Tash10 has published his/her review, and it's so eerily similar to my views that I'm beginning to think we're the same person. S/he had the same thoughts as I did for the pilot episode, too. So perhaps there's no need for my review, but here it is.
Every quote is forgettable. —All characters
Usually there's a quote that I
remember to write before every single one of my reviews. The problem is that I never write them down as I'm watching the show, they're usually memorable enough to do without. It's actually a little baffling that I can't remember something at this very moment for the latest episode of
Hart of Dixie. I suppose we'll just have to go with the fact that everything any character said during this episode was completely forgettable.
But I will say that my forgetting isn't indicative of how I feel about
Hart of Dixie. It's still quite a ridiculous show — they don't have a grip on who their main character is, there are some baffling character traits for others
[*], and the second episode is basically a rehash of the pilot in some ways
[**] — yes. So it's no wonder why I still have some serious concerns about who Zoe Hart is.
*I get that this girl who's Zoe's biggest fan is in awe of New York, but should she really be a a huge fan of Sex and the City
? I mean, the first word is "sex" and she's 14 years old. And the show isn't even that good, especially if she watched it in syndication — which I'm assuming she did, which makes it even less good considering syndication deletes the sex, basically the only good part of the show. And the only thing Carrie Bradshaw would do (in her WWCBD? question) is sit down with a laptop and say in a voice over "I couldn't help but wonder…"
**Zoe diagnoses a woman's medical condition but she wants to keep it private, so she shows her "heart" by obeying their wishes and doing everything in her power to keep her word… until the breaking point. That's the pilot. That's the second episode.
The pilot episode ended with basically everyone liking Zoe, who was already delved into being a Doctor Who Listens (or whatever the real problem is), but of course the second episode couldn't follow up with that or else there would basically be no series. So Zoe and everyone else had to take a step back to who they were a week ago. (This is a complicated sentence, but bear with me:) The problem with what the series wants you to think the problem is is that these people are
insane. Everyone wants Zoe to be more understanding and listen to patients, but they are seriously crazy.
Zoe can't diagnose people's illnesses correctly
enough. Yet, people keep telling her she's not listening, she's not one of the townies. A woman comes in pretending she has a fever and lying about spots on her body (or she's delusional), and Zoe says she should see a psychologist about it. Then she gets reprimanded for
giving this woman very good medical advice. Instead, she's supposed to offer her Tic Tacs and continue to feed this woman's
literal insanity. Really?
And the resolution for the episode finds Zoe going to this woman's home, we presume to give her Tic Tacs. Thankfully, though, that's not what she did; this woman has a cat named Purrfection. Yes, Purrfection. That's cute from a 4 year old. From a middle-aged crazy woman, it's not. She is
literally the crazy cat lady.
But Zoe can also be so off the rails, it's unbelievable. She guesses a man who can't move his legs has a deadly leg condition and when his wife asks if it's serious she deadpans and says "Oh, yeah!" Then she realizes her lack of bedside manner and retreads, "Sometimes people don't die." Seriously? A guy leaves her alone to decorate a float and then he kisses her and she falls for him. Are we supposed to be rooting for them? What kind of love trapezoid/pentagon is this — how does it make sense? The town's mayor tells her what she needs to do to gain the town's acceptance and then the show honest-to-goodness cuts from that scene to the next where she asks "How did Harley get patients?"
You were just told how!!! What is happening!?
You can see, I'm frustrated.
Somehow, though, the show continues to plow through that with its southern charm. And if I wasn't watching the show just to critique it, I'd probably only recognize those flaws after the credits rolled and brushed them off. There's an easiness with this show that's hard to describe and there seems to be a formula brewing (which is what I suggested, Medical Emergency of the Week). And in this episode, we got an actual plot… goal, if you will… which is to gain 30% of the customers to keep the practice. So, at least we're headed towards something tangible.
I don't know if I can forgive the show for doing the aforementioned, saying thing's like "She can't tell a tick from a taxicab" and thinking it's a smart joke when it's so beyond stupid I want to actually slap myself — no, better yet the character that said it — (honestly who the heck wrote that?), that every character seems to have parent issues, or have one of the only character's I like (Harley's assistant) leave because her true passion is baking, but that sort of easy charm certainly helps. And I don't suspect anyone that was bewitched by it the first go 'round will jump ship after having watched this episode. In fact, I'd say it was actually a pretty good followup from the pilot.
Hart of Dixie isn't compelling, and that's not a bad thing. It just has an, and I can't say this enough, easiness to it that many other shows lack. It's fluid. It's certainly likable. And tuning in is definitely not a chore.
Maybe, for me, the third time will be a southern charm.
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Read more of my reviews at NoWhiteNoise.com
