Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – Zoey’s Extraordinary Employee

By: Maddie Ruby

As Mo (Alex Newell) and Max’s (Skylar Astin) restaurant idea becomes more real, Mo tries out his “Mo-jitos” and “Mo-garitas” on the Clarke family. Everyone says they are very strong, except for Jenna (Jee Young Han) who claims she could add more alcohol. Zoey (Jane Levy) is not drinking because she is finally getting sleep and becoming happier since her dad’s passing and her odd “break-up” with Max. She asks Mo how he is so happy even though he just broke up with his boyfriend. He tells Zoey that he chooses to be happy and that’s all she has to do. She tries this as she goes into work in a super cheery mood, saying hello to everyone. George (Harvey Guillén) almost puts a damper on this when he tells Zoey it is his dead grandmother’s birthday. She puts a smile back on her face, saying that it is going to be a great day…until Leif (Michael Thomas Grant) tells her she has to fire 10% of the fourth floor.

As Maggie (Mary Steenburgen) and Jenna go to work on their new architectural project, Jenna notices that the client, Roger (Rob Stewart)m is flirting with Maggie. Maggie doesn’t believe this and says it is just two people collaborating on a project and only a client and business relationship. Jenna is, in fact right, when Roger decides to ask Maggie out on a date. Maggie takes offense to this since she just lost Mitch and he tries to compare it to losing his wife in a divorce, which is drastically different. Maggie apologizes and turns him down saying they should pretend it never happened. Maggie tells Jenna what happened,sharing she feels like betrayed Mitch by flirting with Roger.

Meanwhile, David (Andrew Leeds) is preparing to begin his next case as a public defender. Emily (Alice Lee) notes that if he wins it would be his hundredth case won. The family decides to go watch him in the courtroom and Zoey hears him sing Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” as he stumbles over what to say to the judge. She thinks this may be a sign that he wants to spend more time with his newborn son, Miles, instead of putting in hours at work all the time. David tells Emily that he wants to quit now that she is going back to work and she is blindsided. He says it isn’t making him happy, but Emily says this decision will greatly affect their plans to buy a house and have another baby.

At SPRQ Point Simon (John Clarence Stewart) prepares to do his first interview as part of the PR team. As the first question is asked involving how SPRQ Point is going to bounce back from this drastic downfall it is in he freezes up. At the same time Zoey is preparing to fire some of her employees. Some go well, some don’t. Leif shows her the report saying who is being the least productive and it turns out to be George. As she is sadly avoiding doing this, she suddenly hears Simon loudly and excitedly singing “Juice” by Lizzo. It turns out his interview actually ended up going really well. As it isn’t already hard, George is obviously very upset by this news. Zoey notes that she can’t fire someone who is doing better than him and he understands.

Mo and Max struggle over the past of their new restaurant’s location. The places that have been there before drastically failed. He decides to cleanse the space with a karaoke cocktail party and put positive energy into it. Zoey goes to visit them at work and realizes she hasn’t really talked to Max since everything happened. As the soiree begins Mo invites Max onstage to sing Paula Abdul’s “Opposites Attract” with him. Max isn’t happy because this party is in the middle of his office and he feels like he is the only one that actually cares about the restaurant, doing the hard work while Mo parties. Simon comes to hang out bringing with him the woman who interviewed him. Zoey accidentally gets drunk off of Mo’s cocktails and starts being super flirtatious with Max. Mo brings her home and makes her promise not to send any drunk texts… which she does anyways.

The next morning Zoey goes into work super hungover. She notices George there, even though she fired him. Instead of texting Simon or Max, it seems she drunk texted George and accidentally rehired him. She realizes she has to fire him again and calls Emily to ask for advice. Talking to Zoey helps Emily realize why David is unhappy and that they can figure something out to help him. As Zoey is firing George, again, she hears him sing “Stronger” by Britney Spears.

Mo goes back to see Max in his “office” to tell him that the woman who did a piece on Simon wants to do an article on Max. This would give their restaurant national exposure. Max realizes that Mo does care about this place, but he just has a different process than Max does.

Zoey goes to SPRQ Point’s meditation area where she is joined by Simon. She tells him she is trying so hard to be happy but life keeps throwing things in the way.

At the end of the day the family is in the kitchen as Jenna and Maggie bond and David announces that he won his 100th case. They want to celebrate, but he isn’t in the mood and just wants to go see the baby. Zoey hears Emily sing “I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders, meaning she has changed her mind and just wants David to be happy. Emily tells David he should quit and they can just figure out their plans as they go.

Zoey goes next door after finding out the old neighbor is home and starting a garage rock band. Aiden (Felix Mallard) has grown up a lot since the last time Zoey saw him and he is very handsome. He invites Zoey to come in and hang out, to which she does.