My Heart Belongs In Bluebell

Let me start by saying that I am a middle aged single mom who suffers from anxiety and insomnia, among other things. I have discovered that binge-watching certain shows helps me to calm my mind and get out of my head for a little while. With that being said, my greatest binge-worthy love is a show called Hart of Dixie. I fell totally in love with this show one night while I was trying to find something to numb my troubles. I have always loved medical shows and the ones with romantic storylines are even better. I read the brief bio which stated that Dr. Zoe Hart from NYC moves to a small town named Bluebell in Alabama to further her medical career but discovers love and friendship, sounded like just what I was looking for. After the first episode I was completely hooked. Not only did her life's plan not go her way, but there was constantly obstacles that she had to overcome just to get by.

In the first season, Zoe finds herself struggling to fit into small town life in Bluebell, Alabama with her big city mentality. Brought to town by an elderly gentleman who offered her a position at his practice at her college graduation, turns out to be her biological father. Upon arriving at town, she discovers that Dr. Wilkes has passed away and left her his half of the medical practice. Right from the start, the recently single doctor is attracted to the town golden boy who happens to not only be the town lawyer, but also engaged to one of the town Belles, Lemon Breeland. Lemon also happens to be the daughter of Dr. Breeland who owns the other half of the medical practice that she has inherited. Torn between settling in and making the best of things or giving up and moving back home, Zoe decides to stick it out and try to find out more about her late father and his family. Zoe quickly finds herself in a forbidden love triangle between engaged golden boy, George and town bad boy, Wade. Wade also turns out to be her neighbor on the grounds of the mayor's plantation where Zoe has been offered a place to stay while she's there. The love triangle has Zoe experiencing many tumultuous ups and downs throughout the first season.

The second season finds Zoe head-long into a relationship with Wade even though she secretly wonders what could have been if her and George had been given the chance to test their attraction. After several complications, Zoe ends up single again after Wade betrays her by cheating. She then finds herself on quite the dating adventure with a few of the local bachelors but none seemed to fill the void inside that she is painfully aware of. At the end of the season, Zoe makes the decision to return to NYC for the summer to work at the hospital that was the original factor that sent her southward to Alabama.

Season three finds us in NYC six months after Zoe Hart returned home for a temporary hiatus from Bluebell. At this point, Zoe has fallen into a routine at the hospital as well as fallen for a new love interest. Joel Stevens is a published writer there in New York who has helped Zoe almost forget the life she had built in Bluebell. However, no matter how happy Zoe seems to be, she is having trouble forgetting all the people she left behind in Alabama. With her troubled thoughts, she plans to visit Bluebell to tie up loose ends. Once she arrives back in the small town that she has come to love, she finds pure chaos has taken over and many of the townsfolk blame her for their misfortune. With her mind made up to help out the town while she's there, she sets out to settle their problems as quickly as possible. With one delay after another, she finds her stay extended which prompts Joel to travel to Bluebell to check on how her progress is coming along. With Bluebell taking Zoe back in, she decides to convince Joel to join her there to build their future together. It seems that Zoe has finally found true happiness until Joel selling his novel to a movie studio sends him travelling to California which ultimately puts a huge strain on their relationship. Yet again Zoe finds her heart leading her back to Wade, which creates so many confusing thoughts for both parties.

At the start of season four, we find Zoe determined to prove to Wade that their love deserves a second chance. After several weeks of trying, she is given a curve ball when she finds out that she's pregnant with Wade's baby. Panicked, she tries to come to terms with the fact that she's going to have an Alabama baby which she knows nothing about. If she were having a baby in New York, she'd have it made but she's only just figured out how to fit into the small town herself. With one zany adventure after another, she finally finds her true place, beside Wade, with their baby.

I can't speak for everyone who has ever watched Hart of Dixie, but with the close of season four and the announcement that it was the final episode, I felt a huge disappointment that the show and all of the characters were going to be missing from my life. I'm sure there are people out there that would find many things to not like about the show but it truly became part of me. I mourned the ending until I discovered that Netflix had all four seasons available for viewing. This is a show that I watched over and over again until I could recite the lines almost without thinking. I was overjoyed that I could visit the town and the citizens of Bluebell any time I wanted. However, at the beginning of the year, Netflix decided to remove Hart of Dixie from their line-up of shows. I continue to carry the hope that one day soon, I will discover another way to have this show available to me. Until then, I highly recommend anyone and everyone to at least give it a shot should you run across it on your viewing options. Enjoy my friends!