Scott Porter Hart of Dixie - H 2012
The CWPrepare for some atypical George Tucker behavior on Hart of Dixie.
After news of Lemon (Jaime King) and Lavon’s (Cress Williams) affair went public in last week’s dramatic episode, Lemon’s (ex-)fiancé George is making the effort to be a little more selfish and a lot less buttoned-up.
“George is a tough nut to crack,” Scott Porter told The Hollywood Reporter in previewing Monday’s hour, which takes place the day after. “He’s a level head in most situations. You rarely see him get too excitable and in this episode, you see him cracked wide open. You see him dancing, you see him singing and you see him dealing with his emotions in a raw way but not in the way you would expect.”
On the surface, George and Lemon seem to represent the idyllic Southern couple, but as Porter acknowledged, George knew things weren’t right.
PHOTOS: CW’s New Season TV Shows
“With Lemon, all year he has been trying to fix something that he knows is wrong,” Porter said. “He doesn’t quite know what it is and when he finds out, you see the glue guy completely come unglued. He realizes that everything he’s done for everyone in his life, all they’ve done in return is lie, kept secrets and hurt him in the worst possible way. His reaction is to feel selfish and say, ‘I need to take care of No. 1.’ ”
That prompts George to launch into some major “me” time “and what better way to do that than make a list of things I want to do that nobody else has let me do.” The “list” runs the gamut, from wanting a motorcycle to singing. The Friday Night Lights alum took it so seriously that he made up reasons why George had these desires.
“He wants a motorcycle. Why doesn’t he have a motorcycle? His mom and Lemon probably both agreed that it wasn’t safe,” Porter reveals. “He goes and sings. He says specifically in the episode that there was a dirty jazz bar he wanted to go and Lemon said, ‘No, I want to go to the opera.’ I made up a story that he probably wanted to sing in the high school chorus and it’s in character for his dad to say, ‘No son of mine is singing in the chorus. No way!’ ”
STORY: ‘Hart of Dixie’ Cast, Creator Address Affair Repercussions, Reveal Finale Hints
Things were ugly between George and new Bluebell transplant Zoe (Rachel Bilson) – who knew of the Lemon-Lavon affair before he did – and Porter teased she’ll be the first person he’ll right the ship with.
“He takes care of that in the beginning of the episode making sure she knows, ‘Hey, I spoke irrationally last night. I could not have put you in a worse place and I could never ask you to choose amongst your friends,’ ” he previewed. Events will follow that put the two in a very different place in their relationship.
“He knows it’s always been there with her, they’ve always had a connection but now he’s more curious and wants to see what it will be like. I think it’s everything the two of them would have hoped for,” Porter said.
STORY: ‘Hart of Dixie’s’ Tim Matheson Talks Zoe’s Family Issues
By episode’s end, Zoe and George will share a game-changing moment that will affect everyone in Bluebell.
“Once they fully let go and say, ‘Hey, we are here right now, let’s seize the day and let’s see where it takes us, it pulls the curtain back on this world that could exist for both of them,” Porter said. “But because they are both mature and are approaching this delicately, they realize this is their fantasy world and tomorrow they are going to have to wake up and deal with things.”
With Lemon deliriously trying to save her relationship with George — whom people believe isn’t dealing with the fallout appropriately — Porter says he will go about it “on his terms.” “She starts to become a little more protective of the relationship and when she starts to do that, she gets even crazier. You are going to see fierce warrior woman Lemon try and fight for the wedding. Just imagine where that’s going to take you,” he said.
As for what the season finale will entail, George will have to “make the biggest decision of his life, so it will be interesting to see how the fans react.”
“Love triangles get eliminated and there’s a new pivot person. George has been the pivot person of all these love triangles all year and you will definitely see in the finale that it shifts to someone else,” Porter added.
Hart of Dixie airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on the CW.
