S01.E08: Zoey's Extraordinary Glitch

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

After receiving heartbreaking news, Zoey suffers a mysterious "glitch" in her powers.

Airing Sunday, March 29, 2020.

 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I can't help it;  Zoey really needs an MRI!

That was a great (and somewhat scary) episode.

Max filled in for Mo, but I would have liked to see Mo watching Zoey sing and dance.

Edited March 30, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse

[phalange]

I liked the twist of Zoey being the one who sings while everyone else is confused. Having to deal with her own worries in order to stop singing is an interesting way to develop her powers. 

Her singing to Max was sweet and I liked her song to Simon, but that kiss is definitely gonna come back to bite him. I imagine he’s already on thin ice with Jessica.

Tobin was much more tolerable because he actually worked hard to fix what he screwed up. Leif remains the absolute worst. Joan seemed to not understand that he’s using her to get ahead professionally. Or she just doesn’t care?

I’m surprised that Mitch only has a few weeks. I didn’t think they’d kill off his character in the first season. Zoey singing to him was heartbreaking. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I thought for sure Joan was going to put "break up with Leif" on her calendar, and everyone was going to see it.

As soon as the watch started sharing calendars with other people, it should have been shut down.

[ams1001]

I...didn't really like most of this episode...until the very end, at least. I did like "I'm Yours."

Also it made me cry.

 

[Lady Calypso]

Solid episode, even though I spent most of my time through Zoey's songs with the volume very low and watching between my fingers from second hand embarassment. Damn me and my issues with awkward moments like this! 

Max...continues to flip flop for me. One moment, he's a great friend to Zoey. I LOVED that he joined in to help her when she was singing at the CEO. I loved his speech to Zoey at the end when she confessed to him that her dad was dying. And the next, he's acting like a Nice Guy. I really, really hate him when he decides to be pissy at Zoey. He was so thrilled when she sang I'm Yours and then treated her like dirt when he overheard her singing to Simon. So I'm glad Zoey called him out on his behaviour...although I'm pretty sure Zoey knew that she had feelings for Simon, so I felt like she did lie a little bit to Max. Unless she thought that she got over Simon after his engagement party, I feel like she kind of knew about her own feelings.

Speaking of Simon...of course he kisses her while he's still engaged. No, Simon! Bad Simon! Seriously, he's another flip flopper for me. He's so great to Zoey but then he's shitty to his fiancee and now he's kissing Zoey and getting her involved in his mess even further. 

Zoey deserves better than these two, at this point and we're not even through season 1 yet. And it's not like Zoey is a whole lot better, since she IS kind of bouncing back and forth between both guys. 

Joan! Yes, another one who I actually don't like more than like. I actually do not like how she was pushing everything onto Zoey. Her pushing for six months instead of Zoey's proposal of nine months (which turned into a year)? Yes, I get that she's the boss but she acted like it would be all on Zoey if she didn't follow through, even though it's Joan and Leif's project. Zoey is Leif's boss, but Joan is Zoey's boss. Does she not get that she has culpability here? And then she acts buddy-buddy with Zoey when SHE needs something. I dunno, there's a lot of weird dynamics on this show with some sort of weird power struggle and I don't like it. 

I also guess Joan doesn't really care if Leif is using her for career gain. I'm glad Zoey and Max caught on. But with Joan hesitating on breaking things off, she can't really blame anyone but herself when Leif inevitably moves forward to try to ruin Joan once he finds out the truth about his peer review. 

Again, the family stuff is the strongest part of the series and I never really have complaints about it. Ok, David aside (who has been just fine now that he and Zoey have made up), the family scenes are really great. I did tear up at Zoey's song to her dad. I still don't know for sure if they'll have the courage to kill off Mitch and I do fear that they'll find a magical cure through Zoey's power somehow, since they're now establishing a tighter timeline for Mitch, which would be at the end of the season that he would pass. I hope they don't, even though I adore Peter Gallagher. They're definitely in between a rock and a hard place with Mitch. They either have to follow through and lose a character that had a lot of potential, or they have to find a magical cure that also kind of negates a lot of what the family is going through, which would also be unrealistic and unfair. 

No Mo, which was a surprise, mostly because I didn't end up missing him or notice that he wasn't around. Which is odd, because with Zoey's glitch, Mo would probably be the first person she would talk to. However, I like that Max did get more involved with her powers. 

The only songs I was able to actually watch through without my hand over my eyes were I'm Yours and How Do I Live. I did rewind to try to watch I Want You to Want Me. But yeah, the other songs? Nope, couldn't do it. 

[jmonique]

This show is cute, but it's done a horrible job of rounding out Zoey. The audience has no idea what or who she really wants. She's a cypher; they've put so much energy into illustrating her watching other people that the writers forgot to go back and give her goals and inner desires. 

I could see a case for either guy, but I'm just not really drawn into the drama there because it feels like the romance is being written by a shy 13-year-old girl who's never had a date before. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

5 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

Again, the family stuff is the strongest part of the series and I never really have complaints about it. Ok, David aside (who has been just fine now that he and Zoey have made up), the family scenes are really great. I did tear up at Zoey's song to her dad. I still don't know for sure if they'll have the courage to kill off Mitch and I do fear that they'll find a magical cure through Zoey's power somehow, since they're now establishing a tighter timeline for Mitch, which would be at the end of the season that he would pass. I hope they don't, even though I adore Peter Gallagher. They're definitely in between a rock and a hard place with Mitch. They either have to follow through and lose a character that had a lot of potential, or they have to find a magical cure that also kind of negates a lot of what the family is going through, which would also be unrealistic and unfair. 

They could avoid a miracle cure but somehow let Mitch continue as a memory/ghost. Of course since we know everyone could see the glitch they can't really hide behind the idea that everything is in Zoey's mind.

I feel like neither the audience nor Zoey knows Simon well enough to be in love with him. Max has a lot in his favour and it's reasonable for him to feel a bit jerked around, but he has no right to demand that Zoey choose him, only that she not tell him he's the Only One if he isn't.

[ams1001]

23 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

from second hand embarassment

I think this was the primary reason I didn't like it...

[possibilities]

If I was dying, and my spouse never cried, I'd be freaked out by that. I think Mom needs to let Dad see her grieving.

Also, it's bothering me how much Zoey is making it all about herself. We didn't see anyone ask Mitch how he was feeling. Where's his bell? And his computer? All of a sudden he doesn't get a voice? It's cruel.

I think it's realistic that people sometimes have feelings for more than one person. Max can be disappointed, but his anger didn't seem justified to me. Simon ought to be angry, because that song and dance was way inappropriate for the workplace, or anywhere else, given the situation. Zoey is trying not to put her confusion on either of them, and without her "power" she actually was keeping it to herself.

If Max doesn't like the complexity of Zoey, he's not up to being her partner.

Joan's coming off incompetent and a bit stupid and unlikable at this point.

Why would you eat cereal if you don't eat bread? That wasn't some low carb cereal bar.

Tobin was okay this week.

 

[Bulldog]

I'm kind of surprised that so many seem to be painting Leif as some kind of predator.  Joan is clearly the one with all of the power in this scenario.  If the genders were reversed and big, higher ranking, older male boss had kissed young female programmer, I suspect the male boss would be the one being excoriated.  Even if Joan is flattered by the attention or actually has feelings for Leif, she should know this can go nowhere but south.  If she doesn't realize that, then she probably shouldn't be in her position of authority. 

[mommalib]

I want to see where Simon and Zoey go form here. I'm glad they kissed because that line needed to be crossed and maybe now the can be more strait forward about their feelings. Max is good friend material but I can't see Zoey with him romantically.

[shapeshifter]

I’m okay with Ghost Dad. My elderly mother has been unable to talk or move for nearly 2 years. 
 

I thought we were supposed to see the Simon-Zoey kiss was the kiss of death to her feelings for him, as in not hot. 

 

Joan’s claims to Zoey that she knew Lief was just using her seemed like Joan was faking it, as in she hadn’t realized it until that moment and Joan is now off in some isolation pod as I type, crying hot tears of humiliation.

 

[Guest]

I agree with everyone’s criticism but I really like this episode. Probably because is centered on Zoey and I related to her inability to cope with the final stages of her fathers illness. 

Other than that this show has a lot of characters that feel like puzzles. I can see it either coming together in the end or devolving into a mess. 

I haven’t decided yet if it’s a deliberate choice to create complex characters or bad writing. 

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

We didn't see anyone ask Mitch how he was feeling. Where's his bell? And his computer? All of a sudden he doesn't get a voice? It's cruel.

Zoey’s conversation with David implied the exact opposite. They were getting together so that Mitch could make his wishes clearly known. Zoey came in when they were taking a break to get dinner. 

 

26 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

 

I thought we were supposed to see the Simon-Zoey kiss was the kiss of death to her feelings for him, as in not hot. 

I did too. I though Max’s interpretation of the two songs were spot on.

The last few episodes have made me think that Simon and Zoey have pseudo-deep connection. Zoey’s power and their shared dad grief makes them feel bonded when in reality they barely know each other and are not very compatible long term. 
 

ETA: With the way these characters act I would not be surprised if the season ends with Zoey waking up from a coma and finding out the entire season was in her head. 

Edited March 30, 2020 by Guest

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, possibilities said:

Tobin was okay this week.

 

I think Zoey really connected with him last week.

Zoey herself seems to do very little programming lately.

I'm not sure of the purpose of asking for a reusable straw once the plastic straw is unwrapped and in your drink, but I guess it could be to set an example/maintain  "integrity".

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

13 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

I'm not sure of the purpose of asking for a reusable straw once the plastic straw is unwrapped and in your drink, but I guess it could be to set an example/maintain  "integrity".

 

The CEO didn't even pretend to have any integrity. He was constantly lying about his preferences for the amusement of seeing people try to accommodate his whims and then yell PSYCH! 

 

[Shorty186]

What was the song that Zoey sang for the presentation? An article I read said it was "Under Pressure" but that can't be possible unless my brain was having a glitch. The melody and lyrics were completely different.

[twoods]

Wow, that ending was brutal. How Do I Live was the perfect song for her to sing to her dad but it was difficult to watch. At least it wasn’t embarrassing like the other songs (I was looking through my fingers at the song in the board room).

I can see why Max is upset. Zoey sang I’m Yours (which is a song about love) and then sang something else to an engaged guy. She really is into two guys and this triangle continues to get messy. I enjoy her with both characters (I blame it on how charming both actors are) so it will be hard to see who ends up getting hurt.

 

[Guest]

10 minutes ago, Shorty186 said:

What was the song that Zoey sang for the presentation? An article I read said it was "Under Pressure" but that can't be possible unless my brain was having a glitch. The melody and lyrics were completely different.

“Pressure” by Billy Joel

[giovannif7]

23 minutes ago, Shorty186 said:

What was the song that Zoey sang for the presentation? An article I read said it was "Under Pressure" but that can't be possible unless my brain was having a glitch. The melody and lyrics were completely different.

 

11 minutes ago, Dani said:

“Pressure” by Billy Joel

Here's the video of Billy Joel's original version. I was in grad school when this came out, and found it very applicable to my life at the time - which tonight helped me relate to Zoey a lot more than I have up until now.

 

[Dowel Jones]

I would like to know what MRI tech would have "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" on his playlist for patients.  That's just cruel.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Oof, hearing the doctor tell Zoey's entire family that her dad had moved into the next phase (which is basically keep him comfortable and wait for him to die) was rough. I can understand why she was shell shocked and in denial all day.

One of the most disappointing things is that I could tell Crazy had some fun choreography but the camerawork ruined it. I don't understand why tv shows think that if there's a rotating formation, the best way to film it is to spin the camera around. Leave the camera still so that we can see the formation moving!

Ha, I loved when Zoey was singing and dancing in front of the elevator by herself and Max caught her. I really liked that there was a huge contrast between the sharp choreography that Zoey thought she was doing in her head and the awkward flailing that she was doing in real life (especially when she was singing and dancing in front of Danny in the conference room).

I totally cracked up when she asked Tobin how the project was coming and he gave her a thumbs up which he then changed to the so so sign as soon as she wasn't looking. I also loved when he had absolutely no reaction to finding her in the men's room ("Sup, Zoey?") and then asked if they were gossiping.

While I felt bad for Zoey that this was happening to her, I liked that it forced Max to realize that even if he was hurt and upset with her in the previous episode, he still cares about her and wants to make sure that she's okay. That happened to some friends of mine. They got into a huge fight and weren't speaking until something pretty catastrophic happened to one of them. They put aside their hurt feelings because it paled in comparison to what was going on currently. I also liked that this really pushed Max into believing that Zoey's powers are real and not just some elaborate story she made up to get out of the whole flash mob situation.

Anyway, it was really sweet of Max to jump in and start singing with Zoey. It takes a lot to willingly make a fool of yourself like that in front of your boss's boss, and your boss's boss's boss. But I was annoyed that he got so mad at her for singing to Simon too. Just as Zoey couldn't help singing and dancing, she also can't help how she feels about two people.

You can't help it if you're attracted to someone. The only thing you can do is make a conscious decision about whether or not to act on it. She and Simon were in agreement that they would go back to just being coworkers, which was both of them making a choice not to let anything happen between them. She did not want to sing to Simon or admit that she was attracted to him any more than she wanted to dance on the conference room table in front of the CEO and her boss. Max getting mad at her about it was unfair.

I didn't mind that Zoey told Joan she saw her kissing Leif, but I hate that Leif knows too because that means he knows he has a witness for whenever he decides to drop his sexual harassment bomb.

Jane Levy is a good singer when the song is within her range (she sounded great in I'm Yours), but her best performance was How Do I Live because of her sincere emotion. That song came out right around the time that my boyfriend's dad died so the lyrics have always been  literal to me. Jane just broke my heart with that performance.

[Autumn]

I can’t see where they are going with this show.  It could turn out to brilliantly reinvent itself like The Good Place or it could go nowhere.  After these last two episodes of Zoey revealing herself to Max and now the entire office seeing her singing it would seem regressive to go back to the other type of episodes.  I’m starting to think Zoey doesn’t deserve Max.  Yes, he’s a good friend but being jerked around by someone isn’t fun.  Simon seems like a jerk for not recognizing that that mid-meltdown was not the time to kiss her no matter what she was singing to him.

i think by now we get the memo that tech is full of assholes.  We’ve had a Steve Jobs and now a Zuckerberg clone.

I don’t know how they back down from Mitch dying now.  If they pull some last minute miracle out of the hat I think we will all feel manipulated.

[dubbel zout]

I wonder if Peter Gallagher said he wanted to do only one season and that's why Mitch is taking such a dire turn. I'm torn about him dying at the end of the season. On the one hand, the family scenes are usually stronger than the work stuff, but on the other hand, to drag out his condition doesn't give the family scenes much more to go on.

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

I also guess Joan doesn't really care if Leif is using her for career gain. I'm glad Zoey and Max caught on. But with Joan hesitating on breaking things off, she can't really blame anyone but herself when Leif inevitably moves forward to try to ruin Joan once he finds out the truth about his peer review.

That's my take on it. Joan understands the issues, she even spelled them out.

9 hours ago, Bulldog said:

I'm kind of surprised that so many seem to be painting Leif as some kind of predator.  Joan is clearly the one with all of the power in this scenario.  If the genders were reversed and big, higher ranking, older male boss had kissed young female programmer, I suspect the male boss would be the one being excoriated.  Even if Joan is flattered by the attention or actually has feelings for Leif, she should know this can go nowhere but south.  If she doesn't realize that, then she probably shouldn't be in her position of authority. 

Agreed that Joan is the one with all the power, and how it would play out with a gender switch. That, however, doesn't mean Leif isn't a predator. He totally is. It's just his target isn't the weakest gazelle in the herd.

I didn't really like the episode much, Zooey being forced to sing in real life didn't quite feel as charming as her hearing others. But the family scenes wrecked me, and "How Do I Live?" always brings a tear.

Even when I worked in tech, those impossible deadlines were part of the scene. I understand it's even worse now.

[LisaM]

I could not enjoy this episode as much as the previous ones because I was cringing for Zoey the entire time. I barely got through Santa Clause and had to FF through the song in front of the Zuckerberg clone. 

The scenes with the family gutted me. 

[shapeshifter]

27 minutes ago, LisaM said:

I could not enjoy this episode as much as the previous ones because I was cringing for Zoey the entire time. I barely got through Santa Clause and had to FF through the song in front of the Zuckerberg clone. 

11 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

Solid episode, even though I spent most of my time through Zoey's songs with the volume very low and watching between my fingers from second hand embarassment.

Same here. I had missed the first 8 minutes so went to Hulu just now to catch them and wound up re-watching most of it because I had been cringe-watching (looking away) and maybe wanted to rewatch the train wreck scenes like people do IRL. Still, it was so well done that this could be an Emmy offering.

 

 

11 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

guess Joan doesn't really care if Leif is using her for career gain. I'm glad Zoey and Max caught on. But with Joan hesitating on breaking things off, she can't really blame anyone but herself when Leif inevitably moves forward to try to ruin Joan once he finds out the truth about his peer review. 

In my rewatch I noticed Lauren Graham is "Special Guest Star," so maybe all the unlikable parts of her character are grooming the audience for a planned early exit.

 

My only daughter to go the marriage route was dating a Max and a Simon (but not coworkers, and no one engaged) and I am so glad she married the nice guy. 

 

 

[Guest]

12 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I feel like neither the audience nor Zoey knows Simon well enough to be in love with him. Max has a lot in his favour and it's reasonable for him to feel a bit jerked around, but he has no right to demand that Zoey choose him, only that she not tell him he's the Only One if he isn't.

I missed a few episodes, but have been forcibly sucked in because my dad obsessively replays the musical numbers. From the songs, it seems like she has feelings for Max but won't act on them because she's consumed by lust for Simon in a forbidden fruit kind of way. I don't blame her for waffling on Max with his whiny, gaslighting Jekyll/Hyde Nice Guy outbursts. Is he a charming romantic lead (Skyler Astin certainly has all the soft moments that make me said the writers gave him a petulant streak), or a bitter douche? It's weird that the writers think that kind of entitlement is still endearing in 2020. From Max's perspective, though, it should be way more of a turn off that Zoey, while stringing him along, is actively trying to undermine a coworker's engagement. He only called her out about that to whine how he should be the obvious first choice, when in reality, it makes her kind of a shitty person.

I HATE the dying parent trope. It just feels like such a cheap way to score audience pathos.

I'm weirdly warming to Tobin, but I could not care less about Joan/Leif or their fling, which they themselves seem bored to tears by.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Guest
informed about plot I missed

[dubbel zout]

2 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

I'm weirdly warming to Tobin

Same here. I feel like the crap he pulls at work is because he desperately wants to fit in, so he goes overboard at times.

Whereas Lief is a straight out manipulator who has no problems crushing people who get in his way.

[Guest]

18 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

I HATE the dying parent trope. Also I feel like having Peter Gallagher play a severely disabled person by just staring blankly into space is offensive. Not a fan.

I know you mentioned that you missed a few episodes so you probably missed the one with the explanation. His character has Progressive Supranuclear Palsy which is a degenerative neurological disease. The staring blankly into space is part of the progression of the disease. 

[shapeshifter]

31 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Max with his whiny, gaslighting Jekyll/Hyde Nice Guy outbursts. Is he a charming romantic lead (Skyler Astin certainly has all the soft moments that make me said the writers gave him a petulant streak), or a bitter douche? It's weird that the writers think that kind of entitlement is still endearing in 2020

I too have been put off by Nice Max's split personality Mad Max outbursts, but on re-watching this episode, I noticed a brief exchange between Max and Zoey that showed us they are good enough friends to get mad at each other and know it will pass. With so much to watch these days, I think writers and show runners should probably pre-screen episodes for some fresh eyes to get feedback and make changes based on that feedback, because people just don't re-watch like they used to and will miss 15 second character reveals. 

 

 

34 minutes ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

I'm weirdly warming to Tobin

They have done a really great character development (IMO) with this secondary (or tertiary?) character, having him first portrayed as part of a slacker duo, and now that his best bud is bonding with the boss, he realizes he needs to hustle a bit and be an employee worth keeping around.

[SomeTameGazelle]

2 hours ago, LisaM said:

I could not enjoy this episode as much as the previous ones because I was cringing for Zoey the entire time. I barely got through Santa Claus

I was so impressed with the way Jane Levy conveyed that Zoey did not want to be performing that song and dance while singing and dancing, I think I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus was my favourite number of the episode. I wanted to like Zoey's song to her dad but unfortunately I was distracted while it was on and the song itself is not one that emotionally resonates for me.

Her song to Simon made me realise I have no interest in Zoey and Simon as a couple and Max's reaction to it made me root against him as well (even though I'm Yours had just made me hope the show could be trending more in Max's direction).

[chaifan]

Cringeworthy moments aside, I liked this episode.  I thought the flip of Zoey being the one doing the singing, and that it was for real (not in her head) was well placed as to where the show is right now.  I also loved that we got the few glimpses into her "real" voice and "real" dancing abilities.   Did anyone else notice that during Crazy when we were in Zoey's head with her, her hair was perfect in all scenes.  And when we saw the "real" her (as Max did) her hair was an absolute mess?  Just like it would be if someone were doing all that dancing in real life.  I thought that was a cute detail.

I do not see Leif as a predator.  I see him as a schemer.  Joan isn't "prey", but she is the target of a con job.  I don't think his Plan A is to scream sexual harassment, I think he just wants to be teacher's pet and usurp Zoey for as long as possible.  But, I'm sure a sexual harassment claim is his Plan B, for when Plan A comes to an end.

I'm also curious as to how they'll handle Mitch and his presumably inevitable death.  I don't see a miracle cure coming, since they've identified this as a real life disease.  Unless it's been a misdiagnosis all along, and instead he has an operable brain tumor, or something like that.  But that seems like a big cop out for this show. 

I think there's continuity errors with Simon.  Zoey confessed to her mom that she liked him, so this whole "I never knew how I felt until I sang" is just weird.  She had one big ol' crush on him from day one, and she knew it.  That's why I Want You to Want Me makes sense - he's a hot guy (with a hot girlfriend/fiancee), she's a nerdy girl, and she just wants to be wanted by the hot guy she has a crush on.  And that's why I understand Max being crushed - yeah, she's got the feels for him, but he's not the hot guy that she wants. 

And finally, I really missed Mo this episode.  It would have been great to have a Mo/Zoey duet.  And, as Zoey's original confidant, Mo should have been looped in on this new twist in Zoey's powers.  Their absence was conspicuously weird.

 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, chaifan said:

And finally, I really missed Mo this episode.  It would have been great to have a Mo/Zoey duet.  And, as Zoey's original confidant, Mo should have been looped in on this new twist in Zoey's powers.  Their absence was conspicuously weird.

 

I thought it was strange at first but I could see Zoey avoiding Mo. Mo is more blunt when dealing with Zoey’s avoidance techniques and wouldn’t have let her dance around what happened at the doctors office. 

[allonsyalice]

Just now, Dani said:

wouldn’t have let her dance around what happened at the doctors office.

"dance around" literally. 

[springbarb]

16 minutes ago, chaifan said:

I think there's continuity errors with Simon.  Zoey confessed to her mom that she liked him, so this whole "I never knew how I felt until I sang" is just weird.  She had one big ol' crush on him from day one, and she knew it.  That's why I Want You to Want Me makes sense - he's a hot guy (with a hot girlfriend/fiancee), she's a nerdy girl, and she just wants to be wanted by the hot guy she has a crush on.  And that's why I understand Max being crushed - yeah, she's got the feels for him, but he's not the hot guy that she wants.

I don't think that's a continuity error so much as Zoey talking to Max, who she wants to be delicate with about the Simon situation, and Zoey having mixed feelings about Simon. Maybe she thought she was doing a better job moving on from Simon.

6 minutes ago, Dani said:

I thought it was strange at first but I could see Zoey avoiding Mo. Mo is more blunt when dealing with Zoey’s avoidance techniques and wouldn’t have let her dance around what happened at the doctors office. 

There was no real way to work Mo into this episode. This was one very busy workday for Zoey--she left work to go to her dad's doctor appointment, and it's not like she could meet up with Mo for lunch with all the pressure of the CEO's visit. This episode was good for really showing Max that Zoey is dealing with something real; you would lose that if she was turning to Mo.

[Goldmoon]

I didn't care for this ep. I missed Mo. I think Jane levy's talent wobbled a LOT this ep. Her song to Mitch was heartbreaking. I hope he gets to sing one more time before he goes.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

I know you mentioned that you missed a few episodes so you probably missed the one with the explanation. His character has Progressive Supranuclear Palsy which is a degenerative neurological disease. The staring blankly into space is part of the progression of the disease. 

Fair enough, thanks for telling me! As a disabled woman, it still makes me cringe to see able actors cast in disabled roles, especially for musical numbers (thin excuse) or as tragedy porn.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2 hours ago, SnarkEnthusiast said:

Fair enough, thanks for telling me! As a disabled woman, it still makes me cringe to see able actors cast in disabled roles, especially for musical numbers (thin excuse) or as tragedy porn.

The problem with casting an actor with a disability here would likely be that in the song-sequences, he has to appear completely non-disabled. So I guess the actor would have to be barely disabled? It's complicated.

Edited March 30, 2020 by ItCouldBeWorse

[TAG42481]

What an amazing episode.  I think it was easily the best of the season.  A LOT of plot was crammed into that episode, plus some character building for Zoey.

I'm already disappointed because I don't think this will get picked up for a second season ...

[Bill1978]

12 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I would like to know what MRI tech would have "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" on his playlist for patients.  That's just cruel.

Oh is that how this thing works? I must have missed that connection, I just thought any song was available to be sung given the right context. I thought the MRI accident was just the stimulus for the power I hadn't realised that the tech's playlist had downloaded itself into Zoey.

[Clanstarling]

3 minutes ago, Bill1978 said:

12 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I would like to know what MRI tech would have "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" on his playlist for patients.  That's just cruel.

Oh is that how this thing works? I must have missed that connection, I just thought any song was available to be sung given the right context. I thought the MRI accident was just the stimulus for the power I hadn't realised that the tech's playlist had downloaded itself into Zoey.

If I recall, it downloaded everything from all the music apps (rather than a specific list the tech had), I think they specificially mentioned Spotify and Pandora. Both of which definitely have Christmas playlists. When my husband went in, he wanted to play a CD he brought with him, but they just listed off apps and channels they could play.

[tennisgurl]

I really liked changing things up a bit and having Zoey be the one singing, interesting mix up. I sometimes find it a bit hard to understand Zoeys head space (probably because every other character can just sing their feels everywhere) but I think this gave us some good insight. That last scene was just so horribly heartbreaking, no wonder she just couldn't deal with talking to her family and dealing with her fathers impending death. I have no idea if they will actually kill him off, but its so sad to see them dealing with it. 

I mean, if I knew I was on deaths door, I might be a bit offended if none of my family or friends got emotional at all! 

I missed Mo, and I think Mo would have had hilarious reactions to Zoey dancing and singing around to a music video only she can see and hear, but I dont know really where Mo could have come in. Zoey was in a frantic rush between the hospital and her job and her parents house, there was just so much happening. 

Weirdly, this was kind of a good episode for Tobin in the background. After Zoey helped her he seemed a bit more friendly towards her, and really was working his ass off trying to do his job and fix the glitch. Maybe Leif brings out the worst in Tobin and now that Lief is busy working with Joan, he is showing a less dickish and lazy side? His story about how Lief was his only friend as a kid makes me think that he is just desperate to be liked and to hold onto his one friend, while Leif is just an asshole. 

This whole triangle between Zoey/Max/Simon is not really bringing out the best in any of them it seems like. Especially this week, considering Zoey was singing all of her complicated feelings towards both of them. It kind of seems like Max is the one she really has the connection with, but Simon and her have really bonded while they were both in an emotionally fragile place. Plus, she thinks that Simon is hot. It seems like her song to Max was one about being in love, while the one with Simon...she wants to hit that. 

Edited March 30, 2020 by tennisgurl

[dubbel zout]

2 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I mean, if I knew I was on deaths door, I might be a bit offended if none of my family or friends got emotional at all! 

Depending on the situation, though, the dying person can end up doing the emotional labor of comforting others, and I definitely wouldn't want to have to do that. But I get what you're saying.

7 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

This whole triangle between Zoey/Max/Simon is not really bringing out the best in any of them it seems like. Especially this week, considering Zoey was singing all of her complicated feelings towards both of them. 

It didn't exactly help things, but at least her feelings are out.

[Mermaid Under]

Poor Lauren Graham.  Her character is every cliche that men have about women in charge.

A woman boss who

• ended up with her job because she was once married to a technocrat,
• is a Bitch on Wheels who really shouldn't have employees left because they would all quit, and
•  is ready to dump it all for a fool with a penis. 

The only thing that seems out of character for this character is giving the promotion to Zoe.

Having said that, the Mark Zuckerberg character that everyone was fawning over was even more of cliche.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Mermaid Under said:

the Mark Zuckerberg character that everyone was fawning over was even more of cliche

He was a composite cliché. He was going to take carrots to his birth parents, which was a reference to Steve Jobs. There was probably a Gates reference too, but I didn’t catch it. 

[KaveDweller]

So Zoey has the choice between:

1. A guy who willingly made a fool out of himself at work just to make her look less crazy, basically risking his job for her, brought dessert to her sick father, took her to the hospital when she needed a ride, and moved a bed for the sick father 

and

2. A guy willing to cheat on his fiance

And this is apparently a hard choice for her?  I mean, Max isn't perfect, but he is definitely devoted.

[Cthulhudrew]

Singing and dancing at work... doesn't everybody do that? 😐

This was my favorite episode so far. I liked the twist, and the song selection was really good (as was the choreography). I felt this episode took a deeper dive than most of them have so far. I also thought Jane Levy's voice was pretty solid.

I laughed, I cried. Loved it.

(I wonder if Zoey will develop the ability to project her powers and force others to sing their truths. Like a musical truth serum she can activate at will. Muahahaha!)

Edited March 31, 2020 by Cthulhudrew

[roctavia]

7 hours ago, TAG42481 said:

What an amazing episode.  I think it was easily the best of the season.  A LOT of plot was crammed into that episode, plus some character building for Zoey.

I'm already disappointed because I don't think this will get picked up for a second season ...

Actually, with corona virus shutting everything down, we may see a lot more shows picked up for a 2nd season since the pilot season is basically not going to exist this year... so we may have more of a chance at getting a 2nd season, which would be great! 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Depending on the situation, though, the dying person can end up doing the emotional labor of comforting others, and I definitely wouldn't want to have to do that. But I get what you're saying.

This is so true. People can be mean really well and but a huge burden on the dying person. 

In previous episodes I’ve actually cringed when the characters have spoken to Mitch about their inability to cope with losing him. I understand what they are feeling but it must feel awful to watch those you love grieve you while your still alive. 

5 minutes ago, roctavia said:

Actually, with corona virus shutting everything down, we may see a lot more shows picked up for a 2nd season since the pilot season is basically not going to exist this year... so we may have more of a chance at getting a 2nd season, which would be great! 

This. Plus this show apparently does very well streaming and NBC is more willing than most networks to renew a niche show with buzz.