Review: Hart of Dixie 3x06 "Family Tradition"

Original air date: Nov. 11, 2013

Hart of Dixie is one of those shows I watch because it makes my fluffy heart happy.  There are adorable shipper moments and just plain good ole fashion shenanigans to keep a person grinning. This week I sit here cradling my mug of peach tea frowning because things didn't end up all sunshine and rainbows for a few of the citizens in Bluebell.

Zoe and Joel decide it may be time to go searching for a house to rent.  A few too many Dash interruptions have got them a little anxious to find a place.  The search leads Zoe to wonder if she should try to connect to the Wilkes family.  Her last encounter in season one didn't go over so smoothly and since then she’s ignored and blown them off. 

Joel encourages Zoe to try again.  After a few thousand viewings of Dolphin Tale and its lessons on family and Harry Connick Jr., Zoe decides he’s right.  So in true Zoe fashion she decides to crash an 8 year old’s birthday party, where she knows the entire family will be in attendance.  Once there, she decides to make the patent Zoe bad decision and lie about who she is.  She gets to know the family from behind the mask of the party entertainer manager.  And Zoe falls in love with them.  They are funny, kind, and they’re just like her.

Zoe is so happy to have found this big family.  She decides to come clean and reveals that her name is not Chloe but Zoe Hart.  It turns out about as bad as you might think it would.  They want nothing to do with her.  She may be blood, but you have to put time in with family and she’s never done that before.  Zoe hid her identity because she feared rejection and in the end that’s exactly what happened.  I would like to say, I hope in the future she will try again and finally win the Wilkes family over, but this is Hart of Dixie.  By next week, the show will have forgotten that Zoe wanting a big family was even a thing I bet.

The heartbreak doesn't end there either.  Annabeth’s parents are in town and she's worried about what they'll think when they find out she's dating Lavon.  You know college football rivalries and all.  Sidenote: That totally happens.  Just ask my cousin who decided to go to the rival college.  It’s still a thing of gossip.

Anyway, it turns out that Annabeth has other things to worry about than the Auburn/Bama rivalry.  Her parents are too excited to discover she is dating the mayor.  They want a mayor for a son-in-law and they’re going to not so subtly push the subject to see that they get one. 

In the end it forces Annabeth to come clean with her feelings with Lavon.  Ever since the false alarm on Halloween the thought has been on her mind.  She knows she wants to marry again and she’s tired of wasting time if it’s not something that could be in their future.  Now Lavon has to figure out his feelings.  It’s time to figure out if marriage is something he’s ever going to want or not.  I am glad that she finally said something, honestly.  The worst thing a person can do is keep those kind of feelings to themselves, but I just don't want to see next week that they've decided to go their separate ways. 

Again heartbreak for me doesn't stop there.  Lemon and Wade have been my favorite thing about this new season.  Lemonade was the new dynamic duo and they just worked.  Their business is booming and things just keep getting better and better for them.  Yet, Lemon isn't completely happy.  As much as she enjoys running the Rammer Jammer, it isn't her dream. 

Lemon is offered a chance to buy Fancie’s.  The opportunity opens her eyes to the fact that she’s still a bit out of place at the Rammer Jammer and that things are a little crazy over there.  So even though she doesn't end up purchasing Fancie's, she still decides to set out and discover what makes her really happy.  I’m excited for her.  I’m just sad that it means the end of my dynamic Lemonade duo.  I fear that now that they no longer run a business together we’ll never have any more stories involving the two of them.  They've become each other’s support and confidants, but that came out of the fact that they were thrown together.  Without the business tying them together anymore, will they still seek each other out?  I don't know.

To be completely honest, I was hoping this storyline was going in a different direction.  I was hoping it was Wade realizing he’d been taking advantage of Lemon by having her handle the difficult stuff.  I was hoping Wade would realize it was time for him step up and to stop sleeping with his employees.  I WAS HOPING that after hearing Lemon wanted to buy Fancie’s, he was going to decide to show Lemon that he could do better to control the crazy at the Rammer Jammer.  Obviously that did not happen.

Oh, and George and Lynly have a flip flop.  We've only seen clingy Lynly so far, but tonight we got a good glimpse at infatuated clingy George.  They’re gonna do the dating thing.  It could be cute. Raise your hand if you didn't see that one coming. *crickets* No? No hands.  That's what I thought.

Favorite bits of the episode?

• Joel automatically going along with Zoe’s plan.  'I’m a magician now? I only know two card tricks! Okay! I’m on it.'  He's cute and he always up for some shenanigans.  That's a keeper. 
• Lemon and Wade’s little “Whose your partner?” dance.  See, look how great they work together!
• Lemon and Wade confessing to each other that they are each other’s best friends.  How cute are they? Plus, he believes in her.  He believes that she is going to find what really makes her happy and he’s not going to allow her to settle for anything less.  Plus, Lemon will always drink for free at the Rammer Jammer.

In conclusion: 'Do Not Distrub' signs will probably not keep Dash out of Zoe and Joel’s room, let’s be honest.  The compliment sandwich not only works for romantic breakups but also for business partnerships.  Oh and I guess I’m finally going to have to rent Dolphin Tale.