‘Hart of Dixie’ Review: Take Me Home, Country Roads

Last night’s Hart of Dixie was definitely not my favorite episode. It wasn’t bad per se and there were a lot of good parts, but the episode seemed to once again throw Zoe back ten steps and I’m really tired of seeing that. But let’s talk about the good parts of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” first.

George and Tansy

Anyone who knows me or read my recaps last year is probably still baffled every time I use “George” and “good parts” in the same sentence. But I am a big enough person to give credit where credit is due and the character is great this season. George was having some issues with Tansy’s beloved dog Dolly, but he still agreed to watch the dog overnight. However, he drew the line at the dog sleeping in his bed and as soon as George closed his eyes, Dolly escaped off the boat.

Poor Tansy was understandably frantic when she found out. She told George that Dolly was the only thing she could count on when every man in her life inevitably did something terrible to her (poor Tansy). George went searching for the dog and in an adorable scene, he found her hiding beneath the dock and sang “Jolene” to her to coax her out (Seriously, how cute was that scene?). Tansy was grateful and George assured her that he wasn’t like everyone else and she could count on him. Then he told her that she needed to move Dolly because she was too cute to be sexy around (These two are the best together. Can we please keep them, show?).

Lemon and Magnolia vs. Shelby

The Breeland family is one of the best things about this show and I have really been enjoying Brick’s sort-of-secret romance with Shelby. Even more than that, I’ve been enjoying his daughters’ reactions to it (How great was the expression on Magnolia’s face when she realized they’d had sex?). Brick’s birthday was coming up and Shelby wanted to be a big part of the party prep, but the girls were not really having that. Thanks to Zoe’s sudden popularity, Brick had a mini setback and worried what people might think if they found out he was dating a younger woman so he decided to cancel his birthday party.

But Magnolia took that as an opportunity to get rid of Shelby. She told her that they were actually throwing a surprise party and that this was just something they did every year. Then she convinced Shelby that she needed to jump out of the cake. Lemon was not happy with her sister’s plan and Magnolia pointed out that it was something Lemon would have done. But Lemon is Lemon 2.0 now and she ordered her sister to fix it. Magnolia made the mistake of telling Shelby the truth about why Brick didn’t want to have a party and that didn’t sit well with her.

There ended up being a surprise party after all and to Lemon and Magnolia’s horror, Shelby did jump out of the cake in a skimpy nurse’s uniform and she sang to Brick (Props for finding a reason for Laura Bell Bundy to sing, show). Brick was actually really pleased with the gesture and he introduced the whole town to his girlfriend (Brick is awesome). But despite that, I’m guessing this won’t be the last time the Breeland girls try to make her go away and even though I like her, I like the humor their plots bring more so I’m okay with it.

Annabeth and Lavon and Lemon

Annabeth was avoiding Lavon after they slept together because she felt super guilty about what she did to Lemon. This brings me to the start of what was wrong with this episode. I like Annabeth a lot. I’d love to see her bumped to a series regular if this show gets a third season (please give us a third season, CW). But I was wary of the Annabeth/Lavon romance from the beginning because of Lemon. I have to say that Annabeth crossed a friendship line here that’s going to be hard to come back from. She also crossed another line when she accidentally let it slip to Lavon that Lemon still had feelings for him.

But Annabeth did eventually fess up to Lemon and Lemon was understandably hurt. It also might set her back from her Lemon 2.0 status, but I’m kind of okay with that too, especially if it stops her from being so sad in every episode (Seriously, when does Lemon get to win one?). Poor Lavon was just confused and at the end of the episode, he showed up at Wade’s to ask Wade and Zoe to help him eat his feelings (Again, poor Lavon, I totally get this). So basically this ended with Lavon, Lemon and Annabeth all being unhappy and I do not care for that one bit.

Zoe and Wade…and an introduction to Jonah Breeland

Zoe started the episode on a little bit of a power trip. The whole town was very grateful to her for helping everyone through the flu so suddenly she was the most popular doctor in town, which didn’t sit well with Brick. Wade was also having a problem with it since he wasn’t getting any alone time with his girlfriend and he was tired of taking matters into his own hand…if you catch his drift, which Zoe did. She promised to make it up to him and even had a competition with Brick to see who would have to work the weekend so they could go away together. But then Jonah entered the picture.

Jonah Breeland is Brick’s nephew, a former Bluebell resident and a successful doctor. He tried to pick up Zoe while she was getting free wine and she made it clear she had someone else to share her wine with (Right off the bat, I’m going to admit I have a huge problem with this character because I feel like if they wanted to add another guy to the mix, they should have brought Jesse back. Yes, some of that is my Justin Hartley bias talking, but it’s also the fact that I want Wade to have a bigger storyline and he has so many unresolved family issues).

Anyway, Wade ended up suggesting that Jonah be the doctor for the weekend and he agreed. But Zoe was having a hard time leaving Bluebell behind while they were on their getaway. When Wade tried to take her mind off things, she basically told him that he didn’t understand because he didn’t have a career (Ouch). She regretted it as soon as she said it, but the damage was done. Wade brought her back home and then she ended up walking in on Brick’s surprise party and felt silly. Then she had a chat with Jonah and he made it clear that he missed Bluebell and wanted to come back (ugh, this guy is Season 1 George Tucker. Everyone loves him just because and I am annoyed by his existence).

Zoe headed to Wade’s and apologized, but he told her that it was okay because it was the truth. Then he showed her the plans for his bar and admitted that was the only time he’d ever been passionate about a potential career. While I’m not happy that Zoe hurt him again, I’m glad they’re revisiting the idea of Wade having his own business. I’d be even more excited if Jesse was coming back to help him with it (and no, I’m not letting this go). Their romantic moment was interrupted by sad Lavon (see above).

There’s no new episode next week and I missed the promo for the episode in two weeks because my DVR was misbehaving, but I have a feeling we’re in for a rocky road ahead. Did you enjoy the episode? What do you think of Jonah? Let us know in the comments and I’ll see you back here in two weeks.