'The Wedding Planners' Episode 7 Review: Hannah plans ex's wedding as future of family business hangs in balance
Spoilers for 'The Wedding Planners' Season 1 Episode 7 'The Perfect Wedding'
Imagine planning your ex's wedding? Even worse, imagine that your friend from college is marrying him? Hannah Clarkson (Madeline Leon) goes through some soul searching with her friend and college roommate Ella (Kathryn Davis) as Ella is all set to marry Zach (Joseph Cannata), Hannah's ex. After having chosen self-respect and self-love over Christopher (Olivier Renaud) in the last episode, this episode is definitely a doozy.
This episode focused on our fresh-face sweetheart Hannah, and we wouldn't have it any other way - from her flirtatious attitude with her brother-in-law's handsome friend to her focusing on her strained relationship with Ella, we're all here for all things Hannah. In the midst of this love fest slash drama, Paige Clarkson (Kimberly-Sue Murray) has to make an important decision, will she be able to run her mother's legacy alone if her siblings move on?
We all know too well the importance of breaking girl code, just ask the girls around you. While Ella is overwhelmingly excited that Hannah is taking the lead on her wedding to Zach, she may miss the fact that her breaking girl code may have cost her some love that has been lost. Hannah and Zach did not have an explosive breakup but rather had parted on good terms, and while Hannah was completely aware that Zach wasn't 'the one,' she has to wonder how she'll be able to overcome him dating Ella after her.
This was a tricky one, even for us to comprehend - if there were no issues with Zach and Hannah, and Ella and Zach found true love, does girl code really matter? Ella has some word jabbing she needs to work on though - she seems to run her mouth a tad bit too much, we wonder why Hannah hasn't punched her yet. That's not even the worst of it - Zach might not be able to have kids, after a major soccer accident, while Ella is keen to have children right away.
He comes to Hannah to vent, who tells him that Ella gets to decide about the marriage AFTER he tells her the truth. You'd have to watch to see how that goes, though, we can't give it all away.
Although Hannah and Zach's meeting didn't take too well with the bride Ella - her insecurities seem to have got the best of her. She calls off her fitting with James Clarkson (Michael Seater), accusing Hannah and Zach of hiding something. This history and familiarity that Hannah and Zach share seem to be huge insecurity for Ella but of course 'Hannah Banana' calms her down.
The reality of adult friendships is challenging and when Hannah keeps Zach's secret - it shows he growth the two women have since the college days. Oh come on, we know the Clarkson's are the best cupids in town, so that's no surprise!
Tired of constantly being reminded that she is single, and completely over 'perfect couples' Hannah decides to flirt with Dan's (Mark Ghanimé) friend Jack, who lives in a van named Betsy, has a successful travel blog, travels the continent and lives off the grid. Not to mention, Christopher rejected her, so she deserves this flirting session a hundred percent. Seems like Christopher even got a little jealous, and boy did that make us happy.
But, lover boy did open his heart to her though, except Hannah knows about his ex-fiance and she has to look out for herself now and how complicated things are. Will she and Christopher become a thing or will she go on an adventure with Jack? There was an odd turn of events, let's just say, we REALLY don't like Christopher.
Now, we were wondering when we were going to hear about the whole James and Stephen Hawson's (Yanic Truesdale) side of things. After James apologizes to Hawson a few episodes back for using his resources to create his own line, Hawson had given James a bit of hope when it came to going headfirst into New York's fashion. Hawson invites James back to his business in the city that never sleeps, but his motives for wanting our designer guru back may not seem so angelic.
Hawson offers James an opportunity to design a bridal dress collection for new bridal division under one condition - it will all be under the Hawson's label. As much as this would be James's ultimate dream come true, he hesitates because he thinks of his sisters, and thank God he does - Hawson is too crooked to not be lying in some way. Hawson meets with Sally the snake, who apparently was told to secure angel investors for Hawson - Paige saw them meet. Turns out if James accepts Hawson's offer, he would be designing an entire collection for Sally's Premium Bridal. Shocker! James still leaves though, cue the tears.
Meanwhile, Paige wonders how she'll be able to run the family business - Clarkson Wedding Essentials - if James and Hannah go away. How dire is the cost that they have to pay to continue their mother's legacy? Not to mention, Dan has a job offer on the West Coast that he hasn't told his wife about - what is UP with people hiding things! We're with Hannah on this one, secrets do no one any good.
The sweetest part of the series we would say is the fact that Paige is still able to learn from her mother through the videos they left. This was an emotional season finale to say in the least, and we need a season two. There is no better trio than Paige, Hannah, and James - they are the ones that can continue their mother's motto - 'All for love and love for all.'