‘Hart of Dixie’ Review: Zoe and Wade negotiate a hostage situation

Last night, Hart of Dixie delivered a funny, character-filled episode that reminded me of all the reasons I enjoy watching this show so much. Was the episode perfect? No. But it was fun to watch and I laughed a lot and basked in the cute moments and that’s basically all I ask for from this show.

It definitely helped that “I Run to You” had a lot of Zoe and Wade interaction, something I’ve been missing over the past few weeks. But before we get into that part of the story, let’s talk about the rest of Bluebell.

George and Lynly

I’m still on the fence with them. I don’t hate them like some people do, but I don’t really care about them either. I’m not sure how old Lynly is supposed to be (if they told us, I forgot), but she seems a lot younger than George. That’s fine, but nothing about this relationship screams ‘long-lasting’ to me so maybe that’s why I don’t care enough to get involved. However, their scenes made me laugh, especially once Lynly spilled the beans to Lavon about everything, including her sex injury. Lavon isn’t happy, but he’s not going to punch George every time he sees him either so it’s a partial win for them.

Lavon and AnnaBeth

These two are still giving me anxiety and I don’t like it. I know some people prefer Lavon with Lemon, but I still don’t think we’ve met the right man for Lemon (although Robert Buckley’s character came close). Anyway, I like Lavon and AnnaBeth together and I was worried her ultimatum that wasn’t really an ultimatum, but kind of was, would hurt them. It did for a while, but once Lavon opened up and admitted he didn’t want to go too fast after the mistakes he’d made with Lemon and Ruby (ugh, worst), AnnaBeth understood and they seemed to meet in the middle. Will this last? I don’t know, but I’m going to count this as a good episode for them and just ignore the anvils for now.

Lemon and Brick

After Lemon lost out on her bid for Fancy’s, she wanted to find out who the new owner was, but the previous owner (I can never remember his name) didn’t want to tell her. Lemon Breeland does not take ‘no’ for an answer so when he refused again, she made it her mission to stalk the place until she discovered who had bought her dream business. While this was going on, Brick was finally getting ready to start dating again after everything that happened with Shelby. It was pretty obvious where these two stories were going (especially since I’d see Laura Bell Bundy’s name in the credits), but it didn’t turn out quite the way I envisioned.

Lemon brought Brick to Fancy’s to spy through the window at the new owner, who was setting up a microphone (karaoke is coming to Bluebell and I can’t wait). Sure enough, it was Shelby, but something was different about her: she was about seven months pregnant and an annoyed Lemon pointed out to her father that even though she wasn’t a doctor, it was pretty obvious that Brick was the father. I did not see this coming and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. I’m happy Shelby’s back, I’m happy Brick’s going to have a story, but a baby? Really? I’m just going to reserve judgment for the time being and see how this story plays out.

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Zoe and Wade

I was looking forward to this episode because I’ve missed seeing Zoe and Wade share more than one scene. I get that they need time apart so they can grow and heal (blah, blah) and eventually get back together, but I still want to see them together more often. Anyway, this week Joel (or Joe-el as he will now be known thanks to the Truitt brothers) has been spending a lot of time with Wade and Zoe doesn’t like it. She thinks Wade is up to something, but she can’t figure out what or why, but she makes it clear that she’s suspicious (um, Zoe? Maybe Joe-el likes Wade because he doesn’t nag him all the time like you do).

Once Zoe finds out that Joe-el has missed the deadline on his book chapters, she freaks out and tries to recreate the New York café he liked to write in at the Rammer Jammer complete with a Goth waitress (Wanda) and a homeless guy (Tom). There were also black and white cookies and I can’t be the only Zoe/Wade fan who was NOT amused to see them being used in a Zoe/Joe-el scene after those adorable scenes from last season when Wade attempted to make them for Zoe. This was not okay, show. NOT okay.

The fake café didn’t work for Joe-el so Wade suggested that he use his place and play videogames and relax. Joe-el took him up on the offer and once again, Zoe was mad. Seriously, why is she such a mom this season? She’s trying to control everything (and not in the funny way Lemon does) and she’s always harping on someone for something. Just shut up, Zoe. No one likes a nag.

When Zoe wakes up the next morning, she realizes Joe-el never came home so she heads over to Wade’s to retrieve him. Hello, Shirtless Wade, we’ve missed you. Wade tells her that Joe-el isn’t there and Zoe blames him for losing her boyfriend (was it really necessary for Zoe to keeping calling him that? She said it at least three times in the episode. We get it).

Later, Wade finds Zoe and tells her that he has good news and bad news. He’s located Joe-el, but there’s an issue: he’s been kidnapped by the Truitt brothers. They’re upset with Wade because they want him to forgive their bar tab and they’ve taken Joe-el as collateral. Naturally, Zoe is mad at Wade and lectures him as they head over to rescue Joe-el. Wade once again points out that Zoe is still in love with him and even though she calls him delusional, she doesn’t really deny it because she can’t. Wade asks if she’s sure she wants to rescue Joe-el since she has him and Zoe responds by hitting him. I loved these scenes so much.

Mike Yarish/The CW

The Truitt brothers are willing to negotiate and Zoe suggests that they work off their debt to Wade by scaring other people into paying their bar tabs. All parties agree and they release Joe-el, who had the time of his life and suddenly has all sorts of material for his book. Personally, I would have been fine with him remaining a hostage, but at least we got a lot of Wade and Zoe scenes out of it and another reminder that Wade totally knows Zoe is in love with him and he’s just going to sit back and wait for her to realize it and come back to him.

This might have been my favorite episode of the season so far, but I’m not going to commit just yet because next week looks great too. First, I can’t believe it’s the midseason finale already. That’s kind of disappointing that it’s ending so early. But second, WADE AND ZOE ARE KISSING IN THE PROMO. This is a good day.

What did you guys think of the episode? Which couples are you enjoying and which couples would you rather be seeing? Were you shocked by the baby news? Will Brick and Shelby reunite? Hit the comments and share your thoughts with us!