ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST Post-Mortem: Austin Winsberg on Shaking Up Zoey’s Foundation in Season 2

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Tuesday, January 5 premiere of ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST.]

As Zoey (Jane Levy) navigated her way back into the world in the ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST season 2 premiere, she discovered basically everything around her had changed.

Professionally, with Joan (Lauren Graham) accepting a promotion, Zoey was given the opportunity to take a leadership role. And, romantically, despite both Simon (John Clarence Stewart) and Max (Skylar Astin) still expressing interest, Zoey doubled down on her apparent finale choice and opted to move forward with Max.

At home, as the family struggled to move on, they got an unexpected gift: Mitch (Peter Gallagher) recorded videos for his family. While some showcased his struggle to speak, the family found one where he was able to say his own version of goodbye.

But, naturally, grief is not linear.

So what comes next? ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST boss Austin Winsberg breaks down the premiere’s biggest moments and what’s ahead…

For much of the premiere, it felt like the triangle might still be in play—until it suddenly wasn’t. How seriously will you be pursuing Zoey and Max’s relationship? Are you done utilizing the triangle for the time being?

I felt like—and I don’t know how much of this is influenced from reading all the Twitter feeds and everything—we definitely felt like Zoey’s turning 30 this year on the show. And to continue to flip flop between both guys repeatedly, I think not only does that get old from a storytelling perspective, but I think the audience eventually grows really tired and frustrated with that. And I felt like somebody who’s turning 30, there’s only so much flip-flopping as you can do before, maybe, the men will be, “I don’t know that I want to pursue this anymore.” And so I just felt like we need to make some choices. And I felt like we needed to explore different roads, discover what they would be like for Zoey. I just felt like it was important to put an end to the sort of love triangle of it all. But that doesn’t mean that we’re done exploring what these relationships look like.

If Simon is kind of out of the romantic picture for Zoey, is he going to get a love interest? Or will he be properly single for a bit?
Really great question. [Long pause.] [Laughs.]

Okay then! At work, with Zoey now being a boss, how does that change things for her at SPRQPOINT?
We just wanted to give Zoey more responsibility. The more things Zoey has on her plate, the better it is for story and challenges it is for her to have to deal with her powers at the same time. I just felt like if you raised her up at work, Leif can now be in charge of the bullpen, and you can have new interesting stories of him having to function in the new managerial role that he thought he wanted. And for Zoey to have to interface with other departments in ways she wouldn’t get to if she was just in the bullpen. So it opened up the world.

I also thought there were interesting things with Zoey being Simon’s boss in a way, because she’s in charge of the floor and he’s on the floor. It opened up some new dynamics for storytelling. And also, Zoey isn’t always the best or most communicative with others is having to learn how to be a leader. The second episode deals with a big problem with one of the watches at SPRQPOINT; there’s an internal crisis she has to deal with. In episode 4, there’s another work crisis she has to deal with. We see SPRQPOINT is in free-fall. So having to be the boss and deal with all of the problems that are arising felt like a good opportunity for conflict and comedy. And Zoey having to step up.

George (Harvey Guillen) seems to be very firmly Team Zoey so far. What can you tease about their working dynamic beyond the premiere?

We just wanted some new energy in the bullpen, first and foremost. I think that George brings a lot of heart and a lot of comedy to the bullpen. And I think that Zoey feels a kinship with George, and has empathy for him. He’s just somebody who fundamentally just desperately wants to be liked and fit in. And he’s kind of like the sweet puppy dog. And their relationship takes an interesting turn in episode 4.

Max does seem to be really done with SPRQPOINT and appears all-in with Mo (Alex Newell) on their restaurant idea. How much will them crafting this business play into season 2?

It takes up the entire season. It is a big part of the show moving forward. And the amount of time and energy and effort spent on the design of the restaurant of the restaurant, how the restaurant would actually work and function…I am ready to open that restaurant starting tomorrow. The set we built for this restaurant is one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.

Max and Mo are different parts of Zoey’s life. We’ve certainly seen bits of them together, but what is their dynamic like when they’re actually having to be together this much, especially in a professional capacity?

Very complicated. They have two very different approaches, two very different styles. One’s right-brained, one’s left-brain. One is all about the creativity and the big ideas. The other one is way more technical and business-minded. And that creates both opportunity and conflict every step of the way for the two of them.

One of the biggest surprises of the premiere was the Mitch video. We didn’t really see much of the others, though. Are those still lingering things you’re going to play with later in the season, or was this the message you wanted to send to the family and fans?
That was the message I wanted to get across. That was sort of a message of Mitch saying, we can take a breath, we can wallow, and you can live with your grief. But how does that help? It’s not something he would want for them. And so I just felt they needed to hear, from him, you can’t just stay like this. And I don’t want you to stay like this. That was certainly a message I would have wanted to hear from my dad. It’s so interesting, because this season is about Zoey’s recovery, and the family, and how does the family move on after tragedy? And I feel like a lot of it parallels what we’re all kind of going through in different ways right now. And I just felt like it’s important to put some sort of messaging out there after death that life still goes on. And that you have to find new ways to recalibrate, and keep going yourself. So I actually think that the song “Carry On” is kind of a fitting thematic idea for the whole season.

ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST, Season Premiere, Tuesday, January 5, 8/7c, NBC

RELATED:

• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST Boss Previews Zoey’s ‘Journey of Recovery’ in Season 2
• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST Season 2 Premiere: ‘Zoey’s Extraordinary Return’ Photos
• NBC Renews ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST
• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST Post-Mortem: Austin Winsberg on the Rule-Breaking Number and What’s to Come in Season 2
• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST Boss Teases Max’s New Lease on Life, ‘Authentic’ Mitch Storyline
• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST Team on the Love Triangle Reveals, What Comes Next
• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST: Jane Levy and Austin Winsberg Tease Jane’s Very Musical ‘Glitch’
• ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST: What You Need to Know About the New NBC Series

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.