Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist
Sundays 8:00 PM on NBCZoey's Extraordinary Playlist Season 2 Episode 6: "Zoey’s Extraordinary Reckoning" Quotes
Zoey: Why didn’t you tell me?
Simon: I did try to tell you. I called you right after Danny Michael Davis dropped this on me. You weren’t really listening.
Zoey: I thought I was listening. You said there was a problem with the Chirp, so I assumed it was a coding issue, not, uh, that issue.
Simon: Well, when a Black employee tells you that a tech device is having trouble recognizing people of color, I’d think maybe you could put two and two together.
Zoey: You are right. I’m sorry. I was so focused on coming up with a solution I wasn’t hearing what was behind the problem.
Simon: Well, now you know.
Honestly, Max, we should hit him up to invest in the company. I mean, there’s no one easier to shake down than a well-intended billionaire with white guilt.
Mo
Zoey: Simon, I was wondering if there was anything you’d like to add.
Simon: I’d rather not.
Danny Michael Davis: So, I just left a meeting with some of the board, and they were just requesting that Simon just retract everything that he expressed at the press conference.
Zoey: Retract?
Danny Michael Davis: He just needs to say it was his opinion, you know, and his opinion alone and doesn’t represent the larger experience of being an employee at SPRQPoint, so we don’t, you know, get sued.
Zoey: That sounds…
Danny Michael Davis: Yeah yes, yes. That is terrible, unfair, hella dumb. But, look, as a CEO, I got to do stuff that’s no easy sometimes, and that forces me to have the tough conversations, which is why I’m going to have you do it.
Zoey: Excuse me? You want me to be the one to talk to Simon about this?
Danny Michael Davis: Great, same page. I feel so much better about this already.
Zoey: No, Danny, I don’t think I should.
Danny Michael Davis: Zoey, you are his supervisor, and we both know it’s going to sound a lot better coming from a mouth that isn’t mine.
Leif: Did you get any of my texts or that edible arrangement I sent? I just feel terrible about getting you fired.
Max: Weirdly, not as bad as I felt.
Zoey: Actually, I’m a little bit in a pickle, and I thought you’d be the perfect person to talk to about this.
Mo: Oh darling, I get that. My voice is so soothing.
Zoey: Danny Michael Davis told me the board needs Simon to retract everything he said at the press conference, and he wants me to tell him. And I don’t want it to sound weird, and I also want him to know I have his back, so how would you say it? I mean, if you were me.
Mo: I know you’re not asking your Black friend how to talk to your other Black friend.
Zoey: No. I mean, yes. But I just… I… um… I thought that you could offer some guidance since you’re…
Mo: Black?
Zoey: No, insightful.
Zoey: The board wants you to retract everything you said at the press conference. I know it’s total BS, but I’m just the messenger. But the good news is you spoke out, and you made people aware of what was happening, and if you want, I can even help you write a revised statement, so you can still say something. Um, I just want you to know you’re not alone in this.
Simon: OK, so if we’re being real, I don’t feel like you’re just the messenger, and I do feel very alone in this.
Zoey: I’m on your side.
Simon: It’s impossible for you to be on my side in this situation, and you cannot rewrite an experience you know nothing about.
Zoey: I mean I know a little, right?
Simon: How?
Zoey: I’m a woman in the tech world. I know what it’s like to be…
Simon: Yes, but that has nothing to do with who I am as a Black man in the world, and what my experience as a Black man is in this office. I never had any mentors look out for me like Joan. There’s no room for messing up for me. And I have to constantly prove why I deserve to be here.
Zoey: That’s awful.
Simon: No, it’s the truth. I have to constantly amputate parts of who I am to make other people feel comfortable in my presence, so they feel safe. So when I walk onto the elevator, they aren’t startled to see me. Do you even have to think about that?
Zoey: I mean if I’m being honest when I see you, I just see Simon.
Simon: Simon is a Black man. You seeing me as only Simon denies a fundamental part of who I am. And you asking me to walk back my words, Zoey, is telling me to deny that fundamental part of who I am. Whether you’re doing it as my boss or my friend, it makes you part of the problem. So to answer your question, I will not be retracting anything that I said.
Tobin: You want to know why I make jokes all the time? It’s because I’m a first gen. It’s how I fit in. It’s how I’ve always fit in because I don’t really fit in anywhere.
Zoey: Even here?
Tobin: At SPRQPoint? Are you kidding me? You know how shocked people are in other departments when they meet me and I don’t have an accent or I’m not the guy delivering their shawarma? Happens all the time.
Zoey: No one should have to feel this way at work. You should say something.
Tobin: To who, HR, Danny Michael Davis? What am I going to say? People are treating me like an Indian guy. Well, guess what, Zoey. I’m an Indian guy.
Zoey: The company is asking Simon to say he’s the only one who feels this way. He clearly isn’t. You could help him. You could help other people that maybe feel similar as you and Simon.
Tobin: I respect Simon for speaking out; I do. I just don’t want to stir the pot.
Simon: If I don’t retract my statement, they’ll slowly methodically ice me out. In a few months, there’ll be a new head of PR. My white bosses will give me a promotion to some job no one’s ever heard of where I’ll have no opportunity to rise and no voice. Period.
Mo: I just had a vision of me without a voice. I don’t like it.
Simon: Received. Maybe I should just retract everything I said. Just keep my head down, stack my checks. I mean who was I to think I could change any of this?
Mo: Listen to me. You are a gorgeous Black man with a big heart, and you should have to put your head down anywhere. And if you can’t be your whole self there, then they don’t deserve you. You hear me?
Zoey: So after everything that went down, how do you feel?
Simon: Relief.
