Why is it that women always seem to be looking for and finding love in Alabama?
It happens in the movie Sweet Home Alabama. It happens on the TV series The Hart of Dixie. And in the book called The Wind Could Blow a Bug.
I am writing this post in honor of the season finale of Hart of Dixie airing this Friday. While the CW has thus far stayed mum, the cast have all been pretty public that this is the end of the series.
Hart of Dixie’s Wilson Bethel
You probably don’t remember a little blog post I wrote three years ago about Hart of Dixie. The link is here. And I still feel the same way. That the show just never quite lived up to its potential. And a large part of it might be that the show has several fundamental connections to The O.C. The O.C. nailed it with almost every episode. Maybe I just never got used to the slower feel of things in Bluebell. Hell, the first season was over before I realized I was supposed to have paid attention to the background townsfolk every week. That made re-watching season one, and watching new episodes going forward, much more enjoyable.
Josh Lucas & Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
A few weeks ago, I was daydreaming on a cold Michigan winter day about sunny Alabama (or at least as it is portrayed by various other location shoots on my television) and a thought occurred to me:
Hart of Dixie and Sweet Home Alabama have a few things in common.
1. They both feature petite career women from the big city.
Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart and Reese Witherspoon as Melanie Carmichael, hoity-toity fashion designer. And in both cases, the big city is NYC.
2. They both feature a blond guy who looks amazing with his shirt off.
Wilson Bethel as Wade Kinsella and Josh Lucas as Jake Perry.
3. They both include a dark-haired man as the “logical” choice in the love triangle.
Scott Porter as lawyer George Tucker and Patrick Dempsey as rich guy Andrew Hennings.
4. The lead female in both instances seems to only be sure of her “bad boy” choice once he makes something of himself. (Which, HELLO, totally NEGATES the “bad boy.”)
Wade gets series about owning his own bar, while Jake takes his love of glass to the next level.
5. They both include weddings affected by storms.
George and Lemon’s wedding was pushed from the town square into the old, rundown fire station, until it was eventually called off altogether. Melanie runs from her groom Andrew as the winds pick up and the rain starts to pour.
Lesson to be learned here: No outdoor weddings if you are a fictional character in Alabama.
6. They both include a friend with a big mansion house.
Lavon’s large mayoral mansion is the setting for many of the high-jinks in Bluebell, including the guest houses where Wade and Zoe reside. Melanie holds her ill-fated wedding with Andrew at the Carmichael estate.
These are just a few of the things I noticed off the top of my head.
I will be very sad to see Hart of Dixie go. It may not have always fulfilled my craving, but I faithfully watched it every week. Sometimes Hart of Dixie nailed it. Like when Wade has to sing Crazy Earl down off the roof, and we discover that Crazy Earl if actually his father. Or when Zoe makes a date with the mysterious stranger in town, only to find out he is Wade’s brother.
I don’t know what the writers originally planned for Zoe’s love life, but it was always Wade for me. ❤
Zoe playing doctor with Wade
Did I wet your whistle for some more romantic adventures in Alabama? My first book, The Wind Could Blow a Bug is NOW AVAILABLE!
I'm not stalking you. 