S01.E08: Zoey's Extraordinary Glitch

[HighHopes]

I think the only song I didn't mute or fast forward through was the last song. The second hand embarrassment was strong in this episode and I could not handle it.  

Max is inching too close into Nice Guy territory for my liking. Zoey is under no obligation to return his feelings, and even if she did have them she just told him that right now isn't a good time for her. (Not to mention that she is his boss!). And he just doesn't listen. I get that it would be confusing for him to have her sing a love song to him - but getting pissy when she sang a song to Simon too was not a good look. Max, you just got out of a relationship with Autumn, who you dated while you had feelings for Zoey. You are not innocent either. 

Simon also has to end things completely with either Zoey or Jessica (or both). What he is doing is not fair to either of them and I don't understand why the show went the engaged route with him. It automatically makes him Not A Choice and yet the show is making him a choice and he's going to be the bad guy either way. He either cheats and breaks up with his fiancee (which sucks for Jessica) or cheats and doesn't break up with his fiancee. Both are shitty options and people will get hurt, especially since the kiss already happened. 

The last song and scene was by far the best of the episode. 

I hope this show gets renewed, but I am sure I saw a post on Tumblr saying it had already been cancelled. But who knows with the current situation what will happen. I can't remember what happened with the writers strike back in 2007 - but I for sure remember that Joshua Jackson was supposed to be on Grey's Anatomy, but the strike happened, he didn't do the role, and instead eventually did Fringe. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour 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! 

Unless they have already shot additional episodes, I don't see how they are going to be able to get the jump on a second season, even if the networks will be desperate. 

(This is probably off topic in an episode thread but I didn't see anywhere obvious to move it to.)

[shapeshifter]

This is a show that cannot be rehearsed or shot until physical social distancing is over. That shouldn’t be a problem. Hopefully. 

[roctavia]

11 minutes ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Unless they have already shot additional episodes, I don't see how they are going to be able to get the jump on a second season, even if the networks will be desperate. 

(This is probably off topic in an episode thread but I didn't see anywhere obvious to move it to.)

It’s more that it will be easier to renew assuming they still have all the sets/ cast and crew already established vs trying to set up a whole new pilot during all of this... nothing is filming now, but starting from scratch with a brand new show will be a lot harder. 

Edited March 31, 2020 by roctavia

[WearyTraveler]

The way I read it, Max wasn't mad that Zoey sang to Simon, or that Zoey had feelings for Simon.  The reason he was mad at Zoey, as per their conversation in the men's room, was that when she told him she didn't want to star a relationship with him, she said the reason was that she was afraid to lose the friendship.  She didn't tell him that another reason was that she also had feelings for Simon.

Granted, not losing the friendship might be Zoey's number 1 reason not to be with Max, but Max felt Zoey wasn't completely honest with him when they had their conversation because she never mentioned that she had feelings for Simon.  And perhaps Zoey didn't want to mention that reason to avoid hurting Max, but, at the same time, if you really want a guy to stop pursuing you romantically, telling him you also have feelings for someone else is usually more effective than telling them "I do have feelings for you, which are so important, I'm afraid I'll lose you if something goes wrong".  The first one doesn't give the guy much hope, the second one gives them tons of hope (full disclosure: I'm a straight woman, so I don't know for sure how a straight man would feel in that situation, but that's how I've seen it go down in the real world more than once).

It would not be unreasonable, for a person in Max's position to think that Zoey wasn't completely straight with him because she wanted to keep her options open.  As a viewer, I actually think that's what she is doing, but I think she doesn't consciously realise it yet. She agreed with Simon to keep it professional, yet, she still seeks him out first in the office, and steers the conversation toward personal stuff.  You would think that after bursting spontaneously into song not once, not twice, but three times in half a workday, she would know better than to stay in a quiet, candle-lit meditation room with a guy she knows she, at the very least, has the hots for.  The second she realised he was there, she should have bolted before she got the urge to sing again.

Telling Max she didn't know she had feelings for Simon until she sang them is also a sign of this.  She knew she had feelings for the guy, she told her mom about them, and her doing so was the reason the engagement party went to hell.  So, she's lying to Max again.  I don't think it's intentional; in her mind, she probably rationalises it as not hurting him so bad that she would lose his friendship forever, but deep down, she doesn't want him to stop pursuing her.

[Cthulhudrew]

On 3/29/2020 at 10:55 PM, giovannif7 said:

 

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.

 

This video scared me every time it came on MTV as a kid. This one and "She's a Beauty" would give me nightmares.

And one that I can't recall artist/title of right now, but the video was a guy who was supposed to be getting married but was having wedding jitters, and there was a scene where his hand and his bride's were joined in a weird body-horror image.

(I had a traumatic experience as a child watching "Son of the Blob." Sue me. Then I got over it, and am pretty unflappable now.)

Edited March 31, 2020 by Cthulhudrew

[giovannif7]

56 minutes ago, Cthulhudrew said:

(snip)

And one that I can't recall artist/title of right now, but the video was a guy who was supposed to be getting married but was having wedding jitters, and there was a scene where his hand and his bride's were joined in a weird body-horror image.

That'd be "Jeopardy" by The Greg Kihn Band - watching it again now, the visual effects are pretty bad, but I found it disturbing at the time too. I preferred the Weird Al parody "I Lost On Jeopardy" that came out the next year.

Back to the show - to honor the late Kenny Rogers and the late James Ingram, I'm hoping for a Zoey/Max/Simon cover of the 1984 Kim Carnes/Kenny Rogers/James Ingram romantic triangle ballad "What About Me" if we get a Season 2 for the show.

[Clanstarling]

8 hours ago, HighHopes said:

I think the only song I didn't mute or fast forward through was the last song. The second hand embarrassment was strong in this episode and I could not handle it.  

Max is inching too close into Nice Guy territory for my liking. Zoey is under no obligation to return his feelings, and even if she did have them she just told him that right now isn't a good time for her. (Not to mention that she is his boss!). And he just doesn't listen. I get that it would be confusing for him to have her sing a love song to him - but getting pissy when she sang a song to Simon too was not a good look. Max, you just got out of a relationship with Autumn, who you dated while you had feelings for Zoey. You are not innocent either. 

Simon also has to end things completely with either Zoey or Jessica (or both). What he is doing is not fair to either of them and I don't understand why the show went the engaged route with him. It automatically makes him Not A Choice and yet the show is making him a choice and he's going to be the bad guy either way. He either cheats and breaks up with his fiancee (which sucks for Jessica) or cheats and doesn't break up with his fiancee. Both are shitty options and people will get hurt, especially since the kiss already happened. 

The last song and scene was by far the best of the episode. 

I hope this show gets renewed, but I am sure I saw a post on Tumblr saying it had already been cancelled. But who knows with the current situation what will happen. I can't remember what happened with the writers strike back in 2007 - but I for sure remember that Joshua Jackson was supposed to be on Grey's Anatomy, but the strike happened, he didn't do the role, and instead eventually did Fringe. 

A quick Google found two different statements. One (in February) said it had been quietly cancelled (per info from an insider), another (three days ago) said its status was up in the air. So who knows? 🤷‍♀️

6 hours ago, Cthulhudrew said:

(I had a traumatic experience as a child watching "Son of the Blob." Sue me. Then I got over it, and am pretty unflappable now.)

Given your username, it sounds like it. 😉  I had a traumatic experience watching "Sleeping Beauty" as a child. LOL

[Whimsy]

11 hours ago, HighHopes said:

I hope this show gets renewed, but I am sure I saw a post on Tumblr saying it had already been cancelled. But who knows with the current situation what will happen. I can't remember what happened with the writers strike back in 2007 - but I for sure remember that Joshua Jackson was supposed to be on Grey's Anatomy, but the strike happened, he didn't do the role, and instead eventually did Fringe. 

For this I will be forever grateful. 

I can totally see everyone's points about Max, but I can't help it.  I still like him and am totally rooting for him and Zoey.  I just don't see this show doing it well.  If they do put them together, I think it will be very short-lived.  They'll probably try to do like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend did and put them together and break them up with the intention that they are actually end-game.  Maybe they can cast Santino Fontana to replace Skylar as Max.  All of this, of course, would only be possible if it's renewed, which I really hope it is. 

[Cthulhudrew]

10 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

That'd be "Jeopardy" by The Greg Kihn Band - watching it again now, the visual effects are pretty bad, but I found it disturbing at the time too.

Thank you! Was racking my brain.

(And I agree- Weird Al's parody was pretty good.)

[AllyB]

3 hours ago, Whimsy said:

Maybe they can cast Santino Fontana to replace Skylar as Max.

It would be really cool if they could get Santino to guest star for an episode as Max's brother/friend/high school rival.

I liked this episode a lot. Jane Levy has a really good signing voice and she did a really great job switching between her music video signing and dancing and her real life signing and dancing. That was especially well done in I Saw Mommy..... She was so reluctantly singing and trying not to, then she left the room and you could hear it burst out of her as she ran around to come back in the other office door. (Why does everyone's office have two doors?) I really like Crazy too, I think it totally captured how she was feeling coming out of that doctor's appointment where she was hoping to that it would be about her dad removing his back brace and instead she was being essentially told to say goodbye.

[roctavia]

I liked this episodes, though I don't love what they are doing with the love triangle. I hope that kiss was more of a, whoops, that should never happen again and we will keep our distance sort of thing, because I definitely think her attraction to Simon is just that- attraction/lust and a lingering crush.   And I will never be happy with a cheater storyline.... not to mention if Simon is willing to leave his fiance/ or cheat on her with zoey, what's to stop him from doing the same thing to Zoey down the road when someone else comes a long. 

I don't mind Max, though as others have said, he does sometimes waffle into "nice guy" territory, which is frustrating.. but I don't think that is the intent. It's a weird situation so it seems like they are trying to get across the shifting emotions/feelings for both him and Zoey and that he doesn't always react well, but still cares about her and her family etc. 

I don't know what I want to happen with her father. I was thinking they would drag out his condition a little longer, especially because the family scenes are some of the best parts of the show.  I agree that a miracle cure would be no good, but I was surprised when the doctor said weeks...

[jaigurudeva]

17 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

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.

Wish I could heart your comment twice. I get that you can't help who you're attracted to, but Simon should not even be an option on the table. Playing this up like it's Zoey "torn between two men" isn't making any of them look good. I wish the show did a better job with this, like if Zoey being more embarrassed that she can't control herself around her off-limits crush, rather than being embarrassed for "revealing her true feelings."

As someone experienced with "Nice Guys," Max isn't really acting like one. Once Nice Guys get rejected/"friendzoned" they blow up and break off the relationship, because they were only acting like a friend with the expectation that their Niceness will pay off with a romantic relationship in the end. It's a completely conditional "friendship." Max, on the other hand, is still supportive of Zoey despite getting shot down twice. It's natural for someone to get upset from being rejected, especially after getting mixed messages, but actual friendships can withstand misunderstandings and getting upset with one another but still being there for each other when they really need it, like at the end of the episode when Zoey finally tells him what's up with her dad.

I'm not digging the song choices lately, from last week's "A Little Less Conversation" to basically every song this week. It feels like the writers are focusing too much on the title or the chorus of the song, instead of the full lyrics and melodies, and the song's history and connotations. It just throws off the whole vibe of every number.

[Whimsy]

3 hours ago, jaigurudeva said:

As someone experienced with "Nice Guys," Max isn't really acting like one. Once Nice Guys get rejected/"friendzoned" they blow up and break off the relationship, because they were only acting like a friend with the expectation that their Niceness will pay off with a romantic relationship in the end. It's a completely conditional "friendship." Max, on the other hand, is still supportive of Zoey despite getting shot down twice. It's natural for someone to get upset from being rejected, especially after getting mixed messages, but actual friendships can withstand misunderstandings and getting upset with one another but still being there for each other when they really need it, like at the end of the episode when Zoey finally tells him what's up with her dad.

Thank you. I couldn’t properly articulate why I never saw Max as a “Nice Guy”, but these are all the reasons why. He may not be a “Nice Guy”, but he’s also not perfect. He keeps getting his hopes up to get them crushed and doesn’t necessarily handle it well. 
 

I agree with others that Simon, as currently written, never should have been an option for Zoey. I also wish she was showing more struggle because, while you can’t help who you are attracted to, you can help how you react to it. 

[HappyBerry]

13 hours ago, Whimsy said:

 Maybe they can cast Santino Fontana to replace Skylar as Max.  All of this, of course, would only be possible if it's renewed, which I really hope it is. 

I didn't know I wanted this until you mentioned it, and now there is nothing I want the show to do more, just one episode as a dream sequence Max or something. 

Okay, really I just want more Santino on my screen. 

[possibilities]

I'm really disgusted by the narrative that the woman is dead set against the relationship, the guy gets upset and angry and acts entitled and pressures her, and eventually she surrenders to his demands and realizes he was the one for her all along. So for me, even though I understand what is good about Max and about their friendship, I am too revolted by the idea that Zoey is just resisting out of fear and his frustration is because he knows better than she does and blah blah blah. There's nothing they can do now that undoes that, and I want nothing more than for her to really go off on him for being such a jerk. And no taking it back. And it probably does ruin the friendship, because he really isn't able to handle his feelings and not act like a jerk, and that's something that ruins friendships.

Simon likewise is an irredeemable situation, for all the reasons already discussed. I think they do have more than just a superficial attraction, though. They shared deep stuff, and they do know each other in a real way. But tough luck. You act like this when one of you is engaged, and you need to get a grip, and if you can't do that, you can't handle a real relationship. If Simon realized he really doesn't want to marry Jessica, he can break it off. But I don't want him rushing to Zoey, either. Clear your head, dude. No one should trust you, and you can't trust yourself, if you're that confused.

The whole triangle is a stupid mess. They don't need one and it's undermining the likeability of all three characters who are involved.

Unless they are actually headed for making all three of them plus Jessica into a 4-way marriage, in which case I'll take it all back because: ha! Jessica did say she's usually jealous but she felt comfortable with Zoey.

I know this will never happen. But it WOULD solve all the problems caused by the triangle. And it would make me laugh for a long time.

[Notwisconsin]

So it looks like the season will end with Daddy's demise.

[pigs-in-space]

I feel like I'm liking this show less and less as each episode airs, which is unfortunate. It's starting to feel cliche and I hate love triangles. 

One thing I noticed that I don't think has been brought up is how much more comfortable Zoey seemed singing to Max versus singing to Simon. I didn't see nearly as much trying to hold back in that number versus with Simon she was clearly mortified to be singing.

[bros402]

So this episode was good, but holy craaaaaaap so much secondhand embarassment I could not stop cringing. I liked the twist, but I hope that kiss from Simon ends that relationship.

I really hope they don't find some magic cure for Mitch - because sometimes there just isn't a cure.
 

On 3/30/2020 at 1:17 PM, 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.

As a disabled man, I also dislike seeing able bodied actors in disabled roles, but I can see their justification for it in a musical. If the character were ambulatory and just a wheelchair user, then they wouldn't have an excuse - but the character of Mitch is supposed to be unable to communicate and have a progressive and deadly degenerative disorder.

On 3/31/2020 at 12:56 AM, SomeTameGazelle said:

(This is probably off topic in an episode thread but I didn't see anywhere obvious to move it to.)

It's easier to get a show that already has a cast, crew, and sets running again versus a show without even a pilot or a full group of people.

[Guest]

On 4/1/2020 at 7:29 PM, pigs-in-space said:

One thing I noticed that I don't think has been brought up is how much more comfortable Zoey seemed singing to Max versus singing to Simon. I didn't see nearly as much trying to hold back in that number versus with Simon she was clearly mortified to be singing.

I noticed the same thing. That was the only song after “Crazy” that she didn’t fight. She seemed to enjoy pouring out her heart to him until she realized what it meant. I also loved that Max went along with her choreography. 

[Bill1978]

On 4/2/2020 at 1:29 PM, pigs-in-space said:

One thing I noticed that I don't think has been brought up is how much more comfortable Zoey seemed singing to Max versus singing to Simon. I didn't see nearly as much trying to hold back in that number versus with Simon she was clearly mortified to be singing.

Could that be because Max understands why Zoey was bursting into song and therefore Zoey was more comfortable performing for Max, while from Simon's perspective Zoey would have looked nuts bursting into song and so Zoey was embarrassed about what she was about to do in front of Simon?

[aradia22]

I feel like this was the "let's allow Jane Levy to showcase her acting" episode. I don't know why they made this choice but too often Zoey feels like a cipher and Jane feels awkward playing the character. But this episode she got to do physical comedy and be seductive and be tormented. Basically, she got to have all the feelings that we rarely get to see her have outside of scenes with her dad or when she's crying. Also, it was a fun premise to sell the magic of her powers. I feel like we started to get away from that.

I really enjoyed Zoey's first musical number, "Crazy." I can tell she's not a singer because even for straight tone, it's kind of weird, like she's moaning the notes. But she was so committed to it that it worked. 

Speaking of Slytherin, it's weird that Leif went from neutrals and cardigans to all black/navy with a red tie. Really overplaying the evil thing, costume department.

Are we sure that Leif isn't gay? Because when he knocked on Zoey's pod, he was giving me intense Michael Urie circa Ugly Betty vibes.

Whoa. They somehow gave Danny hair worse than Mark Zuckerberg and NSYNC era Justin Timberlake combined.

The third Zoey musical number was a little cringey. It got funny when Skylar finally rushed in.

I knew where it was going because I know the song but it was still very cute to have Zoey's powers work on her and make her confess her feelings for Max.

Max's little wink was delightful. I'm thoroughly delighted. 

OH NO! I thought we were at the end of the love triangle. But she sang to Simon AFTER singing to Max? No, no, no. Bad show. It was a good musical number though. 

It was a little on the nose but I didn't mind Max spelling it out that maybe Zoey is just attracted to Simon but has deeper feelings for Max. 

I can't believe they're going forward with Chirp. At least Younger made Chick-y a joke.

AHH! Simon kissed Zoey. Thanks, I hate it.

Quote

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!

Thank you! I thought I was the only one obsessed with the bad camerawork during musical numbers.

Quote

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. 

I think we were supposed to understand it as Zoey not knowing about her feelings for Max. Which tracks since she's been obsessing over Simon and last episode she told Max that she hasn't let herself think about a romantic relationship with him (Max). Yes, there was 500 Miles but then she brought back movie night. So I can believe that she was still denying her feelings until she blurted them out with "I'm Yours."

Quote

As someone experienced with "Nice Guys," Max isn't really acting like one. Once Nice Guys get rejected/"friendzoned" they blow up and break off the relationship, because they were only acting like a friend with the expectation that their Niceness will pay off with a romantic relationship in the end. It's a completely conditional "friendship." Max, on the other hand, is still supportive of Zoey despite getting shot down twice. It's natural for someone to get upset from being rejected, especially after getting mixed messages, but actual friendships can withstand misunderstandings and getting upset with one another but still being there for each other when they really need it, like at the end of the episode when Zoey finally tells him what's up with her dad.

Yup, all of this. Plus, while Max isn't going through as much as Zoey, this episode in particular was a crazy work day for him. He organized a flash mob love confession, his best friend told him she had superpowers, and now it's another day at work and he's trying to carry on like normal. First Zoey starts singing during a meeting with the head of the company and he decides to join in to somehow take some of the pressure off her meltdown and play it off as intentional. Then she gets his hopes up by seeming to reciprocate his feelings finally in a love song. Then he walks in on her and her work crush practically rubbing up on each other like extras in Cats. He went to the bathroom and she followed him. I can forgive him for not having a great reaction in the moment. You can be a relatively good person without being a saint. I will praise or condemn him for what he does in the long run.

Meanwhile Simon just keeps digging himself deeper into this emotional affair. If the writers expect anyone to be Team Simon, they're doing it wrong. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Opening scenes

Jane Levy as Zoey Sings Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours"

Simon Kisses Zoey

Jane Levy as Zoey Sings LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live"

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Trini]

So... are we sure Zoey shouldn't get her head checked after this one? Now her power made her look insane at work. But it was really interesting to have a switch up of her feelings coming out in song.

Though half-cringeworthy, I did enjoy the musical numbers in this one. But I was internally yelling at Zoey the whole episode to just take a mental health day, because she clearly needed it.

Wow, so love triangle is on full blast now! I figured the they'd come back around to Zoey/Simon, but I thought the fianceé would be gone first.

Still don't like Tobin, he redeemed himself a little bit this week.

Zoey's Brother is the least developed, and his scruff annoys me.

I just don't get what they're doing with Joan and Leif. Someone's gonna get screwed over, right?

I still like Max - and despite it all, he still is a good friend - but I mostly agreed with Zoey that he can't get mad at her for singing (uncontrollably) to Simon. Plus he was kinda making it about him, and it wasn't really.

I guess they're preparing us for Mitch dying; I'm not looking forward to that. 😥

Edited May 16, 2020 by Trini

[Trini]

Also I guess since Max is in on the secret now, they don't have to use Mo as much as a sounding board for Zoey.

----

So this is filmed in Canada AND San Franscisco, apparently? [ETA: Okay, now I see there's a locations topic.]

Edited May 14, 2020 by Trini

[Trini]

Doing a little re-watch; and I think this is my favorite episode: the musical numbers, focus on Zoey, Leif's tight pants, and the Zoey/Simon kiss!