With the rise of romance novel adaptations and the ongoing praise for the genre, there are a lot more series that now emphasize the first time a couple sleeps together. And yet, I still think that Zoe Hart and Wade Kinsella’s first time in Hart of Dixie is the one to top. Cozy, steamy, and bursting with incomparable chemistry, their scene in the Season 1 finale is everything.
A large part of the reason this scene stands out is because of the tension that simmers between Zoe and Wade while they’re stranded in the barn. The word connected, as Wade says it, threads the two of them together in a moment of transparency where he acknowledges that there’s something between them that’s worth exploring. (The whole “I’m not saying I want to marry you” also acts as a perfect beat of foreshadowing, but that’s not why we’re here today.) We’re here because Zoe purposely blows the fuse that’s linked to both their houses and acknowledges that she agrees.
There’s no dialogue as Matt Nathanson’s “Run” (ft. Sugarland) plays through the scene because Wilson Bethel and Rachel Bilson bring their undeniable A-game to showcase that this moment is bigger than the characters realize. It doesn’t matter that they’re viewing it casually because it’s not a one-time thing to get it out of their system—it’s everything. It doesn’t matter how it begins because we all know how it ends. It ends with the two of them together, promising each other forever.
Related Content: Relationship Deep Dive: Zoe Hart and Wade Kinsella
In a series that also features an obvious, cliche love triangle, the first time Zoe and Wade sleep together essentially indicates who her inevitable choice will be. All of this happening on George’s wedding day is one thing, but how the scene paints them through a gorgeously intimate lens is another. The lighting, the chemistry, and the literal fuse that sparks and pushes them to this decision each contribute to cementing them as the endgame couple. If I were writing this scene breakdown right as the episode aired, I would’ve said the same thing. Here, we have concrete proof that Zoe and Wade are it for each other.
The scene isn’t just fundamental proof that Zoe and Wade belong together, but it’s proof that they’re good together. They’re hot together. They can very clearly take care of one another in ways that no one else has before, and all of it is incredibly obvious in the way he reveres her. The inclusion and tremendous importance of intimacy coordinators didn’t enter film and TV spaces until after Hart of Dixie aired, so it continues to shock me a bit how tender the scene feels in a space where we didn’t always get such gorgeous depictions of care.
From the moment the scene between Zoe and Wade starts to the second it ends, it’s apparent that the care that’s put into crafting a worthy scene is all about depicting how significant the moment is for them. It’s everything we get, from the candles burning to all the different shots of their hands, that indicate how long they’ve both wanted this, making it feel that much more intimate, lovely, and real.
Hart of Dixie is now streaming on Prime Video
First Featured Image Credit: ©The CW