I know part of it is that Joe’s screentime is relatively shorter than the other male love interests, but barely anyone in Georgia’s life has clocked the vibe between them yet and I can count on one hand the amount of times anyone’s come even remotely close. Ellen’s clocked a bit of a vibe but she’s not a huge plot driver so that’s pretty low stakes, same with Georgia’s sister. Cynthia knows Joe has feelings for Georgia, but at this point I think she fully believes they are unrequited and that Georgia views him more as a plaything (which is funny given Cynthia was cheating on her dying husband with Joe so she should be the one who knows best that he’s completely capable of stealing someone’s wife). Paul made one comment once about Joe having a crush on Georgia but he meant it half as a joke and again genuinely doesn’t see Joe as a threat??? and like no one does??? which is crazy to me??? but, even though he is a beautiful man who owns his own business and worships the ground Georgia walks on, do you know why no one knows to be worried? because JOE MAKES MOVES IN SILENCE LIKE A REAL MAN!!!

I just find it so interesting that Joe does an insanely good job of keeping his mouth shut around Paul, Zion, Gil, etc. and giving no one anything to suspect. I think a large part of that isn’t even intentional; Joe’s just not competing with them. he’s not competing, PERIOD. his focus is on genuinely caring for her. it’s refreshing because Zion and Paul’s respective relationships with Georgia all involve multiple players: Zion has to consider Ginny, Simone, his parents, Gil, and Paul. Paul has to consider the kids, Zion, and even the city/his reputation as mayor.

thanks for the ask! i love these crazy kids and their ridiculous chemistry

as for why it took them so long to be together -- though they're not officially 'together' even by the end of s3, they've just Acknowledged that they want to be -- i think there's a handful of factors there

the first is their past; by about halfway through the first season, they already know who the other is and both have refused to acknowledge to the other that they know who they are. this could be in part to not look stupid/desperate (depending) if the other turns out to not remember/not hold it in as High Esteem as they do. this sort of self-protection from georgia specifically(protection for her feelings, not from others or for her kids) is a rarity, and we really only see it associated with Joe, which illustrates the depth of their connection and how seriously she takes it

the second is timing, pure and simple. with zion and paul in S1 (joe's aborted confession speaks to this), paul (not to mention cynthia) in S2 (quoth georgia, "i'm gettin married"), and the everything in s3, it's not like either one has had a ton of time to sit down and hash out a relationship. it's not til more than half of the way through S2 (in one of my favorite and the best joe/georgia scenes) that both acknowledge who the other is and that they're a Romantic Figure (or have been a Romantic Possibility) to the other.

the third and most interesting (for me, anyway) factor is georgia herself. when christmas blows up and she runs to joe (which is an INSANE thing to do, and he rightly brings it up in their discussion in S2) it's the most...line crossing? i'll say? thing she does in their relationship. it's the first time we actually get a sense of just how deep this runs for georgia because the woman who relies always on herself and rarely on ginny instead goes and seeks him out (the delivery from his actor of "you seek me out" lives rent free my gosh); while she says she just happened to see him as she drove by, it's p clear that that's georgia-code for "i was hoping you were here".

his cafe is a place of Safety for her -- notably it's the one place we see her slap gil's hand away without fearing repercussion, and where she actually connects a bit with her half-sister, and where there's always a drink and a listening ear for her. her bridal shower is there for heaven's sake. it's explicitly text.

but right. back to what i mean it's georgia herself preventing them from being together. in that christmas discussion when she "drops by", she asks him why he's there and not with family; he responds that his parents are in california and he'll see them and his sister at NYE. so far, so (mostly) normal, but then georgia says something that honestly took my breath away:

"i don't know much about you"

and i went HOLY EFF WE'RE ACKNOWLEDGING IT

(his "no, you don't" knocked me flat too. the layers to that man i swear)

because georgia, like all cons, thrives on information. the more she knows, the safer she is. add to that her constant craving for connection that causes her to get to know people and to ask them questions and learn about them, and you have a woman who likes to know things, and goes out of her way to do so. joe's from the town, she could have asked anyone about his family. she could have asked him -- he's Safe to her, so there's no danger there. it could have come up while her half-sister was in town. joe volunteers the information freely, so it's not like he's hiding it.

and so the reason georgia doesn't know is because georgia's breaking her rules and pattern with him. she's actively trying not to know about him. she does it so well that the average viewer forgets that we know Little about him as well. that we don't even get his surname until season 3 at the town hall meeting thing. not because she doesn't like or trust or want to know about joe, quite the opposite -- he's an 'indulgence' that she's just not allowing herself to have fully. Passing conversations, winks, food and wine and having her daughter work there -- she spends her time, for lack of a better word, microdosing on him, allowing herself a little but never enough to Formally Get Attached. she doesn't want to hurt him -- especially during the trial she takes Careful Steps to make sure he doesn't get hurt. but she doesn't also want to be without him

it doesn't work, of course. she needs him anyway. to once again mention joe's words, she seeks him out, especially by mid S2, because the small doses she's let herself have pre-Christmas just aren't enough anymore. even when he's angry with her at lawnfest, even when she feels jealous and a bit betrayed knowing he slept with cynthia (S2 was a joe/georgia feast, even with how few scenes they actually had Together), she keeps finding reasons to push them together, because at that point with all the Glitz and Glamour (such as it was) of her life swept away, joe is left standing where no one else is -- he chooses to be left standing -- but she goes to him again and again not because there's no one else, but because's he's the one she's been drawn to for 3 season and 15+ years.

she tries to keep herself away from him because she wants to be around him, because she wants to have him around her constantly. because the 'joke' is that they were always gonna be together, they were always gonna end up together, well before him punching gil and bringing food and her bolstering his business repeatedly and coming to him at christmas. before even making him cater the sophomore sleepover.