'Hart of Dixie' Recap: "Blue Christmas"

Remember last week when “Hart of Dixie” made me super mad and I sort of wanted to break my TV? This week’s episode, “Blue Christmas,” completely and totally made up for it and now I want to draw hearts and flowers and sunshine all over the episode (minus one part, which we will get to).

It was Christmastime in Bluebell, which of course meant the town was going all out to celebrate, except Zoe. She was still upset about what happened with Wade (totally her fault) and she was freaking out because her judgmental mother was coming to spend the holiday with her. She complained to Lavon, but he had his own problems. He wanted to make the holiday perfect for Ruby (still the worst) so that she’d want to move back to Bluebell when their trial separation period was over. Zoe thought she found the perfect solution by having her mom step in to judge all the things Lavon was supposed to (because she loves being judge-y).

However, when Candice arrived, she wasn’t interested in judging cookie contests. She just wanted to spend time with Zoe. But the doctor was determined to do everything she could to avoid being alone with her mother. Wade dropped by and Candice noticed that he was wearing a t-shirt that she’d sent to Zoe and Wade explained that Zoe had lent it to him when he’d painted her house. Candice seemed to pick up that there was more to the story, but Zoe quickly tried to distract her mother. Next, they ran into George and Tansy and Zoe once again lied when Candice asked questions. Then, she took her to her office and left her in the waiting room so she could treat a patient.

After giving the patient a prescription to take some time off and relax, Zoe took her mom to the town’s square only to find out that the festivities were being canceled because that patient was supposed to play Santa and now he was gone, with the only Santa costume in town. Needless to say, people were pretty mad at Zoe, especially Lavon since he’d been planning to propose to Ruby to show her how serious he was about their relationship (ew). So Zoe was determined to find a new Santa, but the costume was proving to be a challenge until someone mentioned that crazy Earl used to play Santa for years. Zoe brought Candice to his house and Earl agreed to help as long as he got to play Santa.

As Zoe and Candice attempted to sober Earl up, he mentioned to Candice that they could be in-laws someday. Once again, Zoe tried to lie only for Earl to tell Candice that Wade was his son. The man in question showed up a little while later and he was not happy to see his father in the Santa suit. He pulled Zoe aside and told her that she didn’t know what she was doing as Candice commented to Earl that they didn’t seem like a couple, but he insisted they were in love (he’s awesome). Wade reminded Earl of the last time he’d played Santa and how he’d made several kids, including Wade cry. Then he stormed out of the house and Zoe looked confused and Earl looked sad.

Earl disappeared right before it was time for him to do his Santa thing so Zoe called Wade for help again. He told her to meet him at the church. It turns out that Wade’s mother died around Christmastime and that was why Earl had messed up his Santa gig. In a beautiful scene, Zoe watched as Wade encouraged his father to try again and promised to help him. Zoe (and anyone watching who has a heart) was totally touched and she told Wade that she was sorry that she hadn’t known about any of that. Wade pointed out that she’d never asked.

There was plenty of drama going on with Bluebell’s other couples this week as well. George and Tansy remained adorable as they talked about getting each other Christmas gifts. Wanda mistakenly led Tansy to believe that George was going to propose so she freaked out and suggested they take a break. Once George realized what happened, he cleared things up with Tansy and mentioned that he hadn’t even gotten her a gift yet. Considering he’d told her the day before that she was going to love the gift he picked out, Tansy was not happy that he’d lied and walked out on him. Shelby, who had been sitting at the next table, overheard and offered to help George get a gift. He was wary at first, but agreed as long as they stayed in public places (ha!).

Lavon continued to be blind to Lemon’s love for him and asked her to help Ruby feel more at home in Bluebell. Lemon tried, but when Ruby started going on and on about how sad Lemon’s life was and how special she felt being the one and only love of Lavon’s life, no interference from Annabeth could stop Lemon from making it clear that Lavon had been in love with her at one point. Ruby was furious and confronted Lavon, who tried to explain why it didn’t matter, but Ruby didn’t care. Lavon proposed anyway, insisted he loved her and Ruby broke up with him (Don’t let the door hit you on the way out of town, Ruby).

Unfortunately, Lavon took his anger out on poor Lemon. While some might have felt that he was justified because Lemon did sabotage things for him, I do not agree with that sentiment. Ruby was awful. She was mean and selfish and she hurt people Lavon cared about without an ounce of remorse. I’m sorry Lavon feels like he’s in love with her, but that’s just stupid. Anyway, he basically told Lemon that he’d never forgive her and Jaime King made that sad face that always makes me want to cry. It was such a heartbreaking moment. Team Lemon.

George and Tansy made up again (they’re so adorable). Tansy gave him a handmade pear warmer (or something to keep it from getting bruised? I don’t know) and George wanted to take her someplace special to give her the gift he’d picked out. But when they got to that special place, it was already occupied by Brick and Shelby. Poor George muttered that he was going to need therapy to get over that one.

As great as most of those scenes were (boo, Lavon, boo!), my favorite came at the end of the episode where Zoe went to see Wade. She nervously apologized, admitted she’d been scared and then she told him that she liked him and wanted him to be her non-secret boyfriend. Wade just stared at her for a moment and then he grabbed her and kissed her and it was so awesome and sweet and Merry Christmas to the fangirls. He picked her up and carried her inside as the carolers came and Wade promptly told them to shut up. It was a great ending to the episode and to the first part of the season.

“Hart of Dixie” returns in January and hopefully we will get a lot more episodes like this one. I know I sound like a broken record, but this show works best when it’s going for comedy and lighthearted moments with a side of drama. I’ll be back next week with a more in depth midseason review including why it would be the perfect time to bring back Wade’s brother Jesse (Did you miss my Justin Hartley agenda?). See you next week…