Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist - Zoey's Extraordinary Best Friend - Review: "I Got the Music in Me"

After Zoey is finally beginning to understand her newfound ability at the end of the first episode, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Best Friend” opens with Zoey’s exuberant rendition of Kiki Dee’s “I Got the Music in Me,” backed up by a flash mob of all of her family, friends, and coworkers. However, just as Zoey rushes ahead for her big dance solo, WHAM! She’s comically crushed by a grand piano. And a tuba. And several other various instruments. The flash mob was a dream, and Zoey wakes up to utter a bewildered “What the f-” (Charmingly cut off by the intro, just like in the Pilot. Will this be an every-episode kind of thing? Because I kind of love it.)

At SPRQ Point, Zoey tells her boss she feels her department needs more team spirit. Joan advises that she “Be strong, be bold, and keep your personal life to yourself.” Hard to do when you’re working with your best friend - and you’ve just found out that your best friend is in love with you (or, “thinks” he’s in love with you, as Zoey emphasizes). Accordingly, Max bursts out into a semi-seductive cover of “Sucker” while Zoey is trying to conduct a team meeting, confirming his feelings and completely derailing her train of thought - and right when she got to the part about not getting distracted in the workplace!

Afterward, Max comes up to Zoey to let her know that he finally got them seats at Handpicked, a chic new farm-to-table restaurant they’ve been wanting to try (they get all their milk from an actual cow on the premises). Zoey is interested, but after his earlier serenade, reservations at an exclusive restaurant sounds a lot more like a date, so she turns him down. When he questions his friend's new coldness toward him, Zoey claims it's just because she's now his boss, and that it would be unprofessional.

Becoming more and more frustrated with her inability to control when and where people sing to her, Zoey goes to a café with Mo, who offers her a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. As the barista begins a soulful love song, Zoey puts on the headphones, but they don’t work, and she is subjected to the full power of Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” But, it’s not for nothing, as she finds out that she is able to still talk to Mo (who begins taking notes) even as the rest of the café-goers belt their hearts out. She also makes progress in the Max department - the barista yearning to “dance with somebody” is her friend Autumn, who happens to also like exclusive restaurants and farm-fresh milk.

Meanwhile, Zoey’s dad’s new medication is working to slow down the progression of his condition, allowing him to be able to move his hands and face more than before. A hand buzzer from an old board game also gives him the ability to answer basic questions - one buzz for yes, two for no. However, Maggie is still having trouble trying to figure out what Mitch wants to tell her. That night, Zoey sees him singing Van Morrison’s “Moondance” to Maggie, which, with the help of the buzzer, she establishes is a message he wants her to deliver to her mother. At first she thinks it means that he wants to get - let’s say - physical with Maggie, but after talking to her, Zoey finds out that it was the song playing when Mitch first told Maggie he loved her. When they’re alone, Maggie sings it to Mitch, and to her surprise, he responds with the buzzer: once for yes!

Max arrives at Zoey’s parents’ house with pudding from Handpicked to offer to Mitch. He and Zoey both apologize for the way they handled Zoey’s new position, and Max goes to talk to Mitch while Zoey looks on with a conflicted look. Could she be reconsidering setting him up with Autumn?

I think that for a second episode (which, in my experience, are usually a bit of a let-down), this really wasn’t bad! We learned a little bit more about Zoey’s ability, faced some new interesting conflicts, set up some major plot points for the season, and, let’s be real; I’m always down for a little bit of Jonas Brothers.

What did you think of this episode? Do you love Mo’s quips as much as I do? And what do you think about the emerging Zoey/Simon/Max/Autumn love square? Sound off in the comments!

Zoey’s Extraordinary Quotes-List:

Max (to Zoey): Why are you acting weird?
Zoey: I’m acting weird...er? Than normal?
Max: Hard to tell.

Zoey: I can’t focus and be the team leader that I need to be with (Max) singing heart songs to me all the time.
Mo: Heart songs?
Zoey: I just coined the phrase.
Mo: I’ll allow it.

Mo: Unbelievable! All I see is a bunch of mostly white people drinking overpriced coffee while you get a whole show? What song is it?
Zoey: Uh, I think it’s Whitney Houston.
Mo: You think Whi-? This power is wasted on you!

Zoey: As your boss, I feel it’s necessary to create some boundaries between the two of us and I, uh… I guess I don’t think it’s quite appropriate for us to be dining at fancy, foodie restaurants right now.
Max: And what’s the fear exactly? That we eat some pickled beets out of a mason jar and I end up with stock options?