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Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (available on Hulu and Sling TV)
Musicals are a special case of heightened reality. When simple words cannot adequately describe your feelings, music and dance lift you out of your dull, day-to-day conversation and into another realm, so your whole body can express your soul.
Screenwriter Austin Winsberg lost his father in 2011. His father succumbed to a rare form of cerebral palsy that left him unable to communicate with his family the year before his death. Winsberg wondered if there could have been some way to communicate with his father, to hear what he was thinking and feeling--a heightened reality. Winsberg thought of musicals.
This was the idea behind Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. Zoey Clarke gained the power to experience a person's innermost feelings through "heart songs"--Hollywood-style song and dance numbers only she could see. (Never mind how she got the power--that part was kind of silly...)
For the length of Season 1, Winsberg followed the downward path of Zoey's father, Mitch (Peter Gallagher), step by step in parallel with his own father's death ten years before. Through Zoey's gift, Mitch could express his love for his wife, Maggie (Mary Steenburgen); and when the time came, we could hear him say goodbye to his family in a way that honored their lives together.
[My own father never got to see his grandson before he died. So when Mitch sang Billy Joel's "Lullaby" to his unborn grandson, I nearly lost it completely.]
**************
In following the Clarkes through Mitch's illness and unflinchingly detailing his deterioration and death and its effect on the family, Winsberg hit almost every note perfectly. If this plot line had been the drama's primary focus, Season 1 could have gone down as an all time great.
But it wasn't. And the other running plotlines didn't quite work as well.
I think my main problem with s1 was when the writers shifted focus from the Clarke family to Zoey specifically as a character. Zoey (to me, at least) isn't a particularly well-rounded character at this point. She's bright, personable, and has a subtle, sarcastic wit--but she's primarily defined by her relationships to others, not by what she wants out of life. What does Zoey do when she's away from work and family? Does she have dreams bigger than SPRQ Point? Does she realize that her new power has opened up new possibilities for her future?
Zoey is unformed in a number of ways, and nowhere was that more obvious than her almost episode-by-episode vacillation between Max and Simon. First of all, she shouldn't have been thinking about starting an intimate relationship with a huge, traumatic family crisis hanging over her head. She really needed to step back and work through the crisis at hand. She'll have plenty of time to sort through what she wants in a relationship when the pain of Mitch's death subsides a little. (Plus: I don't think Zoey fully realizes her indecision is emotionally damaging to both guys.)
This is not Jane Levy's fault. The incomplete characterization and the romantic triangle hubbub were kind of baked into the character by Winsberg. It's also very difficult to be proactive when your main job in the big song and dance numbers is to get the hell out the way and let the pros work. It's no coincidence that my favorite episode was "Zoey's Extraordinary Glitch," when her power inverted itself and she compulsively sang and danced to everyone around her. (I still giggle thinking about "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"; the "little kid tip toe-ing" dance steps were hysterical.)
******************
OK, I complain, but overall, I was happy with Season 1. The musical numbers went a long way to papering over some of the rough spots. Mandy Moore's choreography was fantastic all the way through, and the regular cast and the guest stars (Bernadette Peters! Renee Elise Goldsberry!) were stacked with Broadway ringers, so everything looked and sounded top level. (Even non-singers like Levy, Steenburgen and Lauren Graham brought the right amount of emotion and enthusiasm.)
For Season 2 (cross your fingers), let's get more of Zoey's internal struggles (I want her to take charge of a big dance number!); more of the dynamic duo of Mary Steenburgen and Bernadette Peters; bigger and more awesome Broadway and/or pop stars (Patty Lupone? Chita Rivera? John Legend? Dream big!); and definitely more Mo (his backstory with the church choir was so much more interesting than his deal with Eddie).
Winsberg has said in interviews that some of my wish list is definitely in the works. Here's hoping he has the chance to pull it off.
Season One: B+
Musicals are a special case of heightened reality. When simple words cannot adequately describe your feelings, music and dance lift you out of your dull, day-to-day conversation and into another realm, so your whole body can express your soul.
Screenwriter Austin Winsberg lost his father in 2011. His father succumbed to a rare form of cerebral palsy that left him unable to communicate with his family the year before his death. Winsberg wondered if there could have been some way to communicate with his father, to hear what he was thinking and feeling--a heightened reality. Winsberg thought of musicals.
This was the idea behind Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist. Zoey Clarke gained the power to experience a person's innermost feelings through "heart songs"--Hollywood-style song and dance numbers only she could see. (Never mind how she got the power--that part was kind of silly...)
For the length of Season 1, Winsberg followed the downward path of Zoey's father, Mitch (Peter Gallagher), step by step in parallel with his own father's death ten years before. Through Zoey's gift, Mitch could express his love for his wife, Maggie (Mary Steenburgen); and when the time came, we could hear him say goodbye to his family in a way that honored their lives together.
[My own father never got to see his grandson before he died. So when Mitch sang Billy Joel's "Lullaby" to his unborn grandson, I nearly lost it completely.]
**************
In following the Clarkes through Mitch's illness and unflinchingly detailing his deterioration and death and its effect on the family, Winsberg hit almost every note perfectly. If this plot line had been the drama's primary focus, Season 1 could have gone down as an all time great.
But it wasn't. And the other running plotlines didn't quite work as well.
I think my main problem with s1 was when the writers shifted focus from the Clarke family to Zoey specifically as a character. Zoey (to me, at least) isn't a particularly well-rounded character at this point. She's bright, personable, and has a subtle, sarcastic wit--but she's primarily defined by her relationships to others, not by what she wants out of life. What does Zoey do when she's away from work and family? Does she have dreams bigger than SPRQ Point? Does she realize that her new power has opened up new possibilities for her future?
Zoey is unformed in a number of ways, and nowhere was that more obvious than her almost episode-by-episode vacillation between Max and Simon. First of all, she shouldn't have been thinking about starting an intimate relationship with a huge, traumatic family crisis hanging over her head. She really needed to step back and work through the crisis at hand. She'll have plenty of time to sort through what she wants in a relationship when the pain of Mitch's death subsides a little. (Plus: I don't think Zoey fully realizes her indecision is emotionally damaging to both guys.)
This is not Jane Levy's fault. The incomplete characterization and the romantic triangle hubbub were kind of baked into the character by Winsberg. It's also very difficult to be proactive when your main job in the big song and dance numbers is to get the hell out the way and let the pros work. It's no coincidence that my favorite episode was "Zoey's Extraordinary Glitch," when her power inverted itself and she compulsively sang and danced to everyone around her. (I still giggle thinking about "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"; the "little kid tip toe-ing" dance steps were hysterical.)
******************
OK, I complain, but overall, I was happy with Season 1. The musical numbers went a long way to papering over some of the rough spots. Mandy Moore's choreography was fantastic all the way through, and the regular cast and the guest stars (Bernadette Peters! Renee Elise Goldsberry!) were stacked with Broadway ringers, so everything looked and sounded top level. (Even non-singers like Levy, Steenburgen and Lauren Graham brought the right amount of emotion and enthusiasm.)
For Season 2 (cross your fingers), let's get more of Zoey's internal struggles (I want her to take charge of a big dance number!); more of the dynamic duo of Mary Steenburgen and Bernadette Peters; bigger and more awesome Broadway and/or pop stars (Patty Lupone? Chita Rivera? John Legend? Dream big!); and definitely more Mo (his backstory with the church choir was so much more interesting than his deal with Eddie).
Winsberg has said in interviews that some of my wish list is definitely in the works. Here's hoping he has the chance to pull it off.
Season One: B+
