Cadenf

You make a very good point. I don't think he even realized he wasn't doing enough until
George pointed it out to him.

And I agree about his relationships. And they both seemed to progress awfully quickly that I think he just wanted to make them work no matter what because he was basically told he needed someone.

I think there is more to life then romantic love.

lemers718

Of Course there is more to life than a romantic one, But I personally do not know of anyone who either does not have or does not want someone to share their heart with. Fact is those people are far and few between. And none of them are on HOD. MOST people want that love in their lives.

Tracie76

No one is saying that life is nothing but romantic love. One can say that there is more to life than work as well. It is all about finding balance in all areas of life. It is naive to think that romantic love isn't a big part of life. It shouldn't be the beginning and the end, but it should play a part. And for some they are perfectly content not having someone in their lives. Some people are happier with just a career. While there are others who prefer to dedicate themselves to their partner. That wasn't my purpose for bringing up Earl and Brick.

The purpose was that imo both Earl and Brick selfishly handled their pain and neglected the other areas of their lives which had a negative effect on their children. I don't think that anyone can say that the way Earl handled his wife's death was healthy or good for him or his children. Whether Brick was lonely or just too proud, although I do think that he was lonely as well, he kept himself busy at work and being a town citizen. Sure it may have looked like his life was fulfilled and he was happy. And yet clearly in 1x11 and 1x13 he was still deeply hurt by his wife leaving him and 12 years had passed.

The point was that neither Brick or Earl moved on from the loss of their wives. It doesn't even matter if they ever tried to find someone to be with again. It was just the dusting themselves off and moving forward. Both failed to do so and it impacted their children. At the very least they would have been better fathers. IMO, I also feel that both may have also been able to find other romantic partners or at least attempted to do so in all this time. And if they had tried they may have been happier.

I do feel that Brick was happier once he opened himself up to being with someone. I disagree that he only did so because he was told he needed to. In 1x13, Lemon pushed for him to find someone and he just wasn't ready to at that time and told her so. I think he was genuinely interested in Emily and that is why he pursued her. It wasn't because he felt he had to. Lemon did push him again after Emily left, and yet I think that Brick genuinely liked Shelby. I don't see Brick as a pushover who just was with either Emily or Shelby because he felt he needed to be. First Shelby definitely isn't the woman he would have chosen if that was the case. He genuinely liked Shelby for him to be with her. Now he may have rushed both relationships and that may be due to his fear of them leaving. He said as much to Shelby.

Here is a completely non-romantic example. Lemon seems to be her father's daughter. In 215 she had ended the partnership with AB and she was on the outs with her. So she had a void in her life that she wanted to fill. She was afraid of being alone so to fill that void left by AB and the catering business she threw herself into spending time with Magnolia and Walt which then drove Walt away.

It was all about finding a balance for Lemon. She needed her friends and something else other than Walt and Magnolia. Without that then she became a bad girlfriend to Walt because she became too needy.

lemers718

I saw Brick as a grumpy miserable workaholic all through S1 and a his demeanor definitely changed when he started putting himself back out there. Why would anyone wish on a person that they remain miserable and sad for that long? And the thinking that people can find happiness without love in their lives does not apply to either Earl or Brook. Because it was the lack of that love in their lives that made that who they are. Especially Earl. Love made him happy. Loss of that love broke his heart and turn him to the bottle. So therefore it is proven he needed the romantic relationship to be whole.

Tracie76

There was a definite change for Brick in season 1 and season 2 for me. In season 2 he was a lot more light-hearted. When we first met him in season 1 I found him very unlikable because of how angry he seemed. I think for both Earl and Brick that the loss of their romantic partners definitely negatively impacted their lives. Earl chose to fill that void with booze while Brick filled it with everything else to stay busy. IMO, neither is a healthy way of dealing with loss. I think it is a lot easier to see with Earl how it was bad. And although Brick may have seemed happy clearly something was missing imo. If Brick were truly happy he wouldn't have been blind to his children's need for a father.

hopeless romantic

I certainly agree that Brick became much more lighthearted in season two -- especially when he was dating Shelby.

Where I disagree is that I don't think it made him a better father (buying your daughter a car to get her to be okay with the fact that you're sleeping with someone her older sister's age doesn't exactly strike me as good parenting, nor does having brain surgery without telling either child, nor does a decision to elope, again without telling other child).

But it also seemed to me that he started lightening up a lot somewhere around the middle of season one both because he began to make peace with Zoe but also because George called him out on his need to take his responsibilities to his daughters more seriously.

And as for Earl's alcoholism, we don't know this as clear canon, but I have always wondered if as much of it was triggered by the horrendous trauma of watching the woman he loved suffer terribly from her cancer (and the survivor guilt that so often accompanies such experiences) as it was by the loss of the love of his life.

People are complicated. There's rarely one reason for a problem to come into being, so I refuse to believe that a single solution is likely to make everything all okay.

Tracie76

I don't think that Brick was going to suddenly become a better father because he was happier. There is the whole matter that he hadn't really been there for 12 years. He left the raising of Magnolia to Lemon. I'm sure that his wife mostly took care of raising Lemon. Quite frankly Brick doesn't know how to be a father at this point. At least not to a teenager.

Also around the time that George confronted Brick about leaving everything on Lemon was when he finally was facing the the reality of his wife leaving him.

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I'm just now rewatching 1x04. It just dawned on me that Brick is a Crimson Tide fan which is where Lavon played while Mr. Tucker is an Auburn fan of which AB is royalty. I just found that interesting that the Tuckers would get along really well with AB's family if we ever meet them.

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Danielle Bradbery is going to be on an episode of HoD. She has a single out called "The Heart of Dixie".
http://www.us101country.com/cc-commo...#ixzz2d23wsxX3

BlueDog9

Agree with BB about Earl.

I can kinda see something happening down the road with AB and George.

Hope the song's good.

Tracie76

The song is really good actually. Danielle Bradbery - The Heart of Dixie (Official Audio) - YouTube

lemers718

Very good song. I wonder if it will be another RJ performance.

BlueDog9

Good song. Thanks for the link.

Tracie76

It may be since it says that she will be on the show and not just the song.

BlueDog9

Wish they'd tell us who's playing Granny already.

MarionDay

That 3rd season really sounds better than the second one.
Do we know where Zoe and Joel are gonna live since she decided to stay in town while Lynly lives in her place ?
Did you speculate on that ?
I don't think they're gonna live in a hotel room. But I have no idea where they might end up living.
Any idea ?

BlueDog9

I'd assume they'd stay at an Inn.