Zoey’s Intervention

After last week’s break up, Zoey (Yara Shahidi) is indeed a broken soul in Episode 7 of Grown-ish, “Un-break My Heart.”  A traumatic breakup your first time away from home can be the worst. Who hasn’t been in the dumps after a breakup:  eating junk food, watching romantic comedies, and thinking there will never be another love, like the one you lost?  Zoey’s friends, sick of seeing her in a funk, stage an intervention.  Zoey begins partying to work out her feelings.  When a power outage on campus forces her to stay in for the night, she must confront her true feelings to begin the healing process.

Initially, when I viewed the Grown-ish‘s pilot, I thought Aaron (Trevor Jackson) and Zoey would be an endgame couple. However, as we were introduced to Cash over the last few episodes, I began to root for Zoey and Cash. The chemistry between Zoey and Cash was natural and enjoyable. Seeing them break up was tough because I was invested in the two characters.

Yara Shahidi handles her scenes with all of the charm we expect to see. Kudos to the writers for the portrayal of Zoey’s depression, which was handled with class. They could have made Zoey a stalker or played the entire scenario with Zoey the butt of some jokes. Instead, they humanized Zoey. As Zoey goes through her healing process, I was right there with her.

One of my favorite moments in this episode occurs between Zoey and Aaron. They didn’t work as a couple, however, Aaron comforting Zoey is beautiful to see. The writers could have written the scene with Aaron trying to catch Zoey on the rebound for personal gain. Instead, Aaron comes off as a strong, confident man who cares about his friend and wants to see her heal.

My second favorite moment of the episode occurs when Zoey finds out that Cash is now dating actress Zoe Kravitz.  Zoe takes the news pretty badly.  She and Cash had continued talking as friends, and Cash failed to mention his new relationship.  Zoey wants to confront Cash by calling him.  After Zoey has a dream about a reunion with Cash, she decides not to call him.  While I would love to see a Zoey and  Cash reunion, I had a smile on my face when Zoey chose not to make the phone call. Part of being an adult is learning its ok to be alone, and Zoey is doing just that.

Grown-ish is one of the best written shows on TV and episode 7 continues this trend. I can’t think of any other show with a female lead that has had me as emotionally invested as Grown-ish.

Final Grade:  A