Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas has all the trappings and trimmings and tropes of a good, cheesy Hallmark Christmas special: There's frantic holiday baking! Everybody home for the holidays! A loved one has passed and now the holidays will never be the same!
It's that last one that really forms the heart of ZEC. Zoey wants desperately to relive her childhood memories of Christmas, mostly as a natural and deep-seated psychological response to her father's death. Her childhood memories are symbolized by a snow globe, an interesting choice for her memories. Snow globes are always changing. They get shaken up and never look exactly the same twice. They are fragile, made of glass, easily broken. And how interesting that that's exactly what happens in Zoey's life – when the snow globe is broken, so are her hopes for recreating the Christmas memories of her father. And that's the way it should be: we can honor the past and carry on traditions, but trying to recreate the past is an exercise in futility. Instead, Zoey learns (in a dream where the entire room turns into a snow globe!) that she can – and should – create new memories, building on the traditions her father helped create.
This was so poignant to me. I'm recently divorced and navigating the world of being a single father to four children. I've learned the hard way that I can't carry on all the traditions that we had when I was married. Loss stings. But like a controlled forest fire, loss sometimes can make way for new life. I decided that I was going to start some new Christmas traditions in the wake of my divorce. Our family looks different, so our family traditions should too!
Zoey and Max also go through some great relationship building stuff, built on the backbone of Max gaining Zoey's power to read minds through Broadway-quality song and dance routines. They decide that the universe has granted Max this power, as a way to help him feel empathy for Zoey's heavy burden, and not as a way to save the show and boost ratings. This type of healthy relationship building compassion is much needed. Max and Zoey even joke about having to communicate like regular adults, but not before performing some really clever numbers together with both their powers on display. Like a Broadway diva and divo battling it out for the title of Best Duo – but instead of crowing a single victor, everybody wins. Including the audience.
Enjoy this Christmas special (released on the Roku Channel, and vying for the regular show to be picked back up!) It's got all the fluff and tinsel and cheese of any holiday special you've seen before. But like Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist itself, it has a bit more substance and depth than your average show.
Just bring tissues for when Peter Gallagher shows up.
Zoey is dealing with some tremendous loss on her journey. The obvious loss is the death of her father, but the less obvious losses include her boss, her boyfriend (and best friend), and the life she once knew. The second season of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist deals with these losses and how Zoey faces her grief head-on. Zoey loses much more than the obvious (her father's gradual degeneration from Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, his death, breaking up with Max). Zoey also lost connection with others, she lost her ability to express her own feelings adequately, and she lost the center of her world. What most people don’t realize is when they lose a loved one, it’s so much more than just the loss of that individual. The peripheral losses are often just as devastating as the loss of the person themself. Relationships sometimes become unstable; routines get disrupted in a major way; and one may even lose their own identity. These losses are often just as devastating as the loss of the person themself, and sometimes can be even harder to deal with.
In speaking with my own therapist after I had some big losses pile up against me, I learned that those losses were affecting my ability to function in basic parts of my life. I was scared to refinance my house because I didn’t want to face another rejection. I had trouble connecting with certain friends because they reminded me too much of my best friend who took his own life. I was frightened to fully enter into romantic relationships because they would trigger memories of my divorce. I had a hard time talking to Heavenly Father because I blamed Him for a lot of my loss. And I was hesitant to be truly authentic in my life because my identity was often tied to some of the things I was losing, and so I didn’t really know who I was.
Zoey Clarke has taught me that being fearless is the only way to live. I’ve seen how unhappy and dissatisfied she was when she couldn’t connect. Who didn’t cry buckets when she and Max broke up? (C’mon, Zoey, SAY SOMETHING!) We’ve seen her break down at work because she can’t find her footing. And we’ve witnessed Zoey at war with herself because she couldn’t deal with so much loss in her life. I don’t want to live like that, and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist paints a way through devastating loss. Vulnerability. It’s as though Brené Brown were a writer for NBC!
As Zoey opens herself up and actually shares how she’s feeling, she finds connection. Zoey learns to actually SAY SOMETHING! and finds the comfort she so desperately is looking for. Nobody will ever replace Zoey’s father. Her relationship with Max may be salvageable (yay Team Max!), but it will never be the innocent peanuts and crackerjack relationship that it once was at the beginning of the season. Zoey’s relationship with Simon has irrevocably changed, and that’s not a bad thing. Her relationship with her mother has strengthened and deepend in ways that are beautiful and enrich both their lives. Even Zoey’s relationship with work, with her emotions, and with control have changed because of her loss, and because she was vulnerable.
To paraphrase an inspirational quote, Zoey is the person in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly. She knows that if she fails, at least she fails while daring greatly, so that her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. Zoey is living.
And look at that, we didn't even mention the music!
Zoey is on a personal journey. It’s easy to forget that as you’re watching Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist because of the fun musical numbers and awesomely expressive choreography (thanks, Mandy Moore!), the compelling story (go Team Max!), and the phenomenal acting (we will miss you, Peter Gallagher!). But at its core, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is about a woman who is on a journey of self improvement, of stepping out of her comfort zone, and of being vulnerable with others. Thank goodness the show was recently picked up for a second season!
Zoey’s admonition is clear from the first episode: “HELP!” She was given her extraordinary power to help other people. And when she shies away from this responsibility, the universe gently -- and sometimes not so gently -- reminds her how important it is for her to help others. Her days are interrupted constantly by “heart songs”, she glitches until she gets her own head in order, and even car horns remind her that she needs to help people. The universe is a persistent little bugger!
But here’s the thing: Zoey isn’t really just helping others. The person she’s helping the most is herself. Zoey’s journey of personal growth includes opportunities to put herself out there and to gain confidence. She learns to trust herself and to reach out to others for her own help. Zoey learns to create a support circle. Ultimately Zoey learns to take a page out of Brené Brown’s book (well, any of her incredible books) and find strength by being vulnerable.
I’ve watched the entirety of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist 4 times now with various friends and offspring, and by myself. Something in it speaks volumes to me. It’s more than the perfectly chosen music (see here for a playlist of our favorite songs), the exquisite production values, or the great humor in the show. It’s Zoey’s personal growth that speaks to me. I’ve been learning to love and accept myself more recently. I’ve been learning to be more vulnerable. I’ve been learning to reach out to friends and build a circle of support. I’m learning to trust myself and others. And despite being surrounded by death and love triangles and work drama, I’m learning to live life to its fullest. (More on that here.) And wholehearted living and authentic growing is the heart of Zoey’s extraordinary journey.
If you haven't seen Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, you're missing out on something, well, extraordinary. Yes, the music is fun, the acting is spot on, and the choreography is something like you've probably never seen on TV unless you watch a lot of So You Think You Can Dance. But moreover, the story is compelling, the emotions are real, and the message is clear: Zoey is on a journey (see here for more about that journey). Just like the button-down shirts Zoey wears under her cardigans, there is so much more beneath the surface. You can focus on the meticulously chosen music (as I do below), but when you get down to it, there is a real beating heart of emotion subtly hidden beneath the fun and the comedy (which I also subtly hide within my review below). So without further ado, here are the top 11 songs from Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (and some subtly disguised emotional realizations because, hey, that's what we do!)...
Minor spoilers below if you haven't watched the series ... SO GO WATCH IT FIRST!!
11) "The Boy Is Mine"
Hearing Joan and Ava fight over Max was a treat. The dancing was fun, the singing was impeccable (who doesn't want to hear Angelica Schuyler sing a Brandy & Monica song with Lorelai Gilmore?), and the production was perfect. But underneath, two women fighting over Max mirrored Zoey's own emotional fight over being Team Max or Team Whatshisface. (Uh, duh. Team Max all the way!)
10) "Great Pretender"
I mean, Mo has an amazing voice. He has several great songs I could have chosen ("Bailamos", "Issues", "I Will Follow Him") but I really liked this raw version where we get to see inside the heart of a truly intriguing character. Mo's genderfluidity is a minor plot point, but really we just love Mo for Mo. And isn't that what it's all about, great pretending aside?
9) "Pressure"
If you weren't Team Max by this point, are you even watching the show? The entire "Glitch" episode was cringey and wonderful, much like most musical television shows. But watching Max pretend like Zoey's outlandish performance was supposed to be a thing all along? How can you not love Max?! Zoey sings, "Don't ask for help / You're all alone", but she realizes she's simply not all alone. And it makes her "I'm Yours" ode to Max so much sweeter.
8) "Everybody Hurts"
Oh, Leif. We love you and we hate you. I mean, "All I Do Is Win" was an absurdly funny and sad look into Leif's mindset. But "Everybody Hurts" really acted as a bookend to his ridiculousness when he realized that people could see right through him. Plus this is the song that my first girlfriend played on her answering machine after I broke up with her in high school, so it hits a little close to home.
7) "How Do I Live?"
At the end of a ridiculously glitchy episode ("I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"? Hilarious, and painful, and silly), Zoey sings this heartbreaking rendition of LeAnn Rimes's song. But really, underneath the raw emotion, we learn the simple truth that the best way to fix stress in your life is to face your problems head on. Zoey faces her father's deteriorating health, and that snaps her doubly glitchy glitch back to just a singly glitchy glitch.
6) "Roar"
Lauren Graham is not the best singer, and that's one of the charms of the show -- that extraordinary singers (Renée Elise Goldsberry, Bernadette Peters, Skylar Astin) can sing alongside mediocre singers (Mary Steenburgen, Lauren Graham, Zak Orth). In this scene, Joan gives a speech, but "Roar" takes us on such a different journey that lets us see into Joan's heart -- so much so that it was almost like the speech didn't matter. Which is good, because we never heard the speech!
5) “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)”
Again, why are you not Team Max? I could have chosen so many of his love songs ("I Think I Love You", "Sucker", the hilarious "All of Me"), but "I'm Gonna Be" is just the tops. No song showed how true Max's love for Zoey is, or to what lengths he would go to help her, more than this song by The Pretenders. And if you don't think of Team Max every time you hear this song now, you might need to see a doctor, because what in the world is wrong with you?! (Go Team Max!)
4) "Mad World"
The first version when he's sitting at his desk, thank you very much. The second version was good, but that first version when Simon is singing to himself? And Zoey's expressions as she is listening in on this extremely personal heart song? Ho. Lee. Cow. It's perfect. And again, not only are we seeing into Simon's heart, but we are also seeing into Zoey's new world of whatever this power is. Telepathy? Legilimency? Eavesdropping?
3) "True Colors"
Quite simply, this song captures Mitch's relationship with Zoey so accurately. Coupled with his "Lullaby (Goodnight My Angel)" in the season finale sung to David, I've decided that Mitch is the best dad on television, which is really saying something for a guy with progressive supranuclear palsy who doesn't "actually" say a word the entire season. And Peter Gallagher might be the best actor on the series. Just sayin'.
2) "Fight Song"
I run to this song regularly. But after hearing (seeing?) the version performed in American Sign Language, while an independent daughter is expressing her desire to be able to grow up and experience life? Well that version is now emblazoned on my soul as my own heart song. What an amazing moment. Just watch the video and be moved.
1) "American Pie"
Okay, this was just perfect. Nobody really knows what all the meanings are in Don McLean's beautiful folk rock poem, and that just allows so much more interpretation to be layered on this song, as each character (except Mitch, RIP) sings their part. But oh my goodness, it's so much more than that. It's the conclusion to a season with a roller coaster of emotions. It's a fitting ode to great music. It's a masterclass in retrofitting lyrics to fit a story. It's a perfect use of a terrific ensemble cast. It's a showcase of technical wizardry as the camera doesn't stop for seven minutes. It's a meticulously planned and choreographed sequence. And maybe most importantly, it's a cathartic release of emotions that mirrors an ideal way of viewing death. It happens, it's sad, but it doesn't mean that everybody else's life has to stop fully. My friend TJ and I dreaded the season finale because we knew Mitch was going to die, and we just didn't want to become emotional wrecks as the characters we have grown to love mourn this wonderful man. But "American Pie" allowed us to feel sad and shed some tears and mourn, without feeling crushed and depressed and broken. And isn't that an extraordinary way to view life?
