S01.E07: Zoey's Extraordinary Confession

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Where is the queen sized bed that Max moved downstairs?  Did she get the hospital bed delivery people to move it upstairs?  Did she throw it out?

IRL, when my mom got moved full time to a hospital bed, her queen sized bed did go away. 

But in this show, Max was able to bring the queen sized bed down a flight of stairs in a tuxedo/fancy suit, so the Clarkes must've bought their bed at the same place Doctor Who got his TARDIS, and so now it has traveled back through some sort of wormhole to some place in the Clarke house.

Just kidding. Likely the people who brought the hospital bed were also hired to disassemble and store the queen bed in their spacious home's basement, and then the reverse happened lickity split.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

11 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

IRL, when my mom got moved full time to a hospital bed, her queen sized bed did go away. 

But in this show, Max was able to bring the queen sized bed down a flight of stairs in a tuxedo/fancy suit, so the Clarkes must've bought their bed at the same place Doctor Who got his TARDIS, and so now it has traveled back through some sort of wormhole to some place in the Clarke house.

Just kidding. Likely the people who brought the hospital bed were also hired to disassemble and store the queen bed in their spacious home's basement, and then the reverse happened lickity split.

It would have made more sense to put it back upstairs in the empty master bedroom.

Mitch certainly can't be left alone downstairs at night.  If he were in the hospital bed, Maggie would have to sleep on the couch since there is no night aide.

[luna1122]

I think Jane Levy is adorable and gorgeous, but I can't quite figure out why all these guys are so into Zoey, who is kind of clueless and buttoned up and, beyond her superpower, which they don't see, kind of a cipher. She just doesn't seem that interesting, and she's not at all sexy, tho again, I think Jane Levy is/can be. I don't know.

Conversely, I've never really found Skylar Astin especially hot or interesting--I couldn't figure out why Anna Kendrick was into him in Pitch Perfect--but here, he's a total smoke show for me, and that was even before he took off his shirt, which: damn.

I just assumed Leif was gay, so the whole thing with Joan did surprise me.

I loved the flash mob thing, that also took me by surprise, so kudos, show.

I know the subordinate/supervisor thing romance thing is ill advised, but it doesn't really bother me here. Or in real life, apparently, as my honey was technically my, um, underling (it was just a mostly silly retail job, I had no real power, unlike Joan or Zoey, in this instance) when we began our relationship and we've been together 16 years. But yeah, they should really address it, in both cases. And Zoey should shut Max down with it, especially if she's really not interested in him.

Maybe the company has one of those policies where they can date, as long as it's all disclosed to HR?

[AllyB]

What the hell Mitch's new healthcare worker? Putting spinach in a chocolate milkshake is just disgusting and won't blend properly. Maybe make the shake with frozen banana, dates and cacao powder if you want to make it healthy. Don't randomly add spinach to ice-cream. Bleaugh!

[shapeshifter]

16 hours ago, AllyB said:

What the hell Mitch's new healthcare worker? Putting spinach in a chocolate milkshake is just disgusting and won't blend properly. Maybe make the shake with frozen banana, dates and cacao powder if you want to make it healthy. Don't randomly add spinach to ice-cream. Bleaugh!

Really? If I had a blender I’d try it. There are quite a few chocolate-spinach smoothie recipes online. 
But I think the main reason they included the spinach in the scene was to reassure us that even though that care giver looked kind of out-of-shape that he was going to be health conscious when it came to Mitch’s nutrition. 
 

ETA: And the not-uptight home healthcare provider putting stealth spinach into the chocolate smoothie demonstrates that he can match the nutritional requirements (and, therefore, other health requirements) of the first, rigid healthcare provider while still giving Mitch what he likes

Edited March 27, 2020 by shapeshifter

[ElectricBoogaloo]

12 hours ago, AllyB said:

What the hell Mitch's new healthcare worker? Putting spinach in a chocolate milkshake is just disgusting and won't blend properly. Maybe make the shake with frozen banana, dates and cacao powder if you want to make it healthy. Don't randomly add spinach to ice-cream. Bleaugh!

 

9 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Really? If I had a blender I’d try it. There are quite a few chocolate-spinach smoothie recipes online. 
But I think the main reason they included the spinach in the scene was to reassure us that even though that care giver looked kind of out-of-shape that he was going to be health conscious when it came to Mitch’s nutrition. 

I used to make smoothies with frozen pineapple juice and spinach/kale and the blender made everything nice and smooth. No green chunks or weird texture at all and I couldn't taste the veggies at all!

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

12 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But I think the main reason they included the spinach in the scene was to reassure us that even though that care giver looked kind of out-of-shape that he was going to be health conscious when it came to Mitch’s nutrition

 

Also: The not-uptight home healthcare provider putting stealth spinach into the chocolate smoothie demonstrates that he can match the nutritional requirements (and, therefore, other health requirements) of the first, rigid healthcare provider while still giving Mitch what he likes. 

[luna1122]

I make a kale/spinach smoothie with berries and sometimes cocoa every morning and it blends up just fine, no overtly big chunks of green stuff. i'd totally drink that milk shake.

[Empress1]

7 hours ago, luna1122 said:

I make a kale/spinach smoothie with berries and sometimes cocoa every morning and it blends up just fine, no overtly big chunks of green stuff. i'd totally drink that milk shake.

I make smoothies with fruit and spinach and kale (usually both spinach and kale, together) all the time. I've done so three times this week. Kale has a more pronounced taste and texture (it's tougher; you can blend it smooth but it takes more blending), but spinach in smoothies really doesn't taste like anything and it doesn't show up texturally. Blending spinach into stuff is a key way to trick picky kids into eating veggies because you can't taste it.

14 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I used to make smoothies with frozen pineapple juice and spinach/kale and the blender made everything nice and smooth. No green chunks or weird texture at all and I couldn't taste the veggies at all!

Pineapple is a good mixer because it's so sweet. (It also masks the taste of a lot of alcohol, which got me in trouble in college. "Is there alcohol in this?")

On 3/26/2020 at 8:26 AM, luna1122 said:

I think Jane Levy is adorable and gorgeous, but I can't quite figure out why all these guys are so into Zoey, who is kind of clueless and buttoned up and, beyond her superpower, which they don't see, kind of a cipher. She just doesn't seem that interesting, and she's not at all sexy, tho again, I think Jane Levy is/can be. I don't know.

Conversely, I've never really found Skylar Astin especially hot or interesting--I couldn't figure out why Anna Kendrick was into him in Pitch Perfect--but here, he's a total smoke show for me, and that was even before he took off his shirt, which: damn.

I can see it with Simon (who I think is so hot) because of the emotional connection. He's reeling from losing his dad and he's found someone who can empathize with him, and he's comforted by that.

Skylar Astin tends to play kind of goofy sweet guys, which a lot of people are drawn to, including me. I don't think he's particularly hot (thought I didn't know he was hiding that body-ody-ody under those sensible shirts) but a guy who goes to all that "500 miles" kind of trouble to be there for me is a guy I'm definitely going to look at twice. I also love men who can sing; I can sing, we can sing together! (The flash mob was a check in the "con" column for me though.)

[possibilities]

I think the guys attracted to Zoey are attracted to her for emotional reasons. They've shared intimate, deep relationship moments, they've bonded, and that created interest because both Max and Simon are looking for a serious relationship, not a flash in the pan hook up.

I think it's refreshing for a TV show to consider, since often women are portrayed to like that and men are often portrayed to just want big boobs or something.

But making Simon engaged to someone else, and Max a butthead both this week and last, makes the whole endeavor kind of nauseating and a bore (for me). I don't like triangles even when the participants are basically decent. I find them truly annoying when we're being asked to invest in a situation where both "options" are behaving badly and the "focal person" is totally drained by the whole thing. Why would someone want to watch that?

 

 

[Bill1978]

On 3/26/2020 at 11:26 PM, luna1122 said:

I just assumed Leif was gay, so the whole thing with Joan did surprise me.

I thought I was the only one. Even in this episode I was getting that impression, especially when he was talking about wanting the same chips as the guy he was fishing with. But I know there have been other comments within the show where it's clear he is all about the ladies.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I think that regardless of whether Leif is gay, straight, or bi, it's obvious that he is not actually attracted to Joan or interested in her as anything but a stepping stone for his career.

[CarpeFelis]

On 3/23/2020 at 1:47 PM, dubbel zout said:

That's how I see most public proposals and declarations of love. It's a performance for the person giving it more than the person receiving it. "Look at me! Look how loving and thoughtful I am!" Yeah, no.

Reminds me of an episode of The Two Coreys that left me shaking my head. Corey Feldman set up this big romantic thing to surprise his wife when she came home from shopping. So he’s all dressed up and singing this love song to her, getting it all on camera—and she’s still in a tracksuit. It was so obviously all about him, not her. No big surprise they ended up divorced.

One thing that surprised me about Max and the flash mob was that Zoe never expressed any surprise that he could sing and dance like that for real. Had that ever been something that came up about his background?

Mo and Eddie singing Bailamos was my favorite part of the episode. Well, that and Eddie in his underwear wanting “breakfast”! (Weirdly enough, I was walking on my treadmill to get steps in, it was set at 2 mph, and my steps were exactly on the beat with that song.)

Leif is such a backstabber. I didn’t buy his “‘we’ will run this place someday” to Tobin one bit. He’ll leave footprints on Tobin’s back if he thinks it’ll give him an edge. And totally agree with everyone who thinks he’ll either bring a sexual harassment charge against Joan and/or blackmail her with the idea of one. Plus, that whole “this is inappropriate” speech immediately followed by them kissing? Such a cliche. I would’ve preferred Joan not falling for it and then Leif later lying that she did.

[HappyBerry]

5 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

Plus, that whole “this is inappropriate” speech immediately followed by them kissing? Such a cliche. I would’ve preferred Joan not falling for it and then Leif later lying that she did.

I was excited when I thought it was going to happen. I was cheering Joan on, and then nope.... 

It's actually getting really frustrating because the show will look like it's setting you up for a trope subversion and instead it dives right in instead. 

[bros402]

8 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

Leif is such a backstabber. I didn’t buy his “‘we’ will run this place someday” to Tobin one bit. He’ll leave footprints on Tobin’s back if he thinks it’ll give him an edge.

Yeah, I mean just look at Leif's song in the pilot - he will do whatever it takes to win.

[Clanstarling]

9 hours ago, HappyBerry said:

14 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

Plus, that whole “this is inappropriate” speech immediately followed by them kissing? Such a cliche. I would’ve preferred Joan not falling for it and then Leif later lying that she did.

I was excited when I thought it was going to happen. I was cheering Joan on, and then nope.... 

It's actually getting really frustrating because the show will look like it's setting you up for a trope subversion and instead it dives right in instead. 

Although I didn't like the scene particularly, I think it could also be interpreted as Joan using Lief. Which isn't any better in terms of propriety and legal issues, but it gives her some agency and doesn't make her a victim.

[aradia22]

I get what they were going for but that was a terrible song choice for Mary to start the episode. That's... not what that song is about.

I liked that the flash mob meant animated faces in the group musical number but the filming is still bad. The camera was moving too quickly.

I almost loved Mo and Eddie's dance number but the vocals were too canned and the filming was terrible. There was nothing sexy about the camera just drifting and circling.

Months???

I rolled my eyes a little at the professional woman being an unfeeling strict robot that had to be ditched for the fun, sloppy guy. It was an extreme either or. 

I appreciated the Max/Zoey conflict this episode. I didn't feel like he was just pretending to want friendship when he really wanted a romantic relationship. And it made sense for him to need some distance when she said she couldn't reciprocate... at least not right now. 

100% did not see it coming that Leif was trying to seduce Joan. Wild.

Quote

Yeah, that app is even worse than I thought. Searching personal databases? No way is that ethical. I’m surprised Zoey didn’t say something about it. 

I really thought Zoey would call them on it at the meeting and either Joan or Leif would get upset at her. By expanding it from people's names to kale chips I feel like they were going for something like a QR code or those camera phone apps that can do rough comparison searches but yeah... still a giant mess.

Quote

This could go well or it could go very bad depending on how the writers want to play it, i hope it's more of a we're friends and it eventually does become something more and not, I'll keep pining away and putting in nice coins until the zoey machine pays out. It can be a subtle thing to write. 

Exactly. That's why I support Max backing off. He didn't have a tantrum and give her an ultimatum. And he's not hanging around playing Nice Guy hoping for a reward. Creating some distance feels like the right move to show that he's not cutting ties but also not denying his feelings hoping it'll earn him points if he continues to do things for her.

Quote

 feel like they came up with the idea to make Max's number "real" and liked that twist so much they didn't care how it messed up the arc for Max and Zoey. It felt way too soon/abrupt for him to be making huge declarations of love when he's barely hinted at feelings for Zoey aloud (aside from his songs).

It feels weird because 1) we've never learned anything about Max that would indicate that he enjoys singing, dancing, or performing and 2) it was too big of a gesture. If they wanted to do a musical number that Zoey might not have realized was real, it would have made more sense for him to grab a guitar and do something small. A flash mob is for like a marriage proposal. (Note: I think a flash mob is terrible at all times but it makes more sense for a grand gesture)

Quote

She’s known as a songwriter but in the press for the show she said that she doesn’t consider herself a singer. Before this she’s only done a little bit of singing. 

I don't know if she was involved in the creation of this show but I know she claims something similar happened to her. She went in for an operation with routine anesthesia and afterwards she kept hearing music and was compelled to teach herself music and to start writing songs. Or something like that.

[bros402]

11 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I don't know if she was involved in the creation of this show but I know she claims something similar happened to her. She went in for an operation with routine anesthesia and afterwards she kept hearing music and was compelled to teach herself music and to start writing songs. Or something like that.

I do not believe she was involved in the creation of the show, but she has only had her thoughts in musical form since a minor surgery - https://www.indiewire.com/2019/11/mary-steenburgen-jessie-buckley-wild-rose-glasgow-best-original-song-1202189233/

"10 years ago, when the “Melvin and Howard” star woke up after a minor arm surgery feeling like her mind was on fire.

“I felt strange as soon as the anesthesia started to wear off,” Steenburgen said. “The best way I can describe it is that it just felt like my brain was only music, and that everything anybody said to me became musical. All of my thoughts became musical. Every street sign became musical. I couldn’t get my mind into any other mode."

[Prower]

On 3/23/2020 at 3:02 AM, dubbel zout said:

Zoey! Max is your direct report! That is reason enough not to get romantically involved with him! FFS. You shouldn't really be best friends, but I can hand wave that for the show.

I always forget how weird americans are about that relationship workplace stuff. That didn't even cross my mind.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Prower

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Zoey Tells Max She Has a Superpower

Max Ends His Friendship with Zoey

Alex Newell as Mo Sings Enrique Iglesias' "Bailamos"

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Trini]

(Everywhere else this episode is titled "Zoey's Extraordinary Confession". I don't know if that's something that needs to be corrected?)

The flash mob kind of showed how weird it is to just have people start singing and dancing out of nowhere. Obviously, I can deal with it in a fantasy TV show, but in 'real life' it is odd.

Even though we the audience and Zoey knew how Max felt, the Big Gesture did seem to come out of nowhere.

I know Tobin is written as a character we're supposed to 'love' to hate, but he just grates to me. From the first episode I knew the episode was coming to show that 'no, wait, he has layers!'. "Don't Speak" was amusing though; but I already love that song.

I was relieved but also surprised that Zoey finally told Max about her 'superpower'. I wasn't sure if the show was always going to keep it just between Zoey and Mo. I don't think Max fully believes her, but it is something that is hard to prove and believe.

I suppose the Strict Healthcare Nurse was there to show what the family will have to face later on; but I don't think they needed someone so "extreme" (but not really) to do that.

Joan/Leif - Oh, Nooooo. Both of them should know better; and there's no scenario where this ends well. Why??!

[zoey1996]

On 5/12/2020 at 7:52 PM, Trini said:

(Everywhere else this episode is titled "Zoey's Extraordinary Confession". I don't know if that's something that needs to be corrected?)

I just watched this episode, and came here to read the forum.  I noticed the titles didn’t match as at first I wasn’t sure this thread was about the ep I’d just watched.  Never mind; they all match now.

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by zoey1996