Legendary composer and lyricist Howard Ashman (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE LITTLE MERMAID) used to say that in every musical ever written, there’s a place where the leading lady sits down and sings what she wants in life and the audiences fall in love with her. The mechanism in Zoey is the reverse. She can hear other’s “heart songs” and what they want in life, but continues to struggle to hear her own voice.
This worked in the first season as Zoey was dealing with her sick father. In the latest episode, ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY DISTRACTION, the attention has turned to the supporting cast and their lesser champagne problems.
Yes, there’s the skinny jean goodness of Michael Thomas Grant (Leaf) singing THEY DID A BAD BAD THING, but most of the musical numbers are “poison” and fail to move the important plot forward. The exception is the emotional climax, involving a “will they or won’t they” moment for Zoey with a pitch perfect mashup of TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME and A MOMENT LIKE THIS. A “heart song” like that is why audiences continue to tune in weekly.
You can fast forward to the end scene and sing along to this week’s episode on Peacock.
