‘Hart of Dixie’ season 3 premiere review: Zoe learns Wade and Lemon are dating… sort of

We have been eagerly awaiting the return of “Hart of Dixie” for months after the cliffhanger from last season. Wade finally admitted to Zoe that he loved her (awwww) and she responded by taking off to New York City for 5 months. There are plenty Zade shippers out there that still want to see Zoe come back to Bluebell tonight and run into Wade’s arms declaring her love for him too, but after abandoning him (and the town) for so long we can’t really see him being all that happy to have her back… not at least without some sort of explanation.

When we catch up with Zoe she is still working in New York and moving in with her new boyfriend Joel, but when she runs into a very angry Rose at the hospital she realizes that maybe she has to tie up some loose ends in Bluebell before she can move forward.

The first person she runs into is Wade and when she tries to explain things to him, he brushes it off saying that he has no regrets, but that the rest of the town may not be so receptive to her…. and boy is he right.

Since Zoe left, George took off to join a band, the neighboring town lawyer stopped the town parade from happening in Bluebell, everyone is angry at her for saying goodbye in an email, and Brick is a mess after his break up with Shelby.

Finding George proves to be easier then she thinks when the noisy neighbor in the motel room next to hers turns out to be a disheveled George. We learn that George realized during his tour with the band that he was in love with Tansy and came back to start his life with her, but after she hears his hit song about his feelings for Zoe she sends him away a broken man. After Lemon kicks George’s butt back into shape, he defends against the other town’s lawyer and wins the parade for the town. Although he wins the case, he later loses anyway when he finds out Tansy is dating the other town’s lawyer.

As Zoe is leaving, she runs into Wade’s father Earl that suckers her into staying longer. This brings Zoe and Wade together and she finally has a chance to explain things to him, which is nice to see since we have waited all year for this reunion and expected that at the very least Wade would want (and deserves) some answers. Things start to feel a bit better until Joel shows up and Zoe introduced Wade to him as her “old neighbor”. Really? Old neighbor? We have always loved the idea of Zoe and Wade together, but she has been really awful to him and we’re not so sure that fans will be rooting for these two anymore. In the end Zoe decides to move back to Bluebell, with Joel.

We did however love that Lemon has a secret love affair going on with Meatball… this is going to be a fun storyline. Even more fun is the idea that Lemon and Wade are messing with Zoe by telling her that they are now a couple. The only thing we are hoping for is that Lemon and Wade don’t actually become a couple, because we love their brother/sister friendship.

Can’t get enough “Hart of Dixie” season 3 and want to know what else is coming up this season? Just click here and you’ll find out more about all of what your favorite characters will be up to.

Photo: CW