's wrong with Mo so that she and Max can do the dirty. At this point, I'm thinking to myself "these two are never going to sleep together".

Max mentions that Mo was acting weird earlier when he tried to get him to sign the business contract (Mo was acting weird), so Zoey says she will solve it because remember she can ~hear people's thoughts~. So Zoey confronts Mo baby, who is very dismissive but also definitely angelically sings 'Too Good at Goodbyes' by Sam Smith. Zoey doesn't get much out of him, but I realized that we have the same record player! 

At SRPQ, Leif sings 'Baby Did a Bad Thing' which is equal parts adorable and cringey. Poor Leif (I think? He's come a long way from the pilot, y'all). I guess Leif feels guilty for being irresponsible while Zoey was away and he was in charge. We love character growth. 

Max and Mo finally sit down and have a heart to heart, where Mo reveals he had attempted to go into business with a friend once before, but things didn't work out so well because he ended up being selfish and sabotaging his friend. Max has faith that Mo won't do that again, so they make up and decide to go ahead with their business venture. Aww.

There's a whole C plot where Maggie and Jenna (Emily's sister) become pals and decide to babysit Miles so that David and Emily can have a night out. It's kind of an odd pairing but it's fine.

With everyone out of the house, Zoey decorates her childhood bedroom (hiding the giraffe!) as a surprise for Max. Y'all. Skylar Astin (Max, duh) is SO hot. He is just the most gorgeous human. Okay so, he prefaces their sexy times by explaining he went to see a therapist about Zoey's whole hearing songs issue so that if he sang, it would be under control. The only problem is his 'distraction' song is 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame' which is just like...so f'ing awkward.

Zoey and Max undress as Max goes back and forth belting 'I'll Make Love To You' and then trying to maintain his cool with the 7th inning stretch anthem. Zoey is frustrated, and I feel bad for her because this poor woman can never have sex again. Jane Levy is a powerhouse in this episode, because Zoey says so many cringe-worthy, awkward things that she sells so well without coming off as overly quirky. She's human! And an awkward one at that.

Zoey tells Max that the singing doesn't bother her, and that she would rather hear him sing from the heart than be taken out of the moment trying to think about baseball. He feels like he's missing out because he can't hear her thoughts but she can hear his, which is very fair and kind of super invasive on Zoey's part even if it is on accident. When he begins to sing, 'A Moment Like This', Zoey makes it up to him by DUETTING HIM! He's like "girl what are you doing" (ya know, because he doesn't know what he's singing) and she explains that maybe it'll help if she just sings with him.

This show is SO DAMN CLEVER! It works so well, Max's vocals are accompanied by full music and production, while when Zoey sings it's a cappella and sweet. This whole scene is so perfect and beautiful and here! Watch it (or rewatch it!) for yourselves!

Max and Zoey come downstairs in the morning ("Maxwell, would you like some cereal?") while her entire family stares as they deduce what happened. David and Max have a wonderful interaction, and gosh I just love every character on this show.

Mo gives Zoey a horrendous makeover as promised, and Max is just as smitten as ever. This show has beautiful friendships and I love them. But also Zoey should probably never let Mo near her with makeup and a hot tool ever again.

Last but certainly not least, Zoey makes the decision to move some of the "Brogrammers" (who we've literally never met) up to a different floor and bring some of the girl coders down to the 4th floor so that it's more of a workplace and less like a frat house. Tobin is crushed, but hopefully he'll learn some lessons from his female colleagues. 

What did y'all think of the episode? Did you love it as much as I did? What was your favorite musical number? Are you scared that the love triangle will be brought back in full force next week? Let me know!

XO,
​Em

It's no secret that my favorite new show of 2020 was Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. The show has everything I could possibly ask for; likable characters, musical numbers, love stories.  It also doesn't shy away from the tricky topic of grief, which is what this episode is all about (and somehow it is still delightful). 

Honestly, I'm so pumped that this show got renewed and that we get to have more of Zoey's in our lives. If you haven't already watched Season 1, you can check it out on Hulu or on Peacock (NBC's new streaming service). 

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't watched the Season 2 premiere of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, "Zoey's Extraordinary Return"...get out!

Last time we saw Zoey, her father Mitch (Peter Gallagher, I miss you already!) passed away. Their relationship was a special one, so it was no surprise that months later she is still grieving this loss. Even the angelic voice of her BFF Mo singing "Rise Up" by Andra Day didn't comfort her.

Zoey is in a rut. She has to return to work, but she doesn't feel ready. To make matters worse, since the death of her father she hasn't heard any 'Heart Songs', which means her musical superpowers are potentially nonexistent. As she emerges from her childhood bedroom in a magenta collared sweater, Mo declares, "You look like a sad Emma Stone Halloween costume." I can't say that he's wrong.

​Zoey's brother David and his wife Emily have welcomed their son into the world, a precious baby named Miles. As Zoey leaves for work Emily cries, "Say hi to a job for me!". Last season it was already clear that Emily was feeling apprehensive to motherhood, and now David feels lost without his father, so it kind of seems like the most stressful time to be welcoming a little one into the world. Also, David and Zoey's mom, Maggie, won't hold the baby. So there's that.

Zoey gets coffee with her hot best friend Max, who she may or may not have made out with in the season finale. She's been avoiding everybody these days and apologizes. He gives her a ring that he made for her (not for engagement purposes!). It's a shield with a music note turned backward to look like a Z. It's probably the sweetest gift somebody has never gotten for me. If you're not #TeamMax at this point, what are you even doing?

As soon as Zoey arrives at work, all of her coworkers begin serenading her with "Hello Dolly", to which she is both terrified and surprised (because she thought her powers were gone!). With her absence and Lauren Graham's Joan getting a promotion, Leif has been put in charge and now everyone has standing desks and is playing with dogs? There's even a new replacement for Max, who famously quit last season to pursue other avenues. 

Joan offers Zoey her job, essentially, as she is being promoted yet again and is on the move. This is sad because we LOVE Joan! Zoey has to think about it because she is hella overwhelmed at the moment. She goes to see Mo who is just causally hanging out with Max and Simon (Zoey's other love interest). Turns out with Zoey off the grid, they've all gotten pretty close.

Zoey tries to hang, but can't when the boys assure her that they aren't going to be fighting over her and then break out into "Are You Gonna Be my Girl?". Zoey's head is spinning and she mostly just misses her dad, so she leaves. When she tells Mo she can hear singing again, he says, "So the powers are back! You're interesting again!" Have I mentioned how much I adore Mo?

Zoey's mom is having trouble finalizing a lot of things that you finalize when someone dies, and can't seem to get into Mitch's computer. Zoey reminds her that she is literally a professional coder and does it within seconds. On his computer they find videos addressed to each of them (and David of course), recorded before Mitch's voice completely gave out. It is absolutely heartbreaking and cut short because of how difficult it is to watch and listen to, but I love seeing Peter Gallagher again. 

Next time Zoey goes to work, she fully loses her shit. George (the new Max) is annoying her and his heart song makes her yell at Tobin (I love Tobin) for teasing him. Joan is still pressuring her to take her job ("I like your sweater. It's so cute that you shop at Etsy.") She completely lashes out and leaves work early, going home to her bed and to be with her mother. 

Joan comes to visit her and explains that she is leaving, and completely understands that Zoey needs some space and time. David and Emily come over for dinner and Maggie explains that holding Miles is difficult for her because she wanted to be a grandparent with Mitch, and feels it's unfair to him that she gets to do it and he doesn't.

Then, I kid you not, the opening notes of "Carry On" began to play and I said out loud to absolutely no one, "Oh no." Because, if you know this song, you know it's already super sad, but having a bunch of grieving people sing and dance to it? TEN TIMES SADDER. I then burst into tears, which was only interrupted by the fact that they let Mary Steenburgen sing a little too much and her voice is not the strongest, in my opinion. I was personally hoping Jane Levy would hop in for a verse, even if she's the only one hearing it.

Lastly, Max stops by to tell Zoey about his new business venture idea him and Mo want to start, and asks her permission because Mo was Zoey's friend first. Zoey is supportive, of course. 

She then tells Max that she is sorry for being so absent lately, and that his scruff is super hot (she doesn't say this, but I do). She holds his hand on her bed and tells him she's had a lot of time to think about what happened the night her dad passed away and then she leans in for a kiss and I'm like WHAT. WHAT. WHAAAAAT.

I only say 'what' that many times in all caps because most TV shows love to drag out their love triangles for as long as humanly possible. I honestly did not think we'd get any resolution whatsoever this early into the season, and that the boys' musical number was all the attention that would be paid to it for now. I think this decision is for the best and makes the most sense, even from my biased #TeamMax perspective.

Simon is gorgeous and sweet, but I think Max is in it for Zoey in the long haul and it's so much better to just establish that now rather than go back and forth and let Zoey hurt both of them. Introduce a new character for Simon! Let's watch Zoey and Max fall in love and have a great storyline!

All in all, I loved this episode and I adore this show so much. I hope it continues thriving in ratings and just being the best all around. If you haven't checked out Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, I cannot explain how badly I need you to.

XO,
Em