Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist: Joan’s Husband Sucks

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist is considered a "bubble" show - meaning it could be canceled by NBC ahead of the unveiling of the 2020-2021 TV season in a couple weeks. USA Today has included it in its annual "Save Our Shows" poll. Some shows that have won this poll have gone on to have another season. So if you want Zoey to have a second season, make sure to watch the show (preferably live) and also tweet along (#ZoeysPlaylist) so they know people are watching! And vote for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist here. 

Last time: Zoey continued to adjust to her new power as well as being the manager of her department now. Unfortunately, her team was not making it easy and she struggled, especially given that one of her direct reports (Max) was singing love songs to her in her head. When he invited her out to dinner, she grew nervous and decided to set him up with their favorite barista, Autumn, instead. Max, though, noticed Zoey seemed to be avoiding him and she played it off as needing to redefine their relationship because of the new power dynamics between them. Max was not happy.


Meanwhile, her family continued to find a way to communicate with her father. They made a start with a buzzer but they still struggled, especially when he kept trying to tell Maggie something but she couldn’t figure it out. Zoey then heard him sing “Moondance” and had to broach the topic of her parents’ sex life. That seemed to be fine but it gave her mother the clue she needed to find what Mitch wanted – apparently a little show. Maybe foreplay? I don’t know.


During all of this, Zoey did manage to get some work done. She and Simon teamed up to design a scavenger hunt that would lead to the launch party for SPRQ Point’s newest product. However, her team refused to do the work and she ended up doing it herself. Joan was useless as she watched her direct report struggle but Simon managed to give her some advice, leading her to take the first steps to become her team’s leader.


If you aren’t aware, you can listen to the songs used on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – their covers and the original versions – on various music apps. I personally prefer Spotify and do have it saved to my library. I was listening to it when driving home from work when all this went down but I still like to just listen to it from time to time. If you’re enjoying the music, you can continue to do so throughout the week!

What the world needs now, is SPOILERS, sweet SPOILERS!


We open at SPRQ Point, where Joan asks why Zoey’s team hasn’t delivered what she wants yet. Zoey points out that she asked them for it just a couple hours earlier and the technology didn’t even exist so they have a lot of work to do. It seems Joan is even more on edge because her husband Charlie is going to demo their new watch. And he’s apparently a big deal, running a major gaming company, and since the last company he endorsed was Uber, she knows how big this could be.

And the other members of Zoey's team absolutely adore Charlie. He's like a god to them as they talk about his virtual world game. Max and Zoey seem concerned. 

Joan decides that they need to take a break and come back with fresh eyes. Max notes that it is midnight and just wants to go to bed. Zoey, though, reminds him that they promised to meet up with Simon so he could check out Mo as a possible DJ for the party. Max remembers that he invited Autumn and he wonders why they thought this would be a good idea. Zoey tells him to splash some water on his face and she’ll do the same before meeting him at the elevator.


Zoey pops into the ladies’ room and as she primps a bit, she hears music start to play. Joan emerges from a stall and starts to sing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and Zoey tries to run away from it, boarding the elevator with Max, Leif and Tobin. Joan catches up with them and continues to sing as Zoey gets more and more freaked out, especially when one of Joan’s heels ends up right next to her head.

(Wow)

I have to give a shout out to Skylar Astin, Michael Thomas Grant, and Kapil Talwalkar in this scene. They had Lauren Graham singing and dancing around them and to them sometimes but they never moved. And they kept their expressions neutral. It was as if they were truly frozen and I know that can be hard as an actor to do. Bravo, gentlemen!

(Amazing work. I definitely couldn't do this)

At Mo’s gig, Zoey tells them about the song she heard Joan sing. She wonders what her team isn’t doing to make Joan feel like that and Mo points out that there are many reasons why Joan may not feel satisfied. And given the nature of the song, Mo figures it might be more personal than professional. Zoey wants to draw the line there, saying she doesn’t want to be her boss’ counselor. Which is fair. She decides to ask Joan if her dissatisfaction is work-related and if it isn’t, she’ll peace out. Mo then points out that they are trying to audition to DJ a gig for Zoey’s work and Zoey is distracting them. Zoey leaves them alone.


Zoey finds Simon with Max and Autumn. Max informs them that Autumn can guess anyone’s cocktail within minutes of meeting them and correctly guesses Simon’s favorite cocktail. She drags Max out to the dance floor. Zoey asks if Simon wants to dance but he says he hasn’t really felt like it since losing his father. She understands, saying that she sometimes feels bad about being in a good mood when she goes to visit her parents. They then change the topic, deciding that Mo is a good choice for the DJ (and confirming that Mo doesn’t seem to have a preference for pronouns and is okay with masculine ones. I forgot about this so I guess I’ll switch to male ones). They then watch Max and Autumn dance.

(No. Just...no)

The next morning, the Clarke family gathers at home. We meet David’s wife, Emily (Alice Lee), who is pregnant and craving poptarts. She settles for bread instead as Zoey shows off the program she made so Mitch can type out messages to them. He uses it for the first time and the family waits for his first word with bated breath.


Lemonade.


Everyone deflates a bit and Maggie says she’ll get him some lemonade. Zoey follows her and asks if she’s okay. Maggie says she’s fine and that she shouldn’t have expected his first words in months to be something profound.

(Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)

Zoey heads to work and checks in with Joan, asking if she’s dissatisfied with her team’s performance. Joan says Zoey’s team is doing great and she’s really pleased with their work, though she doesn’t want the others to know. I don’t know if it’s because she wants them to keep working hard or if she just wants to keep an appearance of being a hardass.


Probably both.


Seems to be working so as long as she does make sure to praise them every so often, fine.

But it soon becomes clear that Joan is dissatisfied with her husband. She’s not happy that she had to beg him to endorse her product or that she needs her husband’s approval for her product. Joan starts talking about looking at the naked man next to her and Zoey decides that’s her cue to bow out.


Zoey tries to hold firm to decision to not interfere since Joan’s issue wasn’t professional. The only problem is that the song is now haunting her. She hears it in the elevator and as someone’s ringtone (though the joke may be that it really is his ringtone as he answers the phone with a disdainful “Hello, Mother”). Zoey leaves SPRQ Point and hears it as people honk as they are stuck in a traffic jam. She even hears it at lunch with Mo, who hears the practicing march band play a version of “Yankee Doodle” that puts him to shame as he was a drum major himself.


Mo concludes that Zoey the universe wants Zoey to help Joan and that is part of the reason why she hears these heartsongs. And if Zoey doesn’t help, she’s going to be haunted by Satisfaction forever. There are worse songs to be haunted by if you ask me but Zoey makes the decision to help Joan, shouting it to the universe.

So Zoey reluctantly returns to Joan’s office and asks her outright what’s wrong with her and Charlie. Joan reveals she has a bar behind her desk which is awesome, though my HR side reminds everyone that if they drink, they need to automatically go off the clock. Anyway, this looks like it’s going to be a long conversation.


And it was. We see a tipsy Zoey at her parents’ house. She says that Joan is miserable in her marriage and it sucks that Charlie can’t seem to give her the time of day. Zoey says it makes her appreciate her parents’ marriage even more though it’s clear Maggie is still stinging from the fact that Mitch’s first message to her was lemonade.


Maggie encourages Zoey to go home but before she can leave, some friends stop by. They say they brought some salt water taffy for Mitch. Zoey points out that he can’t really chew but she figures she can eat them and tell him how they are. Maggie tells their friends to excuse her as she’s been day drinking. She then offers them something to eat and drink. Wife picks up that’s probably just a polite offer and is starting to make excuses when Hubby’s like “FOOD! YES!”


As Wife and Hubby go talk with Mitch, Zoey hears music and follows it into the kitchen. She hears her mother singing as she prepares some cheese and crackers, pretending to be a hostess while clearly feeling depressed and stressed. It gives Zoey something to think about as her mother insists she’s fine and sends her home to sober up.

(SOS)

The next morning, Zoey visits her brother and brings bagels. Emily is thrilled for them as the “tapeworm” is craving carbs. When Zoey and David give her a look, she amends it to “cute tapeworm” and everyone moves on. Zoey thinks they need to spend some more time at the house to help their mother but David thinks she’s doing fine. He agrees to help her that day since he has a bit more flexibility as a public defender, which Zoey teases him for always lording over her. David is proud of his job.

At work, Max asks Zoey what she did because Joan seems to be nicer – she actually addressed him by name when dressing him down. Zoey said she just talked with her. Joan motions her to join her in the office and gives Zoey some Louboutin shoes as a thank you for letting her vent the day before.


Nice.


While everyone else at SPRQ Point tries to figure out what happened to Joan, David goes shopping with his mother so she can pick up more lemonade for Mitch. He starts to realize that Zoey may be right that their mother is not coping as well as they thought, especially as she starts to have a breakdown over the fact that she feels her husband’s first words to her in months were about what she wasn’t giving him. And now she was failing him as the store was out of lemonade. David suggests going to another store but she insists that Mitch likes the one from that store.


She spots two college girls who have cleared out the store’s supply of lemonade. They explain that they are throwing a Beyonce-themed party and need the lemonade. Maggie asks for a couple containers and the girl refuses, saying that they need it more as they have a lot of people coming. Maggie grows stern with her and starts demanding she hand over the cartons to her. The girl tells Maggie to back off and Maggie yells that she has bras older than her, which the girl accurately points out isn’t a diss. And then the camera cuts away as Maggie lunges for the cart.

(Things are getting tense in the grocery store)

David calls Zoey and tells her that he is straightening things out but she may be right that their mother is stressed and isn’t coping well. He says he’s willing to work with Zoey to help give her a break and Zoey says they can talk to her that night.


She ends the call and Joan comes by, saying that she’s ordered all the sushi in San Francisco for a working lunch with Charlie to go over the event. She invites Zoey to join her and music starts to play as Zoey announces that Charlie is in the building. He enters as the coders sing the chorus to “Jesus Christ Superstar,” fawning over Charlie (Justin Kirk). Tobin asks if losing your virginity in Charlie’s second life game counts and Charlie confirms that no, it doesn’t.

(I honestly don't know if this happened in Zoey's head or in real life because it's entirely plausible given their hero worship of this douche)

After he arrives, he blows by Joan and insists on getting this meeting done. Zoey follows to help set up but then Joan invites her to stay for it. Charlie never looks up from his phone as Joan goes over the talking points for his presentation. She grows frustrated and says that she arranged this working lunch because of his schedule and he can’t give her a few minutes. They start bickering and Zoey wishes she could be anywhere else. Especially when Joan turns to her and asks her what she said about Charlie the night before, about how he doesn’t value Joan’s opinion. Charlie turns on Zoey as well and asks her what she thinks since she’s an expert on their marriage. Zoey tries to tell him that he needs to respect Joan more and he just storms out.


Zoey tries to apologize later but Joan says it wasn’t her fault. She also says that Charlie is staying in the Four Seasons for the time being and he won’t be presenting at their party. Leif and Tobin want to know what Zoey or Joan did to piss off Charlie and she says that it’s Charlie’s fault.


Everyone tries to brainstorm about who can replace Charlie. Zoey asks Simon if he can find someone and though he sings Megan Trainor’s “No,” he agrees to look. Max reveals he has a connection to Mr. Nintendo himself and offers to call but says he can only make the request once. They agree he should and while he is gone, Joan comes in to say that Charlie is back on. Zoey asks for more details and Joan reveals she had to beg her husband and apologize for hurting his feelings. It’s utterly depressing and your heart breaks for Joan. She may suck as a boss but she’s clearly a talented and successful businesswoman who deserves so much better than her asshole husband.

(You just know he's internally screaming)

Max returns with the news that he got Mr. Nintendo but he realizes that Charlie is back, so he goes to make the call again. Poor Max. Put a pin in this moment. I’ll bring it up in a later post.


Zoey returns home, apologizing for being late because she had to go back for the shoes when she realized how expensive they were. She helps David make lemonade by hand for their father as they discuss how to approach their mother.


They do it together, finding her pruning a plant. She asks if they are staging an intervention and Zoey takes the shearers from her. Maggie insists that she had a moment but she’s sent an apology plant to the sorority and will make things right with the store. Zoey and David though tell her that she deserves some time to herself and to let them help. She says she can and should be able to care for her husband. Mitch then signals for her and she goes over to see what he wrote: You’re amazing. Let them help.


Maggie agrees.


So it’s time for the big party at SPRQ Point. Everyone gets ready and Zoey gives Joan a pep talk before the event, reminding Joan about how awesome she is. Joan then poses for the press with Charlie, who keeps putting her down. She then tells him that he should get comfortable at the Four Seasons because she’s dumping him at last. He reminds her that he’s about to speak at her event but she doesn’t care and walks away.


Zoey finds her in the bathroom and Joan confirms that Charlie left. She doens’t know who will do the presentation now and Zoey tells her that she can do it. No one knows the watch better than her and that it’s her time to shine.


Joan starts to sing “Roar” as she puts on her microphone. She gets out in front of the crowd and everyone cheers for her as she continues to sing, nailing the presentation and energizing the crowd.

(You're gonna hear her roar)

After Joan’s presentation, the party really begins. Zoey congratulates Mo on his gig and they chat. Mo reveals that he’s scooping out the two prongs of Zoey’s love triangle and trying to decide who he likes better. Max and Autumn ask if they want any SPRQ-tinis, which Max says are regular martinis served by socially awkward bartenders. Mo says that Max is funny and so he’s Team Max. Zoey protests that there are no teams. Max is there with his girlfriend and Simon is engaged. Mo, though, doesn’t remained convinced. But he congratulates Zoey on a good job and tells her to enjoy the party. 

(Cheers!)

Zoey finds Simon and congratulates him on the party. He says she deserves a lot of the credit too. She then tells him that he is obligated to go out on the dance floor and drop it like it’s hot. He asks her to never use that phrase again and they share a laugh. After a moment, Zoey assures him that it’s okay to dance. He accepts this and takes her out with him. They dance as Zoey shares a nod with Joan and we end with everyone partying in SPRQ Point.

And after seeing Zoey and Simon dance together, Mo declared himself "Team Simon." 

Oh, poor Zoey. Last week she had to deal with her parents’ sex life and this week she had to deal with her boss’. She really didn’t sign up to be a couples’ therapist but it’s fun watching her have to navigate their relationships.

I like that they explored how diseases can affect the caregiver as well and how that stress can manifest but how guilty they feel for trying to focus on their own self-care. Mary Steenburgen handled Maggie’s meltdown very well and broke my heart in the process.

I’m so glad Joan got rid of Charlie. He was a jerk and she deserves someone so much better. I know Joan and Zoey is already a popular ship. I’m not sure how I feel about it but it could be an interesting way to go.

While I’m not on any team yet, how about you? Are you Team Simon? Team Max? Team Joan? Let me know in the comments!

Next time: Zoey needs to help Mo.