The Ending Of Hart Of Dixie Explained

Prior to The CW becoming a destination for all things comic and costumed, the network was known for programming aimed primarily at young women. This meant boundary-pushing teen dramas like "90210" and "Gossip Girl" and more heartwarming fare like the small-town dramedy "Hart of Dixie." Each show left its mark, but the love for the charming "Hart of Dixie" remains strong today.

Running from 2011 until 2015, the show stars Rachel Bilson in a fish-out-of-water story as Zoe Hart, a New York City doctor who moves to the small town of Bluebell, Alabama, to gain experience as a general practitioner and improve her bedside manner. Zoe quickly learns that the man who invites her to Bluebell is actually her father, but that he passes away shortly before her arrival. Despite his death, Zoe stays and works alongside his partner, Dr. Brick Breeland (Tim Matheson).

Over the course of four seasons, Zoe is involved in a number of scrapes, both professionally and personally, as the show balances medical storylines with the rollercoaster of Zoe's life. Between wacky town festivals, a friendship with former NFL star/town mayor Lavon Hayes (Cress Williams), an enemies-to-friends relationship with Lemon Breeland (Jaime King), and a love triangle involving lawyer George Tucker (Scott Porter) and bartender Wade Kinsella (Wilson Bethel), there is always plenty going on in Zoe's life. But if you've forgotten how "Hart of Dixie" ends — or if you've recently finished and are looking for answers — here's how life in Bluebell comes to a close.

Zoe's love life provides a healthy dose of angst and emotional drama while creating a solid foundation for the series throughout its run, as it not-so-subtly represents the character's two lives and where she is on the road to figuring out who she wants to be. While she dates a few different people, the main men in her life are George — who represents the life she had in New York — and Wade, who represents Zoe's life in Bluebell and her future in the town.

After three seasons of back and forth, Zoe and Wade commit to one another for good after they've both grown as individuals (and after Zoe discovers she was pregnant, a result of Bilson's real-life pregnancy). In the finale, the couple tie the knot at the hospital right before Zoe gives birth to a son. Surrounded by their family and friends, they reveal in their truncated vows how they've changed one another for the better. What's left unsaid are the ways in which Zoe pushes Wade to follow his dreams, and the ways in which Wade helps Zoe finally find a place she belongs. It's a beautiful ending to their story.

Another main through line of "Hart of Dixie" is the relationship between Lemon and Lavon, which begins as an affair while Lemon is dating George. Despite the obstacles put in their path, including Lemon's almost-wedding to the aforementioned man, the duo find their way back to one another. They are married in the town square during a musical montage in the finale that sees the entire cast sing and dance to "The Heart" by the band Needtobreathe.

While the wedding puts a nice bow on Lemon and Lavon's relationship, it's also the end of a long personal journey for Lemon. Early in the finale, she asks Zoe to be one of her bridesmaids, a decision that reveals how far the two have come over the years. But that's not the only way the finale reveals Lemon has evolved from the judgmental Southern Belle she starts off the series as. 

When her family tells her the florist sent the wrong flowers for her engagement party, Lemon surprises everyone by shrugging it off. Later, when she is late because of car trouble, she remains calm and collected. Lemon's attitude at this point runs counter to her behavior for much of the series, during which she is depicted as uptight and obsessed with being perfect. The change is all a result of Lemon finally finding happiness, with Lemon even saying, "The reason for my anxiety about the last two parties was because I was marrying the wrong person ... But now I'm marrying the right one."

Prior to the events of the finale, George leaves Bluebell for Nashville, so he recruits a lawyer from New York (played by Bilson's former "The O.C." co-star Autumn Reeser) to take over his law practice for a year. A fish out of water like Zoe initially is, the character of Olivia is introduced while she's having a panic attack about moving to Bluebell. Zoe realizes Olivia is the same person she was at the beginning of the show: shallow, judgmental about the South, ill-prepared for nature and wildlife, and unfiltered and not really good with people. But Olivia isn't the only new person in town, as Brick also hires a new associate to work at the practice and Wade hires a new bartender, thus injecting Bluebell with some fresh blood and a new love triangle to get the townspeople talking.

But while the circle of life continues in Bluebell, the character of Olivia is meant to act as a barometer of Zoe's progress. Her presence reveals just how much the show's heroine has changed over the years and how the town and its inhabitants have precipitated that change. Now, in some ways, Zoe is still the woman she is at the beginning of the show — she never abandons her fashion sense or love for expensive things, for instance — but she's also come to accept Bluebell as her home and the townspeople as her family. She's changed for the better and is finally happy.