NBC
The season finale of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is called ‘Zoey’s Extraordinary Goodbye’ but that title is really just a tease. For nearly the entire episode Zoey obsesses over telling Max how she feels about him and wavering between being able to tell him goodbye, but after we see the credits, she has only really said ‘goodbye’ to her underwritten relationship with Simon.
The episode wraps up the tiny little mini-arc of Tobin (who is still insufferable) and Mackenzie (who gets a tiny glimpse of a personality) by having them simply make out during the final montage moments. Considering I think Tobin is a centerpiece of toxic masculinity that’s never really resolved that issue, I’m struggling to really care about it.
Perry and Mo’s squabble is wrapped up neatly after Zoey hears them sing The Beatles ‘We Can Work it Out’, and I guess that means Mo is completely fine with the kids? The episode had one of those tropes I don’t care for, where Perry demands to speak to Mo and refuses to leave the terrible restaurant idea until they talk it out. But if Mo doesn’t want to talk to him, why should it be okay for Perry to demand it? I don’t think the show really considered the optics of it.
My favorite character Emily gets a throwaway mention of being happy because of her medication, and a sweet moment of her with David and their baby as they look happily down. At least she does get a little to do with supporting Maggie and her realization that she’s actually closer to dating again and moving on.
The song choices were interesting as things wrapped up, using at first the overtly obvious ‘Sing a Song’ by The Carpenters as the fact everyone is singing to Zoey is explicitly called out, despite her funk of a mood. Later at the farewell party when she weirdly shouts to demand people stop being a bummer (which seems like just projection), she gets good advice as the crowd sings Taylor Swift’s classic ‘Shake it Off’.
NBC
In plotlines I still care about, we see Zoey and her dad in a dream as he sings ‘I Lived’ by OneRepublic, which isn’t a song I knew but it worked really well here. Unfortunately there are a lot of other plotlines that aren’t as interesting — Simon getting to run an outreach program to ‘solve racism’ is a bit premature, and Danny Michael Davis remains an odd parody in the world of the show. And although I not for one moment cared that Zoey and Simon broke up, at least we get a decent rendition of Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’ from Simon.
It’s just that I remember from the pilot Simon singing ‘Mad World’ and being so moved — the show has consistently struggled in the second season with trying to balance too many storylines. The romantic storylines/love triangle stuff never really worked, and the office/restaurant plots were similarly ridiculous.
That said, everything with Zoey’s family almost entirely worked, from Emily’s complicated journey to her gone too quickly but awesome sister to David’s brush with dreams of being a rock star. Honestly when the show stayed away from the broad humor and delved into more meaningful stuff, that was where it shined. The problem was that the show didn’t balance the comedy and drama very effectively this season.
It’s not to say that the acting suffered, because for at least the main cast, that was always strong and Jane Levy is always, always excellent. If only I could buy into her relationships too, but hearing Max sing ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ by Michael Bolton left me cold. At least when Max ‘hears’ Zoey sing Modern English’s ‘I Melt With You’ there’s something new and potentially complicated going on — the magical nature of the show has never been fully explained or thought out, and I feel like the narrative consistency to the way it started (as connected to Zoey’s grief and maybe her concerns about having a degenerative medical condition like her father) is entirely lost for the sake of the gimmick.
But all that said, I feel like this show has maintained such high potential even when it squanders it. There is a real possibility that it could fully realize that potential with a third season, and I’d like to see them try — it’d be a shame if things ended here, so I for one would like to see them come back, even if it’s on Peacock. After all, there are some good things on there like the newer A.P. Bio seasons and the new Saved by the Bell. So you never know.
What did you think of the season finale? Start a conversation in the comments section below.
Both seasons of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist are available to stream on Peacock.
Share this post
