Lavon and Ruby are still basking in the glow of a rekindled relationship, although Zoe can’t seem to trust Ms. Jeffries after the election season. However, it’s Lemon and AnnaBeth who find the first real evidence that Ruby was lying about changing last week on Hart of Dixie, as she is found meeting a good-looking man on her porch with promises of a drink later that night. Lemon immediately goes to Zoe, who doesn’t want any part in this and is trying to stay loyal to Lavon, with a plan to milk information from the man using her power as a doctor.
However, Lemon brings in the man (named Tim, hailing from Dallas) regardless of what Dr. Hart thinks, claiming that he had pinkeye that needed to be looked at. It turns out that Ruby isn’t sleeping with Tim – he’s a head hunter looking for a CEO for a fashion company and Ruby happens to be one of the most sought after fashion executives in the country. He remains confident that she’ll say yes to the job offer, which Zoe tells Lavon about. Mayor Hayes is filled with mixed emotions about the revelation. He can’t believe it, but in the back of his mind, he always knew she’d leave; he’s upset with Zoe, but he’s more upset with Ruby for lying about going to a manicure appointment that day.
At dinner that night, he grills her about her manicure and then tells her that he knows about the job opportunity. However, Ruby wasn’t planning on taking the job to begin with. Rather than worry Lavon, she took the meeting quietly and was going to stay in BlueBell, but now that he spied on her, she’s deciding to take it and get out of town. Zoe wants to fix things and sniffs out that part of the reason that Lemon did this was to break Lavon and Ruby up to get with him herself, though Lemon thinks she did nothing wrong.
Well, until she brings a cake to Lavon later that night and sees/hears how absolutely broken he is by what happened. Lemon then decides to use her powers for good and comes up with a limo switcheroo plan that would have Lavon driving Ruby to the airport for 30 minutes in order to plead his case. Ruby reluctantly agrees to go with Lavon and comes by the Rammer Jammer the next day to let him know that she did take the job. Only she told them that she’d start in January, giving them a couple of months to figure out what they have. Ruby wants to have it all – Lavon, the job, the world – but is that really possible with him in BlueBell and her in Dallas?
Eagle Ranger
George has made it very clear to Wade that he wants to talk to him about something. He invites him on a run (that the bartender declines) and heads down to the Rammer Jammer to see about getting a moment of his time there, or at least later over drinks. However, rather than face George, Wade decides to accept an offer from Reverend Mayfair to supervise an overnight Eagle Ranger camping trip. The only problem with that plan is that George was an Eagle Ranger and volunteered to go on the adventure, as well, meaning that Wade would be stuck in close quarters with his sort-of friend and a bunch of screaming children. As Wade isn’t exactly the camping type, he gets assigned to help Connor, one of the Rangers who participates every year but never has any fun.
George finally gets Wade alone and asks him what he had been meaning to ask him: would it be okay if he asked out Tansy? Wade thought that George was going to ask something about Zoe, but he decides to think it over anyway. After talking to Connor, who would rather eat cookies and do his Jay Leno impression than go on a hike, Wade tells George that it would not be okay if he went after Tansy. George, of course, is upset and doesn’t care what Wade says; he was only trying to be a nice guy by asking in the first place, but before long, the two have to go search for Connor when he goes missing. While out in the woods, the two follow a trail of cookies until Zoe calls and asks to speak to George, proving (in Wade’s mind) why he didn’t want George with Tansy. Wade thinks that George would treat Tansy like a placeholder – someone to date for a while and have a little fun with, but not someone who he’d want to be in a serious relationship with, especially since he’s not over Zoe.
The two find Connor up a tree and Wade climbs it in order to talk him down; Connor hates the Wilderness Run that’s held every year at the end of the trip. He’s out of shape and not a quick runner, thus getting laughed at by the other kids, though Wade convinces him to go to the event, even if he doesn’t run. Connor ends up providing color commentary for the other kids who run the obstacle course, not getting laughed at and having a good time in the process. Meanwhile, George does call Tansy and assures Wade that she’s no placeholder for anybody, also informing him that he knows about the relationship with Dr. Hart and is fine with it.
George goes on to mention that if Wade feels like a placeholder with her, he needs to talk to her. When Wade gets home, he means to tell her, but her reaction upon finding out that George knew was muted, to say the least. As a result, he decides to stay at his home for the night.
Long Distance Lover
With Brick and Emily working out their communication problem last week, it looks like all smooth sailing from here. The two are interrupted by blue-streaked Magnolia during a lunch date at the Butter Stick Bakery and Brick waits until Emily steps out for a second to mention his latest idea: Emily moving to BlueBell. Magnolia is thoroughly dismissive of her father’s plan, but she attends a get-together at the house with the lovebirds, where they play Life and things get awkward. They get even more awkward when Brick gets paged when Jerry Turner’s oxygen tank needs to be refilled, leaving Emily alone with Magnolia for the first time. Not for long, though, Magnolia heading up to her room almost immediately after Brick leaves.
However, it’s not about Brick and Emily. Her whatever-you-want-to-call-it with Lucas, whose name first popped up last week, isn’t going so hot anymore and Magnolia is put on edge, her tension exacerbated by the thought of significant change at home. Emily, for her part, uses the event to bond with Magnolia, relating to her like she hadn’t gotten a chance to before and breaking down the sarcastic wall that the teenager builds up around other people. Brick comes back home to the two main women in his life talking and sharing pie, with Magnolia serving her approval of Emily/the potential move as a refreshing dessert. However, it’s Emily that turns out to be opposed to the idea of moving to BlueBell – at least right now. Brick failed to talk it over with her before bringing it up to Magnolia and she’s happy with their situation.
Brick, of course, can’t take no for an answer, nor can he wait on anybody else to catch up, and he informs Magnolia that he broke up with Emily.
Magnolia laments having been nice to the woman and vows “not to make that mistake again.”
Additional thoughts and observations:
-Connor reminded me of the little boy from Up. Anybody else?
-Wade’s bedhead at the beginning of the episode, though. I mean.
-“I get Ruby Jeffries. I am Ruby Jeffries.” – Zoe Hart
-How great of a name is the Butter Stick Bakery?
-“Lemon, did you go to business school when I wasn’t looking?”
-The cookie/brownie talk was very cute and very Hart of Dixie.
-Lemon referred to Zoe as the second best doctor in BlueBell, of course.
-“Okay, that is too many words in a row.”
-The Little Big Town song used in the montage with the cake was lovely.
-Next week on Hart of Dixie: Wade decides to take Zoe on an official date, Lemon gives Lavon advice on Ruby, and George is interested in pursuing Tansy.
