The midseason finale of Hart of Dixie airs tonight at 8PM on The CW, and while it was my first time visiting BlueBell as a viewer in Season 3, I’m happy to say that it is still a welcome place.
In the show itself, it’s not welcoming to everyone — as much as she tries, Zoe (Rachel Bilson) can’t seem to impress Vivian Wilkes, which is a shame, because Joel’s grandma Sylvie would like to have a nice Hanukkah dinner with her side of the family. Lavon’s even letting Zoe use his kitchen to host such a dinner. It might not do any good if there’s no chance of winning Vivian over. When Zoe treats Brando Wilkes and ends up forming a friendship with him, and possibly setting him up with a new romance at the same time, this gets her in even more hot water with Vivian.
Brando Wilkes is played here by Lawrence Pressman of Doogie Howser fame, and I’m assuming from IMDb that he’s appeared before. It’s so great how Hart of Dixie often brings in some favorites from TV past. It makes me feel old to think that Doogie’s boss is playing a grandpa now, but he’s still a lot of fun and adds a lot of character to the episode.
There is a long-awaited kiss in the episode, though the circumstance of it might be less than ideal. From a “shipper” standpoint, this is odd to me because it’s the first I’ve seen of Joel, Zoe’s current beau. He’s kind of bland to me, with no offense to Josh Cooke who plays him. At the same time, I don’t know if I want a breakup too soon because you just know that Grandma Sylvie would totally miss Zoe in the end.
Other typical BlueBell moments are played up here for fun. Lynley notices that George has dated almost every woman in town, yet, he clearly only has eyes for her. There’s a really fun subplot continuing where Brick thinks Shelby is carrying his child, and of course he overreacts, which makes Lemon call in some reinforcements before he does something stupid. Tansy’s back, too, which may change things for both Wade and George. Needless to say, when the show returns from the holiday break there is going to be some drama.
All in all, Hart of Dixie might be lost in Monday night TV madness, which is too bad. I’ve long said it’s a spiritual heir to a show like Gilmore Girls — fun, quirky characters who mix and match and have become something fun and comfortable. Tonight’s episode is a great example of that fun. And if that’s not enough, Danielle Bradbery performs her new single “The Heart of Dixie” on tonight’s show.
Look for “Miracles” at 8PM (ET) tonight on The CW.
