Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist returned last night on NBC after a two-month hiatus. I know I speak for everyone when I say how much I had missed this absolute gem of a show and its beautiful and emotional sucker punches that make us laugh and cry — usually at the same time.
That being said, last night’s “Zoey’s Extraordinary Memory” was strangely underwhelming.
It wasn’t a bad episode, per se, but after so many incredible installments this season, this episode felt disappointingly average — especially after such a long hiatus — and that’s not a feeling that I have associated with Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist since the beginning of season 1.
Zoey and the Leodons Meteor Shower
The episode starts with a memory. When Zoey was a kid, she watched the Leodons Meteor Shower with her father. Back then, they promised each other that whenever this specific shower came back, they would watch it together again no matter what. And now, the Leodons Shower will be visible again for two nights only after so many years, but her dad isn’t here anymore to watch it with her.
So, of course, Zoey is distraught, especially when she can’t find anyone to go with her. David has a thing with Emily; Max and Mo are opening their restaurant; and Simon is attending a fancy panel. And because she feels like she’s being a burden to her friends, Zoey doesn’t tell any of them about the importance of this moment.
In the end, Leif ends up overhearing her talking about the meteor shower and basically invites himself and Tobin along to go with Zoey. Needless to say, she’s not happy at all. They complain about literally everything the entire way there, and she doesn’t want to tell them why she’s taking an old telescope, an old blanket and warm soda and sandwiches.
And when they get to the exact spot Zoey watched the shower for the first time with her dad, Leif sings a heart song, distracting Zoey. The visibility in the sky isn’t great and she misses her window to watch it.
The next night is MaxiMo’s grand opening and Zoey is supposed to read Danny Michael Davis’ statement during the event, so she can’t possibly make it out to her spot to try to watch the shower again. When she vaguely mentions it to Mo, he tells her that they can find someone else to read it if she wants, that she can just stop by and go see the meteor shower.
But then there’s the issue of Leif’s heart song and Zoey knows that she can’t just ignore it. So she seeks him out, makes him talk and finds out that he’s having girl trouble.
He met a woman online, and they texted for a couple of months, but when they finally decided to meet, the girl said her grandmother had died and cut the date short. Zoey tells him that maybe she was telling the truth, and if the girl is calling him again, maybe not all is lost.
So she convinces Leif to give the girl a call, and ask her out on another date at MaxiMo’s grand opening. Now she’s committed to helping him and ends up missing her window to see the shower again, only to find out that the woman was just trying to use Leif to get a job at SPRQ Point.
When the time comes for her to read Danny Michael Davis’ statement, it turns out that her boss was watching the shower and sent a statement filled with celestial references.
This was easily one of the best moments of the episode.
Jane Levy is such an expressive actor and her performance here was nothing short of extraordinary. The way she slowly went from happy about her friends’ grand opening to frowning to almost crying to being embarrassed that she was having this reaction in front of an audience was absolutely incredible.
In the end, she finally opens up to her friends about what’s going on and they insist on going with her to see the stars. It was an adorable ending to an otherwise lukewarm episode.
Other highlights of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist
- I am confused. Are Zoey and Simon flirting again? Isn’t he dating Tatiana or something? Did I completely misinterpret that?
- Was that firefighter Mo’s new love interest? Because if he is, whew! Good for you, Mo!
- David wanting to be in a band so bad was cringingly adorkable? I’m not sure how I feel about this whole thing.
- This new Rose chick is obviously Max’s new love interest, right? While I understand he can’t wait around for Zoey forever, I’m kind of sad that he’s already moving on.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist airs on Sundays at 9/8C on NBC.
But what are Leodons? I know of Leonids meteor showers. Looking up Leodon brought me here.