At the beginning of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Confession,” Zoey and Max are having a movie night, and Zoey tells him that she's happy to have "More Max in her life." As she later tells Mo, her new strategy in dealing with Max is to just treat him like she did before she got her powers. Mo warns her that he might get lead on if Zoey acts so close to him like that, but Zoey is still in deep denial of both Max’s feelings toward her, and her feelings toward Max (whatever they may be).
Then, Max and Zoey are hanging out at the mall, continuing Zoey’s attempt to “get more (platonic) Max in her life.” Except...maaayyybe she gave him the wrong impression? At that moment, Max bursts out into a spontaneous rendition of Shawn Mendes’ “If I Can’t Have You.” Did Zoey give him the wrong impression? It seems like more so than she might’ve anticipated, because when she asks a rhetorical question during the number and Max responds, she realizes that this dance is not happening in her head - Max has hired a flash mob to serenade her! Yikes; I like Max, but did he really not think that wasn’t going to be cringey?
At the very least it’s fun to know that Max is just as good a singer in canon as Skylar Astin is IRL. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if later on, it’s revealed that the singing in Zoey’s head is much better than the actual character’s singing ability? Just a free idea for you, "Zoey" writers.
At SPRQ Point, Joan introduces the Chirp - a device that uses facial recognition and AI to immediately identify people and objects around the consumer and tell them information about them through an earpiece - and Zoey’s biggest problem with it... is that she’s not supervising the project? Someone, at some time, has to understand that this project is shady as all get out, right?
Later, Max finds Zoey and confronts her, but not just about leaving him at the mall without a response. He asks her about why she’s been so distant in general lately; one minute, acting normal, the next, going off into “Zoeyland.” Seeing her best friend so confused and upset, Zoey finally breaks down and confesses to him about her powers.
“I’m not who you think I am. I am a mutant! I am The X-Men meets ‘The Voice.’ Now do you understand?”
Max doesn’t understand, so when Tobin (whose friendship with Leif is on the rocks since he's been working so much on Chirp) starts singing “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt, Zoey comes to Max to try to explain again. She even takes him to Mo to have someone else back up her story. But even that’s not enough, and Max still wants concrete proof of Zoey’s ability before he’ll buy into it. Desperate to get Max to believe her, Zoey is willing to confess or do pretty much anything - including, apparently, taking Max out clubbing with Tobin.
At the club, Zoey tries to eke the truth out of Tobin about his feelings, but the glib technician is not as easy to crack as some of Zoey’s previous cases. Tobin leaves without pouring out his feelings to Zoey, and Max is about to leave as well, until Zoey catches Mo and his new boyfriend Eddie in a passionate duet of “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias, correctly predicting a passionate moment between the two.
Max is a bit impressed, but still unconvinced, so Zoey confesses one more thing - that she’s also heard him sing “heart songs” to her. That finally gets through, and Max finally feels he has proof of Zoey’s powers - but the unfortunate baggage with that confession is that Max now also knows that Zoey set him up with Autumn while knowing how he felt about her. It's a really heartbreaking scene, acted really well by both Astin and Jane Levy. Needless to say, the night doesn’t end well for either Max or Zoey.
Even though one of the show's central friendships is now strained, another is still repaired; Zoey’s intervention actually inspires Tobin to come to Leif with his feelings, and the two make up. Additionally, after a talk with Mo, Zoey realizes that what she needs to do with Max isn’t push him aside or pretend everything is normal or give him an excuse via powers - it’s to tell him the truth about how she feels. She doesn’t want to be in a relationship with him, but not because she doesn’t necessarily like him, but because she doesn’t want to risk complicating the friendship they already have. Max appreciates the honesty, but still isn’t over her previous dishonesty, so the two “press pause” on their friendship for a while.
In terms of other repaired relationships, after Maggie sings Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation” (“A little less conversation, a little more action, baby!”) Zoey and David make up from their fight from episode 5. Then, David and Maggie interview new caregivers for Mitch, and it looks like they have a pretty useless pot of applicants - until they come across Nancy, an RN with decades of experience, who checks all the right boxes.
Nancy’s certainly professional, but as she begins to take care of Mitch, she comes off as a bit cold. Alright - very cold, as she puts a hospital bed in the Clarke’s living room, and is bluntly judgmental of Maggie for giving Mitch milkshakes and trying to create a homey atmosphere for “the patient.” So, even though he came off as a bit less professional in his interview, Maggie fires Nancy and hires a caretaker who had a gentler approach, and who made Mitch laugh. And it turns out he’s not totally irresponsible, either - he sneaks a bit of spinach into Mitch’s chocolate milkshakes for the extra vitamins.
The episode ends with two scenes that tease some weirdness to come - firstly, Max and Simon in the SPRQ Point elevator, talking about Zoey. The two conclude that she deserves a good person in her romantic life, and leave the conversation on a note that implies that they both hope the lucky man is coming soon (and is, possibly, themselves? Just a little bit creepy there, in my opinion).
Finally (and most disturbingly), Zoey is leaving the office late when she accidentally witnesses Joan and Leif working on Chirp, and also (not to be crass but) working on each other. Let’s just say, I’m never going to hear “I Put a Spell On You” in the same way again.
Like I probably implied, I think a lot of things that happened in this episode were a little creepy. I might just be reading it wrong, but we also might be headed for a very different finale if all the low-key manipulation and, to be frank, questionable decision making on almost everyone’s parts comes to a head. The only characters I fully trust after this week's events are Mo, Mitch, and Maggie. That said, I actually did enjoy all the drama this week, and thought that objectively, it was a pretty good episode!
What are your thoughts? Did you get weird vibes from all the characters this week, or am I just crazy? As we’re approaching the finale, where do you think all these storylines are going to end up? Let me know down below!
Zoey’s Extraordinary Quotes-List:
Max (to Simon): Dude - killer party! And that massive charcuterie board? Pretty epic.
Simon: Thanks. How about that smoked gouda?
Zoey: How about those smoked roses?
Joan: Hi! Everyone having a fun gossip sesh about the boss’s marriage? I want in!
Tobin: Guys, don’t fall for it. She’s the boss.
Max (to Zoey): Are you seriously hiding from me?
Zoey: No! I work in here all the time, jamming on code, listening to tunes!
(Max takes her headphones, puts them on).
Max: This is a podcast on the Golden State Killer.
Zoey: I listen to true crime to calm myself.
Max: I’m not doing this. Look: Tobin’s been gone for four whole house songs now - or maybe one house song that’s lasted as long as four - I honestly can’t tell with all this pounding in my head right now.
