Rumors of a possible merger between the towns of Bluebell and their rival Fillmore fuel much of this fairly predictable, but still entertaining, episode of Hart of Dixie.
To distract the local gossip blog from reporting the news of the merger, Zoe, Joel, and Annabeth are tasked to come up with a cover story. The staged photos of Joel and Annabeth caught in an affair were pretty funny, but they only bought Lavon and George a little bit of time before the townspeople discovered it was all a sham. With the help of Tansy, George and Lavon discover the real truth of the town merger. Mayor Gainey of Fillmore only seems so supportive of the merger because he plans on turning Bluebell into West Fillmore.
Meanwhile, Zoe’s cousin Vivian and Wade are interested in each other but Zoe tries and fails in keeping them apart. After their first date, Zoe inadvertently talks Vivian out of seeing Wade again. He’s not dumb though, and confronts Zoe about her cousin’s sudden change in attitude after what they both thought was a successful first date. In my favorite scene of the night, Wade defends himself to Zoe and flat out says that maybe she needs to ask herself why she doesn’t want him dating so close to home. Joel had been telling Zoe that she’s acting crazy and jealous all along, but it was really Wade who made her clear things up with Vivian.
Brick’s current predicament with his pregnant ex-girlfriend Shelby is interesting. The episode started with her begging him to go to her birthing class with her, and ended with her moving into his house. Now remember that Shelby is artificially inseminated, so the baby is not Brick’s, but he’s been guilted into so much already that I’d bet he’ll end up raising this baby with her as his own.
It’s also important to note that Brick was on the phone with Lemon multiple times. When you think about it, his youngest daughter Magnolia was written off at the beginning of this season by just saying she was sent to boarding school, and yet no one ever talks to her or mentions her name. Lemon is out of town taking care of his mother, and he’s talking to her twice a day at least, even taking her encouraging dating advice to get out and socialize. I can only imagine that it’ll be a real shock to Lemon when she returns home to find that Shelby has moved in with her father.
By this point in the middle of the season, Joel is growing on me. Lynly, not so much. I am still rooting for George and Tansy to get back together eventually, and poor little Lynly will be so heartbroken she needs to leave town immediately. I won’t miss her, but it will hurt to see Joel get crushed once Zoe finally admits her true feelings for Wade.
Last but not least, I was excited to see Rose back! She hasn’t been around much since the season premiere (the actress has been on Awkward this season), but I always enjoy her scenes with Zoe. She’s like the little sister that Zoe never had, and that relationship is cute to see played out. I think we’ve only ever seen Rose’s mom once a year or two ago. The writers were probably poking fun at that fact when Rose said something along the lines of “why don’t I have more adults in my life that I can trust?”
[Photo via Frederick M. Brown/Getty]
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This was the first episode this season that I actually liked. The much needed dialog between Wade and Zoe shook her up enough so that she finally did a nice thing for Wade…it’s a start. It’s frustrating that Zoe refuses to see what everyone around her sees (even Joel)…that she still has feelings for Wade.I’m hoping this wake-up call for Zoe continues and she is able to overcome her fear of trusting Wade again…they belong together. It’s why we watch.