This week’s episode of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist was full of emotion, tension, and amazing songs including the show’s first ever original song! Centered on Zoey’s 30th birthday, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Birthday” is just that. Let’s jump right in!
Zoey’s 30th birthday week kicks off with a family dinner as Zoey talks to baby Miles and Maggie, David, and Emily cook a nice dinner. Zoey protests celebrating at all but Maggie reminds her 30 is a big birthday and Mitch would want them to have a huge party. Zoey agrees to a big party at Maggie’s house as David teases her about being able to even fill up a house with guests. She argues that she has lots of close friends, and the next morning at work she invites Alicia, the SPRQ Point receptionist who didn’t realize Zoey even knew her name to the Saturday night party.
Zoey then sets her sights on Simon and the two flirt a bit as she informs him of the party and he agrees to wipe his calendar of any world saving plans in favor of attending her party. Energized by the interaction (who wouldn’t be with Simon smiling at them like that), she proceeds to invite the entire fourth floor as well and everyone looks excited at the prospect. Tobin quickly asks the man to lady ratio (an important detail, obviously) and Zoey tells him it depends on how many women he invites, basically giving him free rein to invite whoever he wants. He takes it as a personal assignment. Zoey also announces that Danny Michael Davis wants the company to revamp their signature phone and is accepting pitches from everyone. She hopes that the winning design will come from engineering. Tobin questions how they can do this with Leif away at a conference, but McKenzie quickly says she’s got this. Competitive as ever, Tobin also sets to work in his own idea.
Meanwhile at MaxiMo, Mo talks with Perry the fire marshal about the newly installed fire alarm, “We’re newly committed to fire safety.” Perry tells Mo it looks great but didn’t require a visit from him, if Mo wanted to see Perry he should have just asked. Perry says he would say yes to a date as he leaves. Mo has quite a twinkle in his eye. Zoey arrives to fill Mo and Max in on her birthday party plans. As Max and Zoey chat, Rose arrives and Max rushes over to help with her coat. Max introduces them, but Zoey then gets to hear a duet heart song between Max and Rose, “Need You Tonight” by INXS with some very sexy choreography. Obviously a bit flustered, Zoey declines Max’s invite to join them for dinner. That evening at their building, Zoey unloads what she witnessed to Mo. She’s clearly bothered by it, and Mo points out that they haven’t actually discussed any rules on their relationship “pause.” Zoey is clearly thinking about others (Aidan and Simon) and so is Max, so Zoey agrees she and Max need to talk this out.
David and the band jam at Aidan’s garage and overshares that he and Emily have been… getting along much better at night since he joined the band. Aidan tells him he doesn’t need to share those details as the band takes a break. Aidan’s a little down and David insists he confide in him about his relationship troubles. Aidan says a girl ghosted him (hint: it’s Zoey) and he can’t get her out of his head. David encourages him to write a song about it, even providing a helping with lyrics “her hips, her lips, her fingertips.” He leaves Aidan to his writing.
Max arrives at Zoey’s for their “mature conversation” and he confesses he was thrown by her wanting to discuss it. Zoey tells him she heard him sing with Rose and Max gets defensive and upset that she once again knows everything about his emotions without him sharing it. She tries to explains she wants them to be on the same page with expectations involving other people prompting Max to ask who is in her world. Zoey confesses that she had a “flirty thing” with Aidan and has also started to have feelings for Simon and that’s the final straw for Max. He’s upset by everything and thanks her for trying to clarify their rules so she can run off with Simon. Zoey tell him that’s not what’s happening, but she can’t just stop talking to him to avoid hearing heart songs. He doesn’t know the answer either but tells her, “I’m so tired of storming out of fights with you, so I’m going to maturely walk away” and leaves.
Zoey arrives on Mo’s doorstep the next morning to inform him she’ll be cancelling the party. Mo begs her not to; he’s already invited the hot fire marshal to be his date but Zoey is persistent, sharing that she and Max fought. She’s upset and goes forward with the cancellation. At work, Tobin invites her to check out his and McKenzie’s pitch boards for their phone ideas: The Mega Phone and the Micro Phone. One guess which one is Tobin’s idea (hint: it’s the Mega Phone). She’s pre-coffee but Tobin keeps talking as they walk to the food bar and everyone starts to gather around. Simon shouts surprise and the Zoey Bar full of red and pink candies, cookies, and cakes is launched with everyone chanting “Zoey!” She’s speechless for a moment and thanks everyone (it was Simon’s idea), but she announces that she’s cancelling the party. To her shock everyone is upset. Simon asks her why but she doesn’t want to tell him it’s because of the fight with Max. She’s then treated to a heart song from Simon and the whole floor of “Don’t Leave Me This Way.” She’s so moved by it that she decides to have the party anyway and everyone is excited.
At Maggie’s, Maggie finds Zoey upstairs crying. She forgot earrings and found the pair Mitch got her for her 16th birthday. Maggie tells her that Mitch loved parties and she often stepped out of her comfort zone for him. Those moments turned out to be some of her favorite memories. With that pep talk, Zoey puts on the earrings and gets ready for her big bash.
Tobin and McKenzie arrive at the party together (do we smell a romance brewing?) arguing about their phone ideas. “It’s literally man spreading for your electronics,” McKenzie points out about Tobin’s massive phone idea. They hand their jackets off to David and Emily who are making out in the office. Mo shows the fire marshal around the house while he counts the number of exits, just as Zoey makes her way downstairs. Mo introduces Zoey to Perry and they head off to find drinks. Zoey turns to the doorway as Max arrives. She tells him she’s happy he came and asks if she can open her gift now. It’s personal, so they go upstairs where they can be alone. Max bought her a signed record display of “A Moment Like This,” their song. Zoey is touched and thanks him for the present. She doesn’t want to hold him back and tells him he should pursue Rose if that’s what he wants. Max also doesn’t want to get in the way of whatever Zoey wants.
Back downstairs, Zoey finds Simon who just arrived with Tatiana. She’s a flustered by this development and goes to find Mo, who is unsure how her date is going. Perry is playing it cool, almost too cool, so it’s hard to read. This, of course, is when Zoey hears a huge heart song number of “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer sung by Mo and Perry, Emily and David, and (surprisingly) McKenzie and Tobin. The end of the song is sung by Tatiana, though Simon noticeably doesn’t sing back. Zoey tells Mo he’s probably good to go with Perry after that number but is sad no one is singing to her. Maggie gives a toast and announces a surprise for Zoey. Aidan’s band is debuting a brand new song for her that is… about her. Aidan wrote a song all about Zoey and her “hips, lips, and fingertips.” Hilariously, David realizes this half way through and it’s clearly difficult for him to finish the song. Zoey’s not super thrilled at this development and gets everyone to cheer for the band.
Mo asks Perry if they should make their exit after the cake but Perry tells him he actually needs to leave now to go pick up something from his ex-husband. When Mo presses, Perry reveals that he has two children. He’s not interested in random hook ups and wants Mo to know all the facts. Perry tells Mo to think about it and call him later if he didn’t already scare Mo away. Meanwhile, Aidan finds Zoey to see if she liked the song. She has to tell him that there’s not going to be anything more than friendship between them. Aidan leaves just as everyone begins to sing “Happy Birthday,” but she interrupts it and proceeds to blow out the candles. People trickle out, Tatiana being one of them and Zoey’s confused why she’s leaving without Simon. She levels with her and asks if they have anything romantic going on and Tatiana tells her they are just friends and she thinks Simon might be into someone else (it’s Zoey). In the kitchen, David apologizes again for not realizing Aidan’s song was about Zoey and Emily agrees that he has to quit the band. Max graciously makes an exit as well, leaving Zoey and Simon alone in the kitchen where she tells him she’s happy he is still there. They nearly kiss before the crew come back in.
Early the next morning, Mo arrives with brownies for Zoey’s actual birthday. Mo shares that Perry has kids and Zoey jokes that he definitely go out of his comfort zone for the nice man who makes him giddy. David checks in with Maggie about the party and she confides that it was nice to bring life back into the house and wouldn’t mind hosting future get togethers for friends. At MaxiMo, Max and Rose go on another date while Mo and Perry visit at Mo’s apartment. Across the hallway, Simon and Zoey share a drink after dinner and Simon gives her a final birthday surprise: a cheesequake. She blows out the candle and Simon sings a beautiful rendition of “Into You” by Ariana Grande with sensual choreography from both Simon and Zoey. It’s obvious they are both into one another and after he sings, she pulls him in for a kiss.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist airs Sundays on NBC.
