HoD: the one with the birthday
Dec. 3rd, 2023 02:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessHart of Dixie 3.13 Act Naturally
It's been so long (over a month) since I last watched this show, that it had dropped off ITV's homepage for me, but I found it.
There was a convoluted but tight plot and a fanciful reference to Lucille Ball – yes, Zoe’s plan was zany, but it wasn’t all that funny. I was most involved in Lavon and Annabeth’s heartache after the break-up and in shipping Zoe and Wade like Crazy Earl, who made a reappearance, does.
For lo, I did read too much into the fact that both Zoe and Wade were lying either to or about their parents. Zoe’s mother came to Bluebell after her daughter had shunned her for several holidays, determined to celebrate Zoe’s birthday with her daughter. Trouble was, Zoe had already caved on her ‘no party’ rule to let Joel organise a party. She didn’t want to tell her mother as much, because she that would mean telling her mother she’d got to know the Wilkes clan. But Joel couldn’t bear to tell Lavon they were cancelling the party at his, because he’d clung on to arranging the party as a means of keeping his spirits up. In fact, he’d gone totally overboard on the decorations.
Zoe thought it was plausible that she could show her face at the dinner with her mother, make an excuse to leave, show her face at her party and…yeah. As Joel said, it was never going to work. For one thing, Zoe kept being detained at the party: by AnnaBeth, who was drinking (she also had a subplot involving the Belles and her friendship with Cricket); Lavon, who needed advice after a scene with AB; and by wrangling a drunk Earl.
For Wade’s subplot involved him putting off Vivian meeting his father, out of shame. Earl bumped into Zoe and her mother, and had to be dissuaded by the former that she wasn’t going to be his future daughter in law, and Wade was fine because he had a new girlfriend. Thanks to Zoe, Vivian didn’t meet Earl at his drunkest at the party, but later when Wade’s father made an effort to make a good impression on his son’s girlfriend. Aww.
But, you know, still weird that Wade’s serious girlfriend is his most important ex’s cousin, who, like her is a petite brunette. I also clocked Wade’s sour face when he and Vivian walked in on Joel and Zoe kissing (in the carriage house, where they’d walked in without knocking) and that Zoe complained about watching Wade and Vivian kissing over breakfast at Lavon’s. Granted, both were fleeting moments, but in Zoe’s interaction with Earl and Wade’s gratitude that she did him a favour we were reminded of their history. And Joel is…well, the man was wearing a cardigan at one point, and he mansplained his Godot reference to Zoe’s mother. More seriously, given that Zoe didn’t seem to have much fun at the birthday party, maybe he should have just listened and not forced her to have one.
Zoe's mother terrified her daughter’s new boyfriend into revealing Zoe’s ‘plan’ after it had become obvious that something was up, and expressed her annoyance with him for going along with Zoe’s return to Bluebell, away from her, to start a new life with new extended family. The episode ended with her announcing she was going to move to Bluebell. Okay, then.
I decided to take an optimistic for the future interpretation of Zoe’s advice to Lavon that although it hurt, he’d been right not to pretend to love AB enough to marry her if he didn’t.
There was also a whiplash-inducing subplot involving Tansy’s ex Scooter having returned, claiming to be a changed man, spoiling George’s attempts to rekindle something with Tansy before they’d got very far. (So, George is single again just as AnnaBeth, determined to find someone who loves her as she deserves is and Lemon will return at some point, so hmm…I shall keep an eye open for developments.)
Also, George had employed Tom as his assistant (see Tom's colourful attempt at putting together a suit), thus rescuing him from his demeaning employment as a stripper. I do appreciate the continuity with the folk of Bluebell, even as I roll my eyes at all the contrivances of the plot. We never got an explanation for Zoe’s hatred of birthday candles that relight themselves when you blow them out and I was right, Zoe and Joel did have to move into the carriage house.
It's been so long (over a month) since I last watched this show, that it had dropped off ITV's homepage for me, but I found it.
There was a convoluted but tight plot and a fanciful reference to Lucille Ball – yes, Zoe’s plan was zany, but it wasn’t all that funny. I was most involved in Lavon and Annabeth’s heartache after the break-up and in shipping Zoe and Wade like Crazy Earl, who made a reappearance, does.
For lo, I did read too much into the fact that both Zoe and Wade were lying either to or about their parents. Zoe’s mother came to Bluebell after her daughter had shunned her for several holidays, determined to celebrate Zoe’s birthday with her daughter. Trouble was, Zoe had already caved on her ‘no party’ rule to let Joel organise a party. She didn’t want to tell her mother as much, because she that would mean telling her mother she’d got to know the Wilkes clan. But Joel couldn’t bear to tell Lavon they were cancelling the party at his, because he’d clung on to arranging the party as a means of keeping his spirits up. In fact, he’d gone totally overboard on the decorations.
Zoe thought it was plausible that she could show her face at the dinner with her mother, make an excuse to leave, show her face at her party and…yeah. As Joel said, it was never going to work. For one thing, Zoe kept being detained at the party: by AnnaBeth, who was drinking (she also had a subplot involving the Belles and her friendship with Cricket); Lavon, who needed advice after a scene with AB; and by wrangling a drunk Earl.
For Wade’s subplot involved him putting off Vivian meeting his father, out of shame. Earl bumped into Zoe and her mother, and had to be dissuaded by the former that she wasn’t going to be his future daughter in law, and Wade was fine because he had a new girlfriend. Thanks to Zoe, Vivian didn’t meet Earl at his drunkest at the party, but later when Wade’s father made an effort to make a good impression on his son’s girlfriend. Aww.
But, you know, still weird that Wade’s serious girlfriend is his most important ex’s cousin, who, like her is a petite brunette. I also clocked Wade’s sour face when he and Vivian walked in on Joel and Zoe kissing (in the carriage house, where they’d walked in without knocking) and that Zoe complained about watching Wade and Vivian kissing over breakfast at Lavon’s. Granted, both were fleeting moments, but in Zoe’s interaction with Earl and Wade’s gratitude that she did him a favour we were reminded of their history. And Joel is…well, the man was wearing a cardigan at one point, and he mansplained his Godot reference to Zoe’s mother. More seriously, given that Zoe didn’t seem to have much fun at the birthday party, maybe he should have just listened and not forced her to have one.
Zoe's mother terrified her daughter’s new boyfriend into revealing Zoe’s ‘plan’ after it had become obvious that something was up, and expressed her annoyance with him for going along with Zoe’s return to Bluebell, away from her, to start a new life with new extended family. The episode ended with her announcing she was going to move to Bluebell. Okay, then.
I decided to take an optimistic for the future interpretation of Zoe’s advice to Lavon that although it hurt, he’d been right not to pretend to love AB enough to marry her if he didn’t.
There was also a whiplash-inducing subplot involving Tansy’s ex Scooter having returned, claiming to be a changed man, spoiling George’s attempts to rekindle something with Tansy before they’d got very far. (So, George is single again just as AnnaBeth, determined to find someone who loves her as she deserves is and Lemon will return at some point, so hmm…I shall keep an eye open for developments.)
Also, George had employed Tom as his assistant (see Tom's colourful attempt at putting together a suit), thus rescuing him from his demeaning employment as a stripper. I do appreciate the continuity with the folk of Bluebell, even as I roll my eyes at all the contrivances of the plot. We never got an explanation for Zoe’s hatred of birthday candles that relight themselves when you blow them out and I was right, Zoe and Joel did have to move into the carriage house.
