With all the depressing stuff that’s going on, sometimes you just need a good laugh but also want to see extravagant musical numbers and a touch of drama. If these are things that you like to watch or stream then Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is definitely the show to watch.
The show follows Zoey Clarke, a coder from San Francisco who gains the ability to hear other people’s thoughts as musical numbers after an accident with an MRI machine. The way most episodes go is she hears someone she cares about sing a song signalling they have a problem and she spends the episode trying to solve it.
This is a show that sounds quite weird on paper but was executed well. The show was cast perfectly to include Jane Levy (Suburgatory) as the title character, Skylar Austin (the Pitch Perfect series) as her best friend Max and newcomer John Clarence Stewart as her friend/love interest Simon. Special mention also has to go to Peter Gallagher (The O.C) who plays Zoey’s Dad who suffers from Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) yet still gives a strong performance. Jane Levy shines in the role of Zoey and plays her quirks to perfection. The cast also has amazing chemistry and no one seems to be out of place. Other positives include the on-point comedy and the wonderful musical numbers. No cast member stands out as bad although some are stronger than others. The songs that are sung are also a mixture of modern and some old school pieces so it will appeal to a wider audience.
If I had to fault the series in any way, it’s that the comedy can sometimes undercut the more serious moments it has. The songs or the jokes can take away from the drama and make some of the emotional moments less impactful. You do connect with the characters but not as strong as the Person family in This Is Us for example. It can pack a punch occasionally though, my friends do say that I have a heart of stone, yet I still cried while watching it. I won’t spoil it and say why but just know that tears were running down my face, to the point where my Mum had to ask me what was wrong and I couldn’t explain.
