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shallowness) wrote2022-11-30 08:11 am
shallowness) wrote2022-11-30 08:11 am
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Hart of Dixie double-bill
2.9 Sparks Fly
This episode revolves around a Bluebell bachelor basket auction.
Wade was continuing to avoid Zoe, who was forced by Lavon to discuss it with Ruby, during which Zoe drew the conclusion that Wade was bored of her. So, she was thrown by his asking her out on a date. It was less asking her out on a date as much telling her she should bid for his basket. That was brave, but we knew Zoe wasn’t there mentally (Wade acknowledged there were probably Olympic gymnastics going on in her mind.
All the regulars would be making baskets, and they all had various romantic woes. A heartbroken Brick got bribed into doing it (for a grey dollar that seemed more interested in younger fellas) by Lemon saying she’d bid for a basket. After all the palaver of the previous episode, Tansy hadn’t even got George’s message asking her out for a date, and she kept misunderstanding his attempts to do so now, making him think that her idea of who ‘George Tucker’ was might be an obstacle. So, he turned to Wade for advice (and though I think Tansy deserves better, I don’t mind George/Tansy as commentary on Zoe/Wade, but when you think of how Wade is Tansy’s ex husband, it’s rather mindblowing.)
The bidding went ‘comically’ awry – why didn’t Shakespeare use this plot? Brick and his basket were bought by George’s (very young) shopping ex, Shelby; Lemon accidentally bought Lavon’s. In her defence, she believed it was that rando she kissed in Mobil AKA Walt, and Ruby had got too distracted to cheat beforehand so she’d recognise Lavon’s basket or to sit there reading his body language during the auction. Zoe had been freaking out about Wade with her patients, Brick and Ruby. By the time she decided to bid on Wade’s basket (which she immediately knew was his because she can read his body language), underage Magnolia had bid on him, to Lemon’s wrath. (They’re a bit half-hearted on the Magnolia/Wade crush.) Tansy, however, had got manoeuvred into buying George’s basket.
Surely guys in a relationship (Tom and Lavon) shouldn’t be involved in this.
Lemon didn’t try particularly hard to get out of her date (neither did Lavon, but that was because Ruby had admitted her new apartment and life had distracted her). I was with Lemon about thinking he’d gone overboard on his plan to persuade Ruby to …what, stay? Meanwhile, Zoe outnegotiated Magnolia (heh), but looked set to sabotage her date with Wade because she was still freaking out.
Finding out that George and Tansy were dating made Zoe blurt out that she didn’t think a couple who were so different could work, thus hurting Wade, who lashed out a little, leaving Zoe with plenty to think about. Lemon was putting up womanfully with Lavon pouring out his heart about the Ruby moving situation and then being FORCED to dance with him, while Lavon was being sweet/twisting the knife by thanking her for teaching him how to love and…I didn’t follow his logic about Ruby, quite.
Tansy cajoled George into dognapping with her (which I had called), during which he got injured so he needed tending to by Zoe, who then witnessed him lie like a lawyer for Tansy and kiss Tansy (somewhat tamely). He told Zoe he was really open to what Tansy was bringing out of him, giving Zoe More Food For Thought.
Brick had a last dance with his surprisingly agreeable (but still too young for him) date, and Lemon and Walt had a second chance. Lavon told Zoe that she couldn’t pause things or people as they were. Wordlessly, Zoe returned Wade’s things, outside his place and they exchanged sad looks over the pond/lake.
I surprised myself by how much I admired Lemon in this ep.
2.10 Blue Christmas
Bluebell was also celebrating Christmas normally for a TV show this season. Zoe was freaking out about her mother visiting, Lavon was planning to sell Bluebell to Ruby on her last week, because they’d agreed that after a year, one of them would move to live with the other. And then Brick found an engagement ring in the pocket of the Joseph outfit he’d just taken over from George and jumped to a mad conclusion.
Zoe wanted to hide her just-ended mostly secret relationship with Wade from her mother, hurt that he’d dumped her and seemed to have moved on (to a taller brunette) and still sure they couldn’t have worked as a couple.
My sympathising with Lemon continued, although I presumed Annabeth wasn’t around if Lemon won the cookie contest. Lemon and Ruby sniped at each other, Ruby whined to Lavon about it, and he begged Lemon to be nice to his girlfriend (couldn’t he just have asked her not to be mean to her?) and she agreed to do it for him.
Wanda blabbed to Tansy about the ring, so Tansy pre-emptively dumped George, who was confused about this until Brick accused him of spoiling Lemon’s Christmas, just as Lavon realised he’d lost his engagement ring. (!!!)
Meanwhile Zoe tried to spend as little time as possible with her mother. They bumped into Wade, wearing a t-shirt her mother had ironically gifted Zoe, and it emerged that Wade had painted Zoe’s place, and the novel idea that that had been a nice thing for him to do was presented to Zoe, who was too busy being awkward and mendacious to ruminate on it.
She then fell into a classic Zoe-sized trap and gave the town Santa a doctor’s note, thus cancelling the tree lighting event/spoiling Christmas/Lavon’s plans. Her mom said she’d be on the case, but that was just a tease before an ad break. It was Zoe who learned that the only Santa suit to be found was Earl’s. And in his first scene with her mom, he referred to Zoe and Wade’s past relationship. Zoe claimed he was drunk, which he was (she hadn’t discussed asking Earl be Bluebell’s Santa again with someone else).
George and Tansy made up until he admitted he’d lied to her about having a gift for her, bad boyfriend. Shelby, now with straightened hair, offered to help him shop for one. Lemon reached out to Ruby to do something Christmassy with her and the girls, but learned the town gossip that Lavon was intending to propose to Ruby. Ouch.
Wade gave Zoe an angry rundown of why letting Earl reprise his role as Santa was a bad idea, which Earl and Zoe’s mom could overhear, and it was clear from the argument they had history. Like the shipper he is, Earl claimed they were so in love – they were at their typical rowing level.
Annabeth was around town, which confused me (see above RE Lemon’s prize-winning cookies) and meant she was there to witness Lemon hitting the eggnog hard as Ruby cooed over her relationship with Lavon, until Lemon had enough and let hints of her past with Lavon slip. Cricket, bless, didn’t get it.
Zoe’s mom called Zoe out on the parcel of lies she’d been telling her badly and pointed out she hadn’t judged Zoe (much) this episode, but had wanted to spend time with her. A chastised Zoe realised she’d lost a soberish Earl.
So Zoe asked Wade to help her, and he did.
In a rather touching scene, we finally learned about Wade’s mother – that she died of cancer, horribly, and that’s when Earl’s drinking got going. Zoe overheard all this, as Wade offered his understanding to his father – calling him ‘dad’ !, and talked him into being Santa for one night. Zoe tried to discuss all this with Wade, but he shut her down. And every time he does this, I feel a twinge for Zoe, because Wade clearly insisted on the ‘casual’ terms of their relationship and it’s not fair to resent Zoe for needing to process his wanting to change those terms.
Meanwhile Lavon’s overwrought plan to propose to Ruby was overtaken rather by her perfectly reasonably asking why he’d never told her about his ‘thing’ with Lemon. That then turned into Lemon being ‘the love of his life’ during the conversation, which felt ridiculous. He tried to bluster through all this, asking her to marry him anyway. She walked off.
They finally caught up with me and admitted they’d been lying to themselves about their viability as a couple. (And hey, isn’t this just a retread of Lemon and George’s New York vs. Bluebell tug of war?) Lavon then went and raged at Lemon for blabbing, laying more at her door than she’d actually done. She tried to apologise but he was all, ‘I will never forgive you’. I was all, ‘Oh, shut up, Lavon.’
Tansy is a better gift giver than George, and his attempt to make up for that was ruined by walking in on Brick and Shelby. (Better George than Lemon or Marigold, I suppose.)
Earl did okay as Santa and his son told him so. Aww.
Zoe fessed up to her mother that maybe she’d been judging herself and that she missed Wade and had messed it up between them because she was scared. Her mother was supportive (within limits). Aww. And so Zoe went and apologised properly to a subdued Wade, who asked ‘for what?’ It was an appropriate level of ‘I really like you’ and letting him think over it, but offering to be real girlfriend and boyfriend in public. And he didn’t need to think it over long, responding with enthusiasm. Random Bluebellian carollers aside. As I partly put off watching this double bill because Zoe and Wade had broken up, I was delighted.
[Edited for typos 14/2/25.]
This episode revolves around a Bluebell bachelor basket auction.
Wade was continuing to avoid Zoe, who was forced by Lavon to discuss it with Ruby, during which Zoe drew the conclusion that Wade was bored of her. So, she was thrown by his asking her out on a date. It was less asking her out on a date as much telling her she should bid for his basket. That was brave, but we knew Zoe wasn’t there mentally (Wade acknowledged there were probably Olympic gymnastics going on in her mind.
All the regulars would be making baskets, and they all had various romantic woes. A heartbroken Brick got bribed into doing it (for a grey dollar that seemed more interested in younger fellas) by Lemon saying she’d bid for a basket. After all the palaver of the previous episode, Tansy hadn’t even got George’s message asking her out for a date, and she kept misunderstanding his attempts to do so now, making him think that her idea of who ‘George Tucker’ was might be an obstacle. So, he turned to Wade for advice (and though I think Tansy deserves better, I don’t mind George/Tansy as commentary on Zoe/Wade, but when you think of how Wade is Tansy’s ex husband, it’s rather mindblowing.)
The bidding went ‘comically’ awry – why didn’t Shakespeare use this plot? Brick and his basket were bought by George’s (very young) shopping ex, Shelby; Lemon accidentally bought Lavon’s. In her defence, she believed it was that rando she kissed in Mobil AKA Walt, and Ruby had got too distracted to cheat beforehand so she’d recognise Lavon’s basket or to sit there reading his body language during the auction. Zoe had been freaking out about Wade with her patients, Brick and Ruby. By the time she decided to bid on Wade’s basket (which she immediately knew was his because she can read his body language), underage Magnolia had bid on him, to Lemon’s wrath. (They’re a bit half-hearted on the Magnolia/Wade crush.) Tansy, however, had got manoeuvred into buying George’s basket.
Surely guys in a relationship (Tom and Lavon) shouldn’t be involved in this.
Lemon didn’t try particularly hard to get out of her date (neither did Lavon, but that was because Ruby had admitted her new apartment and life had distracted her). I was with Lemon about thinking he’d gone overboard on his plan to persuade Ruby to …what, stay? Meanwhile, Zoe outnegotiated Magnolia (heh), but looked set to sabotage her date with Wade because she was still freaking out.
Finding out that George and Tansy were dating made Zoe blurt out that she didn’t think a couple who were so different could work, thus hurting Wade, who lashed out a little, leaving Zoe with plenty to think about. Lemon was putting up womanfully with Lavon pouring out his heart about the Ruby moving situation and then being FORCED to dance with him, while Lavon was being sweet/twisting the knife by thanking her for teaching him how to love and…I didn’t follow his logic about Ruby, quite.
Tansy cajoled George into dognapping with her (which I had called), during which he got injured so he needed tending to by Zoe, who then witnessed him lie like a lawyer for Tansy and kiss Tansy (somewhat tamely). He told Zoe he was really open to what Tansy was bringing out of him, giving Zoe More Food For Thought.
Brick had a last dance with his surprisingly agreeable (but still too young for him) date, and Lemon and Walt had a second chance. Lavon told Zoe that she couldn’t pause things or people as they were. Wordlessly, Zoe returned Wade’s things, outside his place and they exchanged sad looks over the pond/lake.
I surprised myself by how much I admired Lemon in this ep.
2.10 Blue Christmas
Bluebell was also celebrating Christmas normally for a TV show this season. Zoe was freaking out about her mother visiting, Lavon was planning to sell Bluebell to Ruby on her last week, because they’d agreed that after a year, one of them would move to live with the other. And then Brick found an engagement ring in the pocket of the Joseph outfit he’d just taken over from George and jumped to a mad conclusion.
Zoe wanted to hide her just-ended mostly secret relationship with Wade from her mother, hurt that he’d dumped her and seemed to have moved on (to a taller brunette) and still sure they couldn’t have worked as a couple.
My sympathising with Lemon continued, although I presumed Annabeth wasn’t around if Lemon won the cookie contest. Lemon and Ruby sniped at each other, Ruby whined to Lavon about it, and he begged Lemon to be nice to his girlfriend (couldn’t he just have asked her not to be mean to her?) and she agreed to do it for him.
Wanda blabbed to Tansy about the ring, so Tansy pre-emptively dumped George, who was confused about this until Brick accused him of spoiling Lemon’s Christmas, just as Lavon realised he’d lost his engagement ring. (!!!)
Meanwhile Zoe tried to spend as little time as possible with her mother. They bumped into Wade, wearing a t-shirt her mother had ironically gifted Zoe, and it emerged that Wade had painted Zoe’s place, and the novel idea that that had been a nice thing for him to do was presented to Zoe, who was too busy being awkward and mendacious to ruminate on it.
She then fell into a classic Zoe-sized trap and gave the town Santa a doctor’s note, thus cancelling the tree lighting event/spoiling Christmas/Lavon’s plans. Her mom said she’d be on the case, but that was just a tease before an ad break. It was Zoe who learned that the only Santa suit to be found was Earl’s. And in his first scene with her mom, he referred to Zoe and Wade’s past relationship. Zoe claimed he was drunk, which he was (she hadn’t discussed asking Earl be Bluebell’s Santa again with someone else).
George and Tansy made up until he admitted he’d lied to her about having a gift for her, bad boyfriend. Shelby, now with straightened hair, offered to help him shop for one. Lemon reached out to Ruby to do something Christmassy with her and the girls, but learned the town gossip that Lavon was intending to propose to Ruby. Ouch.
Wade gave Zoe an angry rundown of why letting Earl reprise his role as Santa was a bad idea, which Earl and Zoe’s mom could overhear, and it was clear from the argument they had history. Like the shipper he is, Earl claimed they were so in love – they were at their typical rowing level.
Annabeth was around town, which confused me (see above RE Lemon’s prize-winning cookies) and meant she was there to witness Lemon hitting the eggnog hard as Ruby cooed over her relationship with Lavon, until Lemon had enough and let hints of her past with Lavon slip. Cricket, bless, didn’t get it.
Zoe’s mom called Zoe out on the parcel of lies she’d been telling her badly and pointed out she hadn’t judged Zoe (much) this episode, but had wanted to spend time with her. A chastised Zoe realised she’d lost a soberish Earl.
So Zoe asked Wade to help her, and he did.
In a rather touching scene, we finally learned about Wade’s mother – that she died of cancer, horribly, and that’s when Earl’s drinking got going. Zoe overheard all this, as Wade offered his understanding to his father – calling him ‘dad’ !, and talked him into being Santa for one night. Zoe tried to discuss all this with Wade, but he shut her down. And every time he does this, I feel a twinge for Zoe, because Wade clearly insisted on the ‘casual’ terms of their relationship and it’s not fair to resent Zoe for needing to process his wanting to change those terms.
Meanwhile Lavon’s overwrought plan to propose to Ruby was overtaken rather by her perfectly reasonably asking why he’d never told her about his ‘thing’ with Lemon. That then turned into Lemon being ‘the love of his life’ during the conversation, which felt ridiculous. He tried to bluster through all this, asking her to marry him anyway. She walked off.
They finally caught up with me and admitted they’d been lying to themselves about their viability as a couple. (And hey, isn’t this just a retread of Lemon and George’s New York vs. Bluebell tug of war?) Lavon then went and raged at Lemon for blabbing, laying more at her door than she’d actually done. She tried to apologise but he was all, ‘I will never forgive you’. I was all, ‘Oh, shut up, Lavon.’
Tansy is a better gift giver than George, and his attempt to make up for that was ruined by walking in on Brick and Shelby. (Better George than Lemon or Marigold, I suppose.)
Earl did okay as Santa and his son told him so. Aww.
Zoe fessed up to her mother that maybe she’d been judging herself and that she missed Wade and had messed it up between them because she was scared. Her mother was supportive (within limits). Aww. And so Zoe went and apologised properly to a subdued Wade, who asked ‘for what?’ It was an appropriate level of ‘I really like you’ and letting him think over it, but offering to be real girlfriend and boyfriend in public. And he didn’t need to think it over long, responding with enthusiasm. Random Bluebellian carollers aside. As I partly put off watching this double bill because Zoe and Wade had broken up, I was delighted.
[Edited for typos 14/2/25.]