S01.E02: Zoey’s Extraordinary Best Friend

[Guest]

27 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I’m feeling a little slow here. What is the love triangle/rhombus? The only thing I picked up on was Zoey and her best friend/team member/supervisee. 

Zoey, Max (best friend) and Simon (Zoey’s crush). I’m not sure about the fourth for the rhombus but maybe Autumn. 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Dani said:

Zoey, Max (best friend) and Simon (Zoey’s crush). I’m not sure about the fourth for the rhombus but maybe Autumn. 

Simon’s fiancé. Is that Autumn? Still learning names.

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, deaja said:

Simon’s fiancé. Is that Autumn? Still learning names.

I think her name is Jessica. She was my second guess. Autumn is the girl Zoey fixed up with Max. The way Zoey was watching Max and Autumn through the window made me think that she was a little jealous. 

Edited February 22, 2020 by Guest

[possibilities]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I am just now recalling how Eli Stone's musical hallucinations were 

  Hide contents

ultimately revealed to be a brain tumor

and wondering if this is at least in part where this show is going.

She had an MRI, though. That would have revealed a tumor if one existed.

[Dowel Jones]

This isn't really a spoiler but, since it is in response to tagged material, so be it.

Spoiler

The MRI malfunctioned, didn't it?  That's how all the songs in the playlist were implanted in her brain.  Or so I thought.

 

[bros402]

40 minutes ago, Dowel Jones said:

This isn't really a spoiler but, since it is in response to tagged material, so be it.

  Hide contents

The MRI malfunctioned, didn't it?  That's how all the songs in the playlist were implanted in her brain.  Or so I thought.

 

That is correct.

 

Spoiler

So they could always say that since the MRI malfunctioned, must've not gotten a correct image, didn't get the right slice of the brain, etc. etc.

 

[shapeshifter]

When the MRI machine malfunctioned in the previous episode, did they ever redo it or get definitive results? 

Now I'm thinking of that trope in which a main character gets hit on the head and has amnesia, which is cured by another hit on the head.

[possibilities]

I forget why she was getting an MRI in the first place, but I just had one and if the machine had malfunctioned, any tech on the planet would schedule a repeat to get the correct images. So... that's weird on the part of the show, to just drop it.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, possibilities said:

I forget why she was getting an MRI in the first place, but I just had one and if the machine had malfunctioned, any tech on the planet would schedule a repeat to get the correct images. So... that's weird on the part of the show, to just drop it.

She was having headaches and eye pain and was concerned because of her father’s condition. There was no sense of urgency and written like she was just being paranoid to be concerned. It was basically just a plot device. 

Edited February 23, 2020 by Guest

[Frisson]

On 2/18/2020 at 2:20 PM, jmonique said:

Yeah, I'm with those who find it easier to believe Zoey can see everyone singing and dancing than it is to believe she's repelled by the idea of Max crushing on her.

Wow, the only thing I’ve ever seen Skylar Astin in is Hamlet 2, where he played a talented but obsessed student, and it does not inspire any sexy feelings. I’m almost shocked by others’ sentiments regarding his hotness. 

Edited February 23, 2020 by Frisson

[Clanstarling]

27 minutes ago, Frisson said:

Wow, the only thing I’ve ever seen Skylar Astin in is Hamlet 2, where he played a talented but obsessed student, and it does not inspire any sexy feelings. I’m almost shocked by others’ sentiments regarding his hotness. 

I'm not shocked by it, but I sure don't get it.

[ams1001]

On 2/17/2020 at 6:02 PM, dcalley said:

I guess this wouldn't have exactly worked with the plot, but I desperately wanted Zoey's mom to just write the alphabet down and point to each letter, waiting for Mitch to buzz yes. I assume he can still spell. I hope the family gets some sort of a communication board for him now.

The show Speechless did a similar thing with a letter board (with the alphabet and some common words) and a light pointer (which was attached to an earpiece so he could just move his head to point to the letter and have someone "read" what he was saying). The character had cerebral palsy and was nonverbal (the actor also has CP, but can speak). Zoey's dad might not be able to do the pointer thing, though.

On 2/17/2020 at 8:56 PM, buckboard said:

Yes, I just saw a week or so ago a system where a paralyzed man was able to spell out words on a computer with his eyes, so it should be possible for Zoey to create a program like that for her dad.

Stephen Hawking controlled his "voice" and his chair with small muscle movements in his cheek (which was about all the muscle control he had left; apparently the computer scanned the letters/words and he would move his cheek to stop it and select a letter/word.)

[buckboard]

On 2/22/2020 at 12:37 PM, possibilities said:

I forget why she was getting an MRI in the first place, but I just had one and if the machine had malfunctioned, any tech on the planet would schedule a repeat to get the correct images. So... that's weird on the part of the show, to just drop it.

It's not weird that they didn't repeat the MRI, because finding out what was wrong with her was never the point of the test.  It was just a plot device to get the story going.  The malfunction, the people singing that only Zoey can hear - all a lovely fantasy.  No need for us to examine the logic of it all.  

Remember from high school English?  A "willing suspension of disbelief."  This is a creative drama, not a documentary.  For an hour once a week, I believe that Zoey -- and only Zoey - can hear people singing.   Now, if in real life, my neighbor told me that since his MRI malfunctioned, he has heard people singing, I'd suggest he get a second opinion on the testing and go to see a psychiatrist.

[bros402]

7 hours ago, ams1001 said:

The show Speechless did a similar thing with a letter board (with the alphabet and some common words) and a light pointer (which was attached to an earpiece so he could just move his head to point to the letter and have someone "read" what he was saying). The character had cerebral palsy and was nonverbal (the actor also has CP, but can speak). Zoey's dad might not be able to do the pointer thing, though.

I believe it was attached to his glasses, not an earpiece.

Yeah, I don't know if her dad would have that much movement - something closer to Stephen Hawking's setup would probably be better for him.

[Mermaid Under]

Mary Steenburgen is tone deaf, but that was definitely her voice, because why would they dub something that bad.  I wasn't sure that it was Lauren Graham singing, and she had a lot of numbers in last night's episode.  Do they claim that no one is dubbed?

[Chicago Redshirt]

So far, my issues with the show revolve around the sassy black quasi-friend. Putting aside the stereotype of her, which is hard to do, I'm annoyed that at this point she is the only one that Zoe has let in on her secret power.

Not her best friend. Not her family. Rando neighbor that she doesn't even really like and who doesn't really like her. Like if they had set the show up so that sassy black neighbor was her roommate or actual friend, I could get telling her. But I can't get telling her and not a single person she's actually close to.

Like tell Max she is having this happen to her but leave out that she's heard him singing about being in love with her. Or be an actual grown-up rather than a rom-com stereotype and talk to Max about his feelings. I find it hard to believe that Max hasn't made his interest in her obvious if they have progressed to the point where he would spontaneously stop by her dad's place to drop off a fancy desert.

Tell mom and brother that Dad is communicating with her by song. 

Mind you, I still enjoyed these first two episodes a good deal. But that particular set of idiot balls is going to increasingly annoy me.

[Court]

2 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

So far, my issues with the show revolve around the sassy black quasi-friend. Putting aside the stereotype of her, which is hard to do, I'm annoyed that at this point she is the only one that Zoe has let in on her secret power.

Not her best friend. Not her family. Rando neighbor that she doesn't even really like and who doesn't really like her. Like if they had set the show up so that sassy black neighbor was her roommate or actual friend, I could get telling her. But I can't get telling her and not a single person she's actually close to.

Like tell Max she is having this happen to her but leave out that she's heard him singing about being in love with her. Or be an actual grown-up rather than a rom-com stereotype and talk to Max about his feelings. I find it hard to believe that Max hasn't made his interest in her obvious if they have progressed to the point where he would spontaneously stop by her dad's place to drop off a fancy desert.

Tell mom and brother that Dad is communicating with her by song. 

Mind you, I still enjoyed these first two episodes a good deal. But that particular set of idiot balls is going to increasingly annoy me.

Her neighbor is a him or rather he identifies as a non gender conforming man. 

 

I actually think it makes perfect sense that she tells someone that she isn't super close to. 

[MVFrostsMyPie]

Finally got around to watching this show! I frequently like to daydream about my life being a musical (and I'm one of those people who can (annoyingly) find a song that has the same or similar lyrics to most phrases a coworker or friend might say... if that was an improv game, I'd win!), but the thing that won me over is that it's set in SF. 

I get a kick out of seeing the places I walk to and around every day being on TV... except much cleaner and with no poop or needles or tents or passed out people or on the sidewalk. Also, LOL as always at her being able to afford that apartment of hers, even with her tech salary, and how she unrealistically ends up getting from one part of a city to another in just a few minutes (or seconds). And I always enjoy more opportunities to laugh and/or roll my eyes at techie bros. 

 

 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

I frequently like to daydream about my life being a musical (and I'm one of those people who can (annoyingly) find a song that has the same or similar lyrics to most phrases a coworker or friend might say... if that was an improv game, I'd win!)

Hah! So I’m not the only one! Maybe we need to create this game, and sell it online with videos of us! I am now doing freelance book illustrating, so we could avoid copyright issues. 
My mom used to burst out with popular tunes too, but for the past 2 years (she’s now 91 years old) she has reached a state much like Zoey’s father. I was thinking of quitting this show, but you, @MVFrostsMyPie, have encouraged me to continue for now. 
 

 

 

17 hours ago, Mermaid Under said:

I wasn't sure that it was Lauren Graham singing, and she had a lot of numbers in last night's episode.  Do they claim that no one is dubbed?

My daughter asked the same. It sounded like her to me, and Lauren Graham did do a short-lived “Guys and Dolls” on Broadway. 

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Court said:

I actually think it makes perfect sense that she tells someone that she isn't super close to. 

I agree.

11 hours ago, Court said:

Not her best friend. Not her family. Rando neighbor that she doesn't even really like and who doesn't really like her. 

She told her father and the rest of her family is already overwhelmed. She started to tell Max and only stopped when she discovered he was in love with her. I would be very surprise if he doesn’t find out before long. 
 

It’s not like she decided to confide in her random neighbor. Mo was the first person she saw after it happened for the first. She only knocked on the door because she thought it was happening again and was trying to figure out what the hell was going on. 

[Clanstarling]

7 hours ago, MVFrostsMyPie said:

Finally got around to watching this show! I frequently like to daydream about my life being a musical (and I'm one of those people who can (annoyingly) find a song that has the same or similar lyrics to most phrases a coworker or friend might say... if that was an improv game, I'd win!), but the thing that won me over is that it's set in SF. 

Whereas I tend to Weird Al-ize songs I hear. A few lines at best, but some of them are pretty good.

There was a song when my kids were little, a rhyming song that used the child's name and one of the lyrics was "an elephant sat on <name>" - I thought that was a bit rude. So I put in the names of people who truly deserved to be sat on by an elephant. Gaadafi was one of them, as I recall. 😄

[aradia22]

The opening was so confusing. The lip-syncing is such that if I don't recognize the actor's voice, it's hard to tell if they're singing because they're so clearly lip-syncing. Aside from that the unrestrained dorkiness and earnestness REALLY worked for me. Unlike the wishy washy group numbers of the pilot, I felt like the director of this episode got it. Or maybe it was the performers all being committed. But this struck the right tone. It was joyful and heightened enough to hit that absurdist note.

Are they ever going to explain how Mo can afford that HUGE and beautifully decorated San Francisco apartment?

Max wooing Zoey with a Jonas brothers song SLAYED me. So funny. It does make me sad that apparently the only guy on her all-male programming team who doesn't resent her being in charge is the one who has a crush on her.

A scavenger hunt seems like an overly complicated thing to spring on a user base last minute that might not even enjoy scavenger hunts. I'm sure this won't go poorly.

Immediately recognized Stephanie Styles. I have a problem. My musical theater radar is too good. I Wanna Dance With Somebody lost me again. It sounded great but too many of these group numbers fall back into that flat-expression flash mob vibe. I think part of the problem is you really need to know how to shoot a musical number. They're so focused on Zoey's experience of the music that it's not being shot in a way where you connect to the people performing or appreciate the choreography. It just feels like a flash mob. 

Seeing that Guys and Dolls era Peter Gallagher awaken for musical numbers is just magical.

I am LOVING the styling for Mo.

It felt like a writer contrivance to ignore all of Mo's suggestions and jump to Zoey deciding, wow, this power is random, I'm not going to investigate. It just seemed like the writers aren't ready to define the rules yet. 

[Trini]

I do understand why they not addressing the how and why of Zoey's new powers, but it's still a little disappointing to me. She's really not going to get a professional opinion at all?

Anyway, I'm liking most of this. Both of Zoey's love interests are good, but one has a clear advantage and is probably the one they're going to go with.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Zoey and Mo Solve the Moondance Mystery

Zoey's Uncomfortable Chat Cut Short by Max

 

[AAEBoiler]

On 2/17/2020 at 2:16 PM, sigmaforce86 said:

Also Andrew Leeds as David because I can't see him as anything but the evil Pelant who tried to frame and kill Bones & Booth multiple times.  Very hard to look past the former character and see him as "nice guy" now.

I agree 110%! It's very distracting when he's on screen because i keep expecting him to break into an evil monologue. It must be hard for an actor to break that image that has become ingrained in some of the audience.