When thinking of comfort TV shows, for many, Gilmore Girls, maybe even Friends, or perhaps The Golden Girls, come to mind. A small-town romance is a prevalent and worthwhile trope in literature, but it's seldom one that's done right on TV. Thankfully, that's not the case with The CW's Hart of Dixie, which is one of the most underrated comfort shows for the delightfully wild ride it puts fans through during its four-season run.
Hart of Dixie follows Rachel Bilson's character, Zoe Hart, to Bluebell, Alabama, from New York City, where she learns that her biological father left her his medical practice after his passing. There, she meets various people, some of whom showcase blatant animosity toward her, until she realizes this is right where she belongs. In Bluebell, Zoe makes various mistakes, falls in and out of love, and, most importantly, finds a home, resulting in the show's comforting theme. There's something outright farcical about how Bluebell is present, yet the show's heart makes it oddly relatable amidst its fabricated, small-town antics. Further, despite its messy beginning, Hart of Dixie features lovely redemption arcs, steady friendships, and surprising exhibitions of character development that make the series as compelling as it is comforting.
Bluebell Is a Great Fictional Town
A great fictional town, like Stars Hollow, Twin Peaks, or Gotham, often contribute to making a series better. The moment a show ends, and viewers find themselves scouring through websites like Etsy for merchandise, you know the series is a comfort watch with a small town that feels like home. Hart of Dixie's Bluebell is a large part of its appeal, featuring adorably bonkers traditions like "Planksgiving" (a pirate-themed Thanksgiving), and Founder's Day parades, on top of town meetings inside local bars. Bluebell has plenty of locations fans likely wish were real, like the "Rammer Jammer" where Wilson Bethel's Wade Kinsella works, the "Butter Stick Bakery," "Fancie's," and more.
Further, one of the key details that differentiates Bluebell from other fictional towns is the fact that it's impossible not to adore the town mayor, Lavon Hayes (played by Cress Williams). Most shows, especially romance dramas like Hart of Dixie, frequently feature unlikable or older mayors who don't care for or understand much about the characters. As a retired NFL quarterback, Lavon Hayes is not only pretty cool, making the town a hot spot, but his kindness stands out from the very first episode because he's the one who offers Zoe (Bilson) a place to stay when she has nowhere else to go. He also has a pet alligator named Bert Reynolds, and his home is generally always open for breakfast. Who wouldn't want to be his neighbor or live in a town where he's making improvements?
The Relationships Are Riveting
On Hart of Dixie, every romantic or platonic relationship is riveting. While the series fumbles in the romance department during Season 3, it's one of the strongest seasons where friendships are concerned, so much so that the faults in the romance department don't even matter as much. Where the characters begin in the Pilot episode and where we part with them in the series finale, "Bluebell," showcase tremendous changes that make the series special. The couples who end up together are both surprising and entirely fitting, and the dynamics that strengthen through time make the series special.
For instance, when Brick Breeland (Tim Matheson) first meets Zoe Hart, he has no interest in working with her at his practice, but by the end of the series, he makes her a partner without second guessing. Wade and Zoe begin as a one-night stand "that will never happen again," but they fall for one another in ways they never thought possible. While Zoe and Lavon's friendship remains a steady joy throughout the series' run, she and Lemon Breeland (Jaime King) finally see eye-to-eye after years of being at each other's throats.
The Character Development Is Well Written
With the exception of maybe Lavon Hayes, at some point, every character on Hart of Dixie is unlikable. And Zoe Hart is a particularly tough pill to swallow at the beginning of the series as a city girl who frowns upon small-town customs. But that's a large part of the series' appeal, because every character faces crucial development that makes them better. Where Zoe begins as a character with no empathy, she displays the most by the time the show's over, simultaneously playing a crucial role in helping someone like Wade Kinsella mature into the kind of man with ambitions and goals he once believed were far from reach.
Further, while a character like Lemon is introduced to the audience as a quintessential mean girl whose life matters more than anything else, her development exhibits what it means to be a team player in making a town better. By the end of the fourth season, it's apparent that Lemon is, in many ways, the glue that keeps the people of Bluebell excitedly on their toes while she spreads various traditions further. Wade Kinsella goes from the town's bad boy to what'll undoubtedly be a respectable father, and George Tucker realizes that he can follow his dreams instead of just talking about them. It's also one of the few shows on television that's managed to use the abhorred "cheating" trope to genuinely showcase how a person can understand the weight of their mistakes. While the growth sometimes feels like it's catering to clichés, Hart of Dixie takes the main characters through these developments by making their struggles realistic instead of contrived for television drama.