‘Hart of Dixie’ season 3, episode 16: Is it over for Zoe and Joel?

“Hart of Dixie” may be many things (fun, sometimes romantic, and addicting), but surprising is often not at the top of the list. For the latest example of that, you don’t have to look a whole lot further than what happened on the show Friday night.

Just one week after Joel moved to Los Angeles to work on a script (and after he and Zoe finally found themselves a place to live), the two are kaput. This was so easy to telegraph for a variety of reasons:

1. Zoe and Joel, as we said, were apart in the first place.

2. Joel wasn’t mentioned in teases for some other episodes tat are coming up.

3. We have a feeling that had they stayed together any longer, the heads of many Zoe / Wade fans would have probably exploded.

4. We are getting near the end of the season, which is the time when things start to get crazy.

It was nice to see most of BlueBell come together in order to support her after this relationship went south, and Zoe now has to navigate life single again. Wade’s not an option right now thanks to what is going on with him and Vivian Wilkes, but we’re not writing that off as a possibility by the time this season is over. There’s also still George out there, and while we think it’s more likely he will get back with Lemon (crazy as it seems), we wouldn’t rule it out.

What did you think about this “Hart of Dixie” episode, and are you even remotely surprised that the end is here for Zoe and Joel? Share your thoughts with a comment, and for some more updates related to the show (including a look at what lies ahead), just be sure to click here. You can also sign up now to get further updates from us via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: The CW