Southern charm
News that moving out of the Big Smoke and grabbing yourself some fresh air and recognisable neighbours is rather nice and hardly a revelation to the residents of East Sussex. Having a pal that was born and bred in this area is something of a collector’s item in some quarters, such is the enthusiasm of moving here from elsewhere. Admittedly Brighton is hardly the sleepy little town that means you drive for 11 miles to get a boutique coffee. There are certainly many different hospitality options should you choose to come and visit, but we get the gist of leaving the rat race (or at least living some distance from it and travelling that distance every day) to embrace some of the better things in life. Which is why watching Hart Of Dixie sort of filled me with sweet anticipation for the hard-nosed career gal from New York to start to fall for the sticks town of Bluebell, Alabama. She’s bound to love it. Even if her shoes aren’t really all that suitable.
Rachel Bilson plays Dr Zoe Hart – geddit? There’s a pun in the title. Bet you never expected that in a cable US drama, with everything running on the main star. Anyway, she’s determined to become a heart surgeon, like her dear pa, and sets this determination – which sounds like something of an epiphany received at age nine – above relationships, emotional heartache, and… well, everything. Which is why she narrowly misses out on the internship she covets so much in the cardiac department, and she is told in no uncertain terms to get herself a bedside manner by becoming a GP for a year, otherwise she won’t get that internship next year either.
As luck would have it, an older country doctor has been badgering her to join his country practice since she graduated, so she packs up her massive suitcase (bound to be loads of wardrobe changes to go with those ridiculous shoes) and hops onto a bus to Bluebell, Alabama, to earn her bedside manner stripes.
“Fans of Michael J Fox’s earlier work may recognise a Doc Hollywood scenario…”
Fans of Michael J Fox’s earlier work may recognise a Doc Hollywood scenario not so much on the horizon, but banging on the door demanding to be let in and paying no heed to calls of ‘patience’. Do you geddit? It’s another pun. I know how you like those.
This isn’t as bad and corny as it sounds. It’s quite good fun, particularly for those already established as Rachel Bilson fans. The tale of an outsider arriving into a town of cliques and secrets is already well established by the likes of One Tree Hill, The OC and even The Vampire Diaries. This is pretty much the same, but focusing around a group of people who really shouldn’t be trying to get away with credulous school uniform attire anymore. Very pretty people just the same.
As the show starts our heroine’s eye make-up is heavy and her blush combines to leave her looking practically skeletal. Whereas the Southern Belles of Bluebell have a healthy glow right through.
Zoe arrives to find two dashing young men
– both unsuitable beaus for their own reasons
– as well as an aggressive head honcho doctor, a friendly ex NFL-player Mayor and her own sweet looking nemesis, dressed in lemon and called Lemon. With those pastel colours how long do you reckon before she ends up in the mud with the ‘pet’ alligator?
It’s easy to fall in love with the town of Bluebell. Dr Zoe Hart could be seen as akin to one of those lobster tourists we get on the beach each summer – completely unaware of the actual loveliness of our place. That wouldn’t make much of a series though, so I’m guessing she’ll fall in love with her own muesli mountain before too long. It’s really not hard to do. We know.
Hart Of Dixie, Really, Monday 30 April
