Hart of Dixie - Red Dye #40 - Review

We are four episodes into what is proving to be a highly entertaining fourth season. This episode was lighter than the past episodes and focused more on the town as a whole than just the core cast. And how can you go wrong with an episode that has Wade in nothing but a tablecloth for the majority of the episode?

An Actual Crime in BlueBell: When Lavon learns that Lemon needs money to save Fancie’s, he includes the town’s surplus of funds as part of the prize money for the annual talent show as a way for her to win the money. Of course things don’t go as planned when instead of performing a Dream Girls routine with Lemon and AB, Crickett agrees to perform with Stanley right after asking him for a divorce. Further complicating things, Brick decides to sign Shelby up for the talent show hoping that bonding over theater will get the women in his life to finally like one another.

Meanwhile Tansy is back in town when her brothers get into some legal trouble. With George’s help, they won’t face jail time but will still have to pay a fine. There is no hope for a George and Tansy reunion since Tansy has recently moved back to Fillmore and is planning to marry Scooter McGreevy, and George has recently decided to move forward which means not having feelings for ex-girlfriends. Although she has finally been able to save up enough money for a chair in a salon, but she fears she’ll have to use it to pay for her brothers’ fine. It turns out the Truitts can carry a tune and enter the talent show and wind up taking second place which means Tansy gets to keep her money. And George reluctantly becomes their manager.

Everyone becomes a suspect when it appears Shelby has been sabotaged when she suffers an allergy attack to red dye #40 during her performance. Initially the investigation focuses on a mysterious box of chocolates that had been left in Shelby’s dressing room. Rose reveals that she saw 4 people enter Shelby’s dressing room: Wanda, Stanley, Rudy Truitt, and AB. When put on the spot all the suspects have something they wish to keep hidden. Wanda didn’t want to reveal that her pet goat, Laslo, ate Shelby’s costume because Tom is questioning keeping the goat now that they have a baby coming. Now that Stanley is single (and not gay), it didn’t take long for him to move on with Sadie. They run into a dead end when it is obvious that reading a label is above the Truitts’ mental ability. After being uneasy all night, AB is finally called up for questioning where she reveals that she did leave the box of chocolates for Shelby. It isn’t as it seems since she only left the box of chocolates as a gesture from Lemon to smooth things over with Shelby to help Brick. When George suggests they test the box of chocolates to see if they even contained red dye #40. When the test results come back negative, all eyes turn towards Lemon as the culprit since she has the most to gain and because she doesn’t like Shelby.

Put on the spot, Lemon admits that she doesn’t like Shelby but that she didn’t poison her. She says that as a southern lady her methods of warfare are purely psychological. She refuses to answer honestly where she was during intermission because she doesn’t want to reveal that she was meeting with Lavon who was declaring his love for her. Just as she is about to be taken down to the station, Zoe comes out and solves the mystery. The real culprit was Rose who had been eating Cheese Flavies all day which contain red dye #40. She got some of the dust from her fingers on Shelby’s microphone when she was doing a sound check. And BlueBell still hasn’t seen an actual crime. The show must go on after all the excitement. To no one’s surprise, Shelby wins first place. As a gesture of kindness, Shelby gives the prize money to Lemon since she knows how much Fancie’s means to her and hopes that Lemon will like her. After the competition, Lavon confronts Lemon and asks if there hadn’t been an AB if she would return his feelings. Lemon tells him there is no point because there is an AB and there will always be an AB.

I usually groan when I see an episode that seems to focus on a town event, the townspeople, and in particular involving any sort of musical number. This episode had a different style to it that, while light and mostly filler, was actually a lot of fun. I admit that I didn’t guess that the cheese snacks would be the cause at first so the whole whodunit aspect kept me guessing and intrigued while laughing at the antics of the townspeople.

Of course it wasn’t all light-hearted fun since we had some angst with Lemon and Lavon. I think we are supposed to sympathize with them, but I admit that I just can’t. As Lemon said, AB is there in the middle of them. And while she stands a chance of getting hurt, all my sympathy lies with her. Another disappointment for me was the way Lemon got the money for Fancie’s. It is great that Shelby has grown and come such a long way. In season 2, she didn’t even want Brick to help Lemon after the way Lemon treated her. Now Shelby is proving that she is the bigger person. I just wish we saw Lemon actually work for what she wants like we saw in season 2 and not rely on schemes or other people giving her things. At least now she can put aside her differences with Shelby and be happy that her father has found someone who makes him happy.

Full Exposure: It has been 6 weeks since Zoe and Wade got back together. Zoe is enjoying the happy little bubble she and Wade are in by hiding their renewed romance from everyone. Wade is ready to go public, but he can’t help but indulge Zoe’s wishes. Since everyone else is busy at the talent show and the Rammer Jammer is empty, Zoe stops by to surprise Wade while wearing nothing but a trench coat. When the town moves the questioning to the Rammer Jammer, Zoe and Wade find themselves trapped and stuck in a closet with only tablecloths to cover themselves. They listen on through a vent as the events of the night play out. Zoe remains adamant about hiding even when Mother Nature calls. Wade remains patient despite Zoe considering using a bucket so she won’t have to leave the closet. Finally Wade questions why it is so important that they not tell everyone about them. Zoe shares that she is afraid to face the difficult questions because they don’t have the answers. And she fears they may not be able to figure it out. She is distracted when Wade assures her that they will figure things out and all that matters is that they love one another. Realizing that the Cheese Flavies contain red food dye, Zoe rushes out to solve the mystery and thus also reveals that she and Wade reconciled and are expecting a baby. Wade comes to Zoe’s aid when the townspeople start bombarding her with questions.

After having a major storyline for the first 3 episodes, Zoe and Wade taking a back seat and just getting a chance to just be was a nice change of pace for them. They were all sorts of adorable in this episode without any major problems or decisions to make. And yet even the little things stand out. I really liked that Zoe told Wade that she was happy. The first time around, she always seemed surprised to be happy with him or told other people how happy she was. It is like she wants Wade to make sure that he makes her happy so they don’t repeat their past mistakes. Wade is also a lot more open about his feelings and discussing them. He also listens to Zoe. He knew that she was afraid to face the town so he was there by her side so she wouldn’t have to do it alone and just offering his support.

Everything still isn’t perfect, and they still have some growing to do. They’ve been together for 6 weeks and it seems they haven’t done any talking but certainly were having a lot of sex. It’s like they both are afraid of reality or fearing problems coming up. Zoe’s way of dealing with that is to just avoid it. Live in their bubble and push off the inevitable as long as possible. And Wade’s approach is to just take it day by day without any real plan. They work best when they communicate with one another. And they haven’t really done that yet. So I can see how far they’ve come from season 2, but I can also still see where they have room to grow as they are going to have to face the real issues going forward.

Final Thoughts: What I really like about this show is that everyone gets a happy ending. Stanley was hurt and the wronged party when Crickett came out last season. They didn’t have to address Stanly moving on, but I am glad they did. He deserves a happy ending too. We also learned that Tansy is happy even if she isn’t going to end up with George like a lot had hoped. That gives me faith that AB is going to have a happy ending after she gets out of being in the middle of Lemon and Lavon. And by the looks of the preview, it won’t be long before someone unexpectedly enters the picture.

No, it isn’t your TV. Everyone really was orange this week. I’ve read complaints since the premiere about this being a problem. It was so obvious in this episode and distractingly so. It looked like everyone had been eating the Cheese Flavies and rubbed the crumbs all over their face and necks. I think poor George had it the worst. You could actually see the blotches on his neck where the makeup stopped.

Does the music on this show get enough credit? Again this week the music was perfect and just really highlights things and sets the tone. One of my favorites was Rascal Flatts’ “Rewind” which played during Zoe and Wade’s morning scene. It just set the tone for how happy they were in that moment. And Hunter Hayes’ “Storyline” was just the perfect song to close out the episode.

Were you happy with how Lemon got the money for Fancie’s? Are you rooting for Lemon and Lavon to finally get together? Do you think Zoe and Wade will figure it out? Are you sad that George and Tansy don’t appear to be getting back together?

Make sure to tune back in next Friday. Zoe and Wade face money problems after making a baby list. Wade secures a surprise musical guest to help boost business at the Rammer Jammer. Lemon and Lavon try to avoid one another. And Lemon sets up George and AB. Will we see a new ship set sail next week?

About the Author - Tracie

Tracie is a wife and stay-at-home mom of 2 residing in NJ. She likes to unwind with a good book or in front of the TV. She is an avid reader of romance books. She likes to cook and bake. She loves to exercise and is trying to live a healthier life style. She watches a wide variety of TV shows ranging from reality TV to scripted dramas. Some of her past and current favorite TV shows are Sex and the City, Charmed, The Good Wife, and Hart of Dixie.