We at Fangirlish have been open about our love for Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. This musical dramedy originally aired on NBC before being unceremoniously cancelled following its sophomore season. In the wake of a #SaveZoeysPlaylist campaign, streaming service Roku threw fans a lifeline, picking up the series and announcing an upcoming movie. Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas will air December 1 on The Roku Channel.
(Have we mentioned how much we love Roku? We really love Roku.)
With the movie premiering just around the corner, we’ve put together a list of five reasons we’re looking forward to Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas.
Shared Powers
The second season of Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist set up just enough cliffhangers to leave us desperate for more of the series. However, of all the cliffhangers, the one that had fans the most excited was the revelation that Max now shares Zoey’s powers. It’s one of those twists that, in retrospect, was brilliantly set up from the first season. And yet fans didn’t see it coming until the last few minutes of the second season finale.
Max sharing Zoey’s powers is the stuff fanfics are made of, making fans desperate to know how this particular plot will play out. How will it impact their romantic relationship (which seems to be full steam ahead. But, then, we always knew they were endgame)? How will this change her own understanding of her powers? Will they both hear the same song or different songs? What happens when they both hear the same song and interpret it in different ways?
Suffice it to say, we need answers. We need them.
So Many Ships
We are shameless in our love for Clarkeman, so of course we’re excited to see where this relationship goes next. Their now-shared musical experience will undoubtedly deepen the romance between Zoey and Max. After all, she will now come to more fully understand how it feels to know he can hear her heart songs without her consent – or knowledge. Meanwhile, Max will get to experience the other side of the powers, confronting the responsibility (and even inconvenience) they carry. And the fact neither will have to do so alone any longer makes our shipper hearts happy.
But Clarkeman isn’t the only ship we love – or are looking forward to – in Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas. We liked David and Emily during the first season of the show, of course. But they stole our whole hearts in the second season. We would watch an entire spin-off series about their first meeting and subsequent romance. Not to mention whatever happened after they bumped into each other in the hospital corridor.
We also fell in love with Mo and Perry (and could listen to David St. Louis and Alex Newell sing together all day). Mo and Eddie were cute together, of course, in the first season. But his relationship with Perry brought opportunities for character growth and added maturity for Mo, and he rose to the challenge.
Mo wasn’t the only regular to find love last season, of course. Tobin’s new relationship with Mackenzie barely had time to become “official” before the season ended. And then there are the characters we want to see happy in love. If there’s one theme that runs through 99.9% of holiday movie fare, it’s that Christmas is the time to fall in and to celebrate love. We have no doubt that the movie will embrace this theme.
Bring on all the feels, Roku! We’re ready!
A Father’s Love
One of the best things about Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has always been Zoey’s relationship with her father, Mitch. In the show’s second season, Mitch appeared in ingenious ways, including a flashback episode that is one of the series’ best installments. His brief appearance in the second season finale was enough to bring us to tears.
So we can’t wait for Mitch to find ways to emotionally compromise us in the upcoming movie. Even if we don’t yet know exactly how he will appear. Personally, we’re rooting for glimpses of Christmases past, when Mitch was still alive and happy. (And, yes, as shippers, we wouldn’t mind some more scenes between Mitch and Max. Because we all know Mitch loved Max as we love Max and was the original Clarkeman shipper.) Seeing him will be bittersweet, no doubt, since every scene will remind us of the poignancy of the Clarke family’s eventual loss. But Christmas can be a bittersweet time, when we can no longer be with those that we love.
Guest Stars
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has always had shorter seasons than many network shows. And the series consistently packed a lot into its shortened seasons. So it’s somewhat of a marvel that the show’s guest stars often became as beloved as its series regulars. From Autumn to Jessica to Rose to Deb (played by the incomparable Bernadette Peters), characters that appeared in a handful of episodes made a big impact.
We don’t know that the upcoming movie will feature any or all of these characters. However, fans can’t help but hope. It seems the cast got together with Katie Findlay (Rose) and India de Beaufort (Jessica) during filming. Sure, it’s possible those meetings were just happy coincidences and the actresses were nearby filming other things. But dare we hope for something more, even if just a couple cameos, to see characters we loved again?
Plus…I’m just going to say it. Simon’s single again, and we always wanted him to find happiness in love. As much as we would have been open to a new romance for him, if they wanted to have him reconnect with Jessica to establish a potential for renewed love for him on the horizon (since there likely isn’t enough time to introduce a new love interest)…we could be down with that. Simon has grown a lot since the first season, when his own grief held him back from giving himself entirely to his relationship with Jessica. Maybe we will find that it was a case of “right person, wrong time.”
Or not. We just want Simon (and all our other favorite characters) to find happiness in love one day.
Unforgettable Music
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention the songs we will undoubtedly get. Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has always had memorable musical numbers. And if the first look is any indication, the upcoming movie will be no exception. Show creator Austin Winsberg has already promised a combination of Christmas classics and popular music, and our playlists are ready.
Check out the first look of the upcoming movie:
Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas premieres December 1 on Roku. The complete series is available now on The Roku Channel.
