Our good friend and fellow fangirl Cosmo shares her latest obsession, Hart of Dixie, with the top ten reasons why this show will elevate your whole life!
So, about a month ago, I was home with a broken foot, and I had nothing to do but watch Netflix and read books. And after browsing Netflix for about a million hours, I finally settled on Hart of Dixie. Not because I actively chose it, mind you. But because I lingered on it a bit too long, and it automatically started playing.
From the very first episode, I was hooked.
And then I started binging.
And then I started tweeting to all my friends about why they should be watching and falling in love with Bluebell Alabama. Because, let’s be honest. We live in a world where we live-tweet all our favorite shows. And watching something I completely adored so much without anyone to flail with was hard. So, obviously, I convinced my soul-sister, Funmbi, to watch with me because we generally love the same things.
And I was right.
She loved it, too.
So, here goes…
My Top Ten Reasons why Hart of Dixie is the Show You Never Knew You Needed in Your Life:
10.) The Soundtrack
The music in this show is a character on its own. Whether it’s a well placed song playing at just the right moment, or a live performance by a band or Artist at the Rammer Jammer, Bluebell’s local bar and restaurant, Hart of Dixie’s soundtrack is really just amazing. No lie, I’ve gone to iTunes no less than ten times to buy songs I’d never even heard before watching this show.
Some highlights include:
• Run by Matt Nathanson (featuring Sugarland)
• Unbreakable by Jamie Scott
• Splitting Wood by Claire Guerreso
• House of Cards by Stevie Ann
And if you’re really lucky, someone from the town will treat you to a performance of their own. Some performances are quirky and hilarious, some are over-the-top flash mobs, and there’s a particular rendition of Moon River that will make you laugh and weep simultaneously. And to quote Truvy Jones from Steel Magnolias:
“Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”
And if you didn’t read that in the voice of the most amazing southern woman, Dolly Parton, I’m not even sure I want to know you.
9.) The UST
Good lord! I love unresolved sexual tension as much as I love the resolution. And the better the UST, the better the resolution. This show delivers both amazingly.
I have compared Hart of Dixie to being like a really good romance novel. And it totally is in the way that the characters tease out a response from the viewer in an almost sexual way. It’s like really amazing foreplay. And they give you enough to keep you excited and wanting more.
There were times where I was literally holding my breath, begging for something to happen.
And let me tell you: when it happens…holy smokes, it really flicking happens.
But here’s the best part. The show never loses that sizzling, sexual energy. Maybe it has something to do with the south. It is pretty hot down there. And this show delivers the heat. Repeatedly.
Excuse me while I fan myself like a proper southern lady.
8.) The Townsfolk
You will fall in love with the townsfolk of Bluebell. The secondary characters add so much to the show! And you will love them just as much as you love the MCs. Me? I love Dash, the town’s local blogger and B&B owner. He offers a gossipy and salacious take on everything happening in town. And so much sass, y’all. Dash definitely brings the sass.
The best thing about the people of Bluebell is that they have their own identities. They don’t serve as a backdrop to the MCs. You’ll be scandalized by the reverend having syphilis. Your heart will hurt for Delma who’s a hypochondriac because she just can’t seem to get over her mother’s death. You’ll want to sit down on a bench with the ladies in town and gossip about the new doctor who just breezed into Bluebell like a not-so-gentle wind coming in from the Gulf.
7.) Lemon Breeland
Lemon is one of those characters you will love to hate. She’s a downright bitch in the beginning, but Jaime King, the actress who portrays her has the ability to steal nearly every scene she’s in. You’ll have a love/hate relationship with her need for perfection, and the means to which she’ll stop at nothing to get what she thinks she wants. And you’ll love the way she evolves as she realizes that life is never going to be perfect. It’s messy, and somewhere in the mess, Lemon finds herself.
And watching Lemon come to this realization is what really good storytelling is all about.
Also, I could write a whole post on her headpieces and headbands. J/S
6.) Lavon Hayes
What do I say about Lavon Hayes? The retired NFL player, who also played for the Crimson Tide, then moved back home and leveraged his popularity to become the town mayor? So much! I can say so much about Lavon! But I promise to keep it brief.
Like I said, he’s the mayor, and he’s stylish af. And no one loves Bluebell more than Lavon Hayes. He owns a plantation, where both Zoe and Wade live in the carriage and gate houses. He has a pet alligator named Burt Reynolds because Smokey and the Bandit is his favorite movie. Breakfast is his favorite meal of the day, and he’s determined to ensure that the people he loves are fed every morning. ISTG, his kitchen constantly looks like a food photo shoot for Southern Living. Also, not for nothing, he looks hella-amazing half-dressed making breakfast.
He consistently refers to himself in third person, which, I know, sounds annoying. But with Lavon, it works. Oh, and when the series begins, Lavon has a secret in his past that no one else knows about. And it’s a delicious, scandalous little secret that will launch one of the greatest ships in the show.
5.) Crazy Earl
Speaking of ships… I have never shipped anything harder than Crazy Earl ships Zoe and Wade. And that’s saying something. I’m a sinker of ships from way back. And to be honest, Crazy Earl serves as a voice for anyone watching this show. Trust me when I tell you that you’ll relate to him on more than one level, on more than one occasion.
You’ll root with him, and you’ll root for him.
4.) Bluebell, Alabama
I haven’t wanted a fictional town to exist this much since Stars Hollow. This small southern town will enchant and beguile you. Speaking as someone who grew up in the south and moved away as soon as I finished college, I would never have left if Bluebell was my hometown.
We get to know Bluebell through Zoe’s experiences. We get to learn all the crazy, wacky things that go on around town. We get to know the people. Like the reverend and his wife who bring Zoe a bundt cake to welcome her to town. And obviously, she thinks they’re trying to force her to go to church instead of just being friendly and neighborly. And we learn that sometimes, a bundt cake is just a bundt cake.
You’ll want to go to the Rammer Jammer to get drunk, you’ll want to eat all the crullers at The Butter Stick bakery (Yes, the town bakery is called The Butter Stick),
This town has some crazy traditions like Planksgiving and the Founder’s Day Parade. And if I can be serious for a moment, in this post-Obama world we live in, where the bad things in the south that need to DIAF are amplified on a daily basis, it’s wonderful to watch a show about a little diverse (and I do mean diverse) town in Alabama. A town where people love each other and take care of each other. And maybe, if I’m being honest, it’s one of the biggest reasons I got sucked in. Because this is the world I want to live in – a world where hope and love and community supersede hate.
3.) The Friendships
Zoe and Lavon’s friendship is legit one of my favorite things about this show.
It’s this wonderful platonic relationship that has zero to do with underlying sexual…anything. They love each other. They are there for each other in all the ways best friends should be. They support and comfort each other when things are tough, and they tell each other the truth even when it hurts. It’s beautiful. And it’s just as important as the main love story in the show. In fact, it’s a kind of love story on its own, and I was equally invested in its growth and development.
We see a similar relationship develop between Wade and Lemon in later seasons. And this friendship is such a good part of the arc of this show. Both of these characters need someone to call them on their bullshit, and they do exactly that.
And how great is it to see that men and women can be friends without one of them having unrequited romantic or sexual feelings for the other?
And we get that, not only once, but twice! It’s the best gift!
Then, there’s everyone’s BFF, Anna Beth.
AB, as her friends call her, is all of us. She starts out as this kind of one dimensional character, but she grows into so much more. She eats her feelings at The Butter Stick, she calls people on their bullshit, and generally just spends her time being famazeballs. She’s spent her life in Lemon’s shadow, but we get to see AB really grow into her own as she steps outside her box and becomes more than just the sidekick.
Seriously, I want to be friends with everyone on this show, but AB would totally be my bestie.
2.) Zoe Hart
At the “hart” of this show is Zoe. HoD is really about her journey. She starts out as this New York surgeon who has trouble connecting with people. She has trouble seeing her patients as people. They’re just patients, and it’s her job to make them better. She’s never had a real relationship based on love and connection. And because of that, she finds this little southern town who loves everyone a bit too much to take.
Her fish-out-of-water story is brilliant, and of course, in the end, she realizes that in Bluebell, she’s found all the things she was missing in her life before. A sense of friendship, family, and ultimately love.
While her story is sometimes angsty and heartbreaking af, HoD finds a way to bring humor into most situations. And I loved, loved, loved watching her journey. Especially the part of her journey that leads to Wade Kinsella.
And that bring me to the top reason to watch this show…
1.) Wade Kinsella
Wade is the Alabama boyfriend you never knew you needed in your life. He starts out as Zoe’s annoying neighbor. Her neighbor who, on top of being annoying, is also hot af. Seriously. So hot. I think I might need to get my fan out again.
Wade is not supposed to be the guy. Nope. They want you to be invested in George Tucker, and I know that Funmbie was Team George for a long time. George is great on paper. He’s educated, a lawyer, and he used to live in NYC just like Zoe. But listen, I was leaning toward Wade from the very first episode, and by the fourth episode, I was solidly Team Wade. So much so, I even wrote fanfic about it.
I won’t lie. Wade is an asshole. And a manwhore. Have I sold you on him yet?
But there’s something about the chemistry these two share. Like, their chemistry is for real and for true. It’s delicious to watch. I was so flicking invested. I was watching their push and pull and wishing I could just jump through my tv screen and push them together. Horizontially.
I love a lot about Wade, but the thing I love most about him is the way he looks at Zoe.
Holy shit, if a man ever looked at me they he looks at her, we would never leave my bedroom. I would die of malnutrition unless I could find a way to sustain myself by licking the sweat off his abs.
And speaking of abs, Wade should never wear a shirt.
Ever.
His transformation from asshole neighbor to the man Zoe deserves takes a long time. And he really messes up along the way. But honestly, I haven’t been this invested in a tv couple since…hell, I don’t know that I’ve ever been this invested in a tv couple.
Hart of Dixie is about the evolution of Zoe and Wade’s relationship. It’s about the push and pull you have when you finally find that one person who is meant for you.
It’s about growing up and giving in. It’s about tearing down the walls you’ve built up your whole life, and letting that one person see the real you. And it’s okay if the real you is a mess. Because in the end, becoming the person you were meant to be is everything. And finding true love is all worth it.
