Hart of Dixie 3.11 Review: “One More Last Chance”

Not one but two recurring characters are leaving Bluebell as of this latest episode of Hart of Dixie.  A few storylines were wrapped up, including the town’s looming threat of being merged with Fillmore. Two relationships may have ended, but another prominent relationship is taking one major step forward.

The lieutenant governor was coming to visit Bluebell to declare it a historical town, and coincidentally, we also find out the identity of Shelby’s baby daddy. As soon as Shelby saw Annabeth hanging up a picture of the lieutenant governor, she freaked out and confided in her that she had a one night stand with him about 8 months ago. At first Shelby plans on just hiding away until he leaves since she just got back together with Brick, but Annabeth’s advice for the sake of her baby got her out of the house to confront the father. Shelby agrees to move back to Montgomery to raise the baby with Lieutenant Governor Bird, which was disappointing. Brick never had a lasting relationship with anyone other than Shelby, so now with her out of the picture, I’m curious to see what his storylines are like for the rest of the season.

Vivian’s son Harley uses his salamander pet Cecil to threaten Wade behind his mother’s back. To hear an 8 year old threaten to kill someone in his sleep if he doesn’t break up with his mom was pretty shocking. Vivian might be ready to move on after her recent divorce, but that doesn’t mean her son is ready to meet the new man in her life. Harley even finds a way to interrupt Wade and Vivian’s date when he was supposed to be staying with Zoe and Joel for the night.

Zoe needs help winning over her Aunt Winifred in hopes of getting in her good graces, so it comes in handy when she hears that Wade has actually met and bonded with her aunt. Zoe was led to believe that Winifred is mean, but in fact she only hates anyone and everyone from the North, especially New York where 2 of her exes are from. Wade proposes that he’ll help Zoe out by talking her up to Winifred if she uses her advantage of being close to Harley to help him out with the kid.

Harley’s a mature 8 year old, as he possibly inspired an important conversation between Zoe and Joel. When they were babysitting him, he said he’s watched Dr. Phil a lot and sensed that one or both of them is afraid of commitment since they’re still living in a glorified hotel room. Cut to the end of the episode when Joel is giving in to Zoe’s preference for a house. He takes it one step further and actually suggests that they buy it instead of just rent. In the show’s universe, I don’t think they’ve even been dating a whole year. This will be interesting to watch them fix up the termite ridden house, but Joel is clearly here to stay.

A couple episodes ago Tansy had warned George of Lynly’s possible “crazy eyes,” and apparently George took that advice to heart. When Lynly and Tansy were hanging out as friends, Lynly accidentally burnt off a piece of Tansy’s hair with her curling iron, and George ever so slightly hints that he doesn’t believe it was an accident. I thought Lynly would have really gone crazy on him then, but she knew they were over before George even realized he wanted to break up. I was so happy to see Lynly packing up to leave. This doesn’t mean George and Tansy will automatically get right back together, but it’s a step in the right direction.

When he wasn’t breaking up with Lynly, George was engrossed in another episode of the Don Todd show, this time showing him golfing against an Easter Island backdrop. I really hope all these hilarious Don Todd videos will pay off with a visit from the man himself in Bluebell. Especially now that the town has been saved from the possible merger/acquisition by Fillmore and declared a historical town, maybe we’ll see some sort of Don Todd golf tournament brought to town.

So what did you think? Are you as happy as I am to see Lynly finally leaving?

[Photo via Greg Gayne/The CW — © 2013 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.]