User Reviews

Not the show that should be tackling the religion /LGBT conversation. Really like the show, but did not enjoy the writing in this one. A very shallow interpretation of trans people and of church culture.

I'll be honest with you, I tried to watch this series with my wife and I was okay with it until this episode. I am truly unsure if I'll continue after this one. If you love the agenda of inclusion and blurred lines of male and female. then this is your episode. sprinkled with religious undertones and acceptance and tolerance when there's no real letting your light shine in this episode. just darkness.

It was super disappointing.

"Zoey's Extraordinary Neighbor" is the fourth episode from season one of "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" and I thought the series had a solid start, but with episode three, it really all went wrong. This episode here that runs for minimally over 40 minutes just like the others is slightly better again, but sadly still relatively far away from the level I want this show to have. Maybe things will get better with the following episodes. Once more, the focus is on one person from Zoey's life and this time it is the one that she barely had any contact with before the series started. She did not like said neighbor apparently and the neighbor thought Zoey was really boring, so I still wonder why said neighbor is the one that Zoey trusts with her secret. Then again, said secret seems to become less and less of a factor as the show continues unfortunately. By the way, the neighbor is in fact her landlady as we find out too because she gets the rent from others and is busy fixing stuff too here and there. This came also a bit out of nowhere. They apparently also did not care that much about this definition that they did not call the episode "Zoey's Extraordinary Landlady". Or is the title reference here linked to the other neighbor, the Asian who barely leaves her apartment? Debatable for sure. I'd still say it is more likely that it is about Alex Newell's Mo. The actress was on Glee too by the way, so no surprise that she gets to be a supporting player on another music-themed television show. But I did not like what they did with her here. The inclusion of religion seems clumsy to say the least and the only somewhat good moment Mo has all episode is when the tells Zoey that she does not want to sing for her, so she should not listen to her. That was pretty tense and atmospheric. However, the entire idea of Zoey posing as a guy when singing with the choir felt as poorly elaborated on as the idea of feeling alone very early on. As for the pretty progressive priest, I am still undecided. I think I maybe only liked him a bit because the rest of the episode was this forgettable. Then there is this big revelation moment in the end with Mo showing up as a woman for the first time and yeah, with all her previous doubts I must say I did not buy the transformation. Did not feel credible, but for the sake of a happy ending sadly.

This transformation had to do with the witnessing of a miracle before that and this is where the other neighbor comes into play, the Asian lady. She is the one who always stays inside. Zoey hears her sing as well and the karaoke party comment was actually a bit funny. The rest though did not do much for me. I think it would have been better had they included said neighbor kept behind closed doors here and included in future episodes again, definitely not in every episode before she maybe manages to come outside eventually. I mean she has a mental disorder or something. That says it all. Way too rushed putting her entire story into one single episode once again with the solution they needed to offer. I must also say that I struggled with Zoey turning into some saint here almost trying to fix everybody's issues that they cannot talk about initially. This also refers to her boss' broken heart. Don't even get me started on Lauren Graham's soulless version of Miley Cyrus' "Wreckingball". Whoever from Miley's team gave permission for that should be fired. I am not sure anyway what's up with Graham's character. Is she getting one song per episode now and that is it? Maybe still better than further elaboration on her shallow character. On the romance front, almost nothing new for Zoey. Her best friend is fully focused on his new girlfriend instead of his romantic feelings for Zoey and her crush is still engaged. Her mother even helps these fiancées. Speaking of the mother (Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen), she gets some more time for herself now, but this story with Zoey's father was almost the only positive aspect from this episode. How the fact that he may have improved cannot hide that he is still suffering from a fatal disease, so you can wonder for how long Peter Gallagher's character will be a part of this show. Here we also see him talk for once in an old wedding video, but he also does a lot with everything else he is given and that his character allows him to do. That story alone, however, is obviously not enough for a positive recommendation. Episode four is sadly one of the more forgettable Zoey episodes. Have to give this one a thumbs-down and I hope they can step things up soon again and then stay on better-quality territory with the second half of the first season especially. Let's see.