Ever since guiding the town through a flu epidemic, Zoe has been working herself to death. People in BlueBell finally trust her and she’s not going to give that up, not after spending a 18 months as the town pariah. However, in her quest to be the best doctor in BlueBell, she’s been neglecting Wade; they’ve gone three nights without having sex and he’s getting a little frustrated, so she agrees to spend the next night with him, regardless of how many casseroles or free manicures she can get out of her newfound hero status. However, once AnnaBeth needs Dr. Hart for a shoulder to lean on regarding romantic trouble (and a pimple that she thought was VD), their plans are shot and Wade falls asleep on the couch.
Relief comes in the form of Jonah Breeland, a good-looking, cocky young man who happens to be Brick’s nephew, a graduate of Duke Medical School, and a resident at Chicago General. To be able to get Dr. Hart to go off for a weekend alone at his buddy’s hunting cabin, Wade gets Jonah to agree to fill in at the practice; Zoe had lost a bet with Brick over who would work that weekend, which was Brick’s birthday, after he cured a little boy’s constipation before she could. Zoe agrees to go, but she can’t leave her phone behind and once she finds a voicemail on it, the trip is as good as over. After hiking to the top of the hill and falling down into a muddy pit trying to get cell service, she tells Wade that she’s worried about her patients; her main concern is Jonah being a good enough doctor to woo away the people she just got to like her, becoming a part of the practice, and getting her booted out on the first bus home.
Of course, Dr. Hart couldn’t say all that, opting rather to have an argument with Wade punctuated by a sharp remark about his lack of a career. He takes her to the practice, where she finds out that they’re having a party for Brick. When she goes outside to get some air, Jonah joins her and tells her how beloved she is around town; he used to keep up with BlueBell through Dash’s blog and it was filled with glowing entries about how valuable she was to the town and how much she’s given to him in her time there.
Zoe goes to Wade and apologizes for her remark and for not spending enough time with him, having booked a weekend at a local hotel as a peace-offering. He shows her the plans for his own bar and tells her that he wants to try to make it a reality. The two begin to have the night together that they haven’t in a while…until Lavon pops up in need of emotional counsel.
Do You Deserve to Be Happy?
AnnaBeth and Lavon ended up having sex between the end of the last episode and this episode and the two don’t know where to go from here. AnnaBeth wants to tell Lemon since she still has feelings for Lavon, but she can’t find the words to do so, even after practicing in the mirror. Her plan takes a further detour due to Jonah being in town; the two have history together and being single at the same time, Lemon sets them up on a date at the Rammer Jammer. However, AnnaBeth is noticeably distracted and leaves the table when Lavon comes in the door, rushing to tell him that this was Lemon’s doing, that she has feelings for him, and that Jonah is nothing more than a memory. She also (unintentionally) strongly hints to Lavon that Lemon’s not over him.
The following day, Lavon tells her that he feels nothing romantic for Lemon and that they deserve to be happy just as much as she does, leading to the two of them kissing and planning to tell Lemon the truth. Once AnnaBeth does tell her everything going on, though, things go about as well as expected. Lemon deduces that something more than longing had happened between them, informing AnnaBeth of how betrayed she feels and how she can never look at her the same way again. AnnaBeth goes to Lavon later that night expressing regret for what they did. She resolves to regain Lemon’s trust and deserve to be happy as a result.
You Give Me Fever
It’s time for Brick’s birthday and Lemon and Magnolia are conspiring to break him and Shelby up once and for all. They think that he’s going through a mid-life crisis and that he’ll lose respect if seen dating a woman half his age, though AnnaBeth isn’t comfortable with the idea due to Brick being happy. Lemon and Magnolia begin planning Brick’s party with Shelby and Lemon softens up following her father asking her to give his girlfriend a chance and paying her an endless stream of compliments around Jonah. Not even the possibility of a “Gettin’ Wiggy With It” themed party can bring out the snark and the scheming, not for “Lemon 2.0”; she tells Shelby to pick her favorite idea and the rest of them will help her bring it into fruition.
With Brick canceling the party, Magnolia goes to Shelby on her own to tell her that her dad does this every year and that it means they’ll have to plan the surprise party. When Lemon finds out, she’s upset and she gets Magnolia to tell the truth to Shelby, who had been planning of popping out of Dash’s prop cake and performing a sexy burlesque number. To Magnolia, that’d be the thing to make her father dump his girlfriend, however, Shelby ends up going through with it anyway and succeeds marvelously. All those at the surprise party liked her rendition of “Fever” and Brick ends up introducing them to her, referring to her as his girlfriend for the first time in a public venue.
Jolene, Please Don’t Take My Man
Tansy asks George to watch Dolly Parton for the night, as she has to do hair at an auto show in Birmingham and can’t take the dog with her. While Dolly chews on George’s shoes and does a whole host of typically dog-like things that bother him, he agrees to it, even despite the rigid instructions Tansy leaves regarding walking, feeding schedule, and Sir Squeaks-a-Lot, a stuffed from that Dolly loves. Things go well for that day, but once the night comes, George makes the dog get off of his bed and into a house he dragged onto the boat for her. Only Dolly doesn’t get in the house and go to bed – she heads out the door and onto the dock, to roam around as she pleases. George doesn’t notice until the following morning when Tansy comes home and wakes him up; through all the men that have treated her wrong, Dolly has been the only constant in her life, so Tansy’s very upset at the thought of losing her.
That night, George finds Dolly under the dock and whimpering, scared to walk across the water and come to him. He then remembers Tansy telling him about the dog’s love for the song “Jolene,” which he sings the chorus of and gets her to come to him. Later, he tells Tansy that Dolly’s not the only thing she can count on anymore and the two make up…while Dolly’s fast asleep on George’s lap.
Additional thoughts and observations:
-“Lemon is going to be so hurt. And then, of course, destroy me.”
-“I continue my campaign to be the worst best friend ever.”
-Laura Bell Bundy, who plays Shelby, has a singing career, including a (really interesting) album divided into two halves: one of classic country, one of Broadway-infused country-pop uptempos. You should give it a listen.
-Hello, shirtless George Tucker, and how do you do.
-The line about how “it’s hard to keep all the storylines straight” was cutely meta.
-For the record, both smote and smitten are correct.
-Next week on Hart of Dixie: Wade competes in the Battle of the Bands, Lemon bonds with Magnolia during a lonely weekend, and Lavon gives Tom relationship advice.
