Welcome back to "Nashville' where the music is hot and the storylines are getting even more dramatic...
Welcome back to "Nashville' where the music is hot and the storylines are getting even more dramatic.
When we last left Music City, Scarlett was preparing to leave, Avery broke up with Juliette because she slept with the odious Jeff Fordham, Luke asked Rayna to marry him onstage and then Deacon asked Rayna to marry him later, Maddie was conflicted about all of it, Will came out to Layla not knowing it was caught on camera, and everybody was singing.
(Tonight several of the musical performances are live.)
First up is Rayna-Deacon-Luke. Rayna is confused about what to do, and after a romp with Luke in the hay, talks to Tandy about it the next morning. Tandy can't believe that she would even consider getting back together with Deacon but knows Rayna has to make her own choice.
In order to assist in this choice Rayna feels like she has to tell Luke what happened with Deacon. He is understandably upset but also gets where Deacon is coming from, not wanting to lose Rayna again, but he says if it's up to him Deacon will lose indeed. Rayna reassures him that she loves him but confesses with all of their history and with Maddie she is confused about Deacon. He says he knows she needs to think about it and if she doesn't want to attend a charity event he has that evening she doesn't have to.
She goes home and pulls out her old albums that feature Deacon and plays them and reminisces, both about good times singing onstage and not so good ones when he was drunk and awful and including one time when Luke subbed for Deacon at one of her shows when Deacon was a no-show.
Meanwhile, Deacon is preparing for a show at the Bluebird that will be broadcast live on NPR (hence the live conceit) and when he's asked by the interviewer if he and Rayna will still collaborate, Deacon says he thinks things will work out like they're supposed to.
Rayna goes to Deacon and tells him that she can't take another chance on him and that Luke offers a clean slate and stability. Deacon counters that he is a safe choice and that they will always love each other and that they have Maddie. Rayna says they will raise her together and she will always love him but things have to stay the way they are. Deacon tells her to come to the Bluebird and sing with him and he knows she will change her mind. He kisses her hand, she cries they embrace.
Later, as he waits outside the Bluebird to go on, Luke shows up and punches Deacon in the face and asks why he couldn't just let Rayna be happy. Deacon lobs the question back at him. Because of this exchange Deacon is now confident that Rayna will be coming. When Luke goes to his charity event alone he assumes the same. They are both surprised when she is a no-show at the Bluebird but catches up on the red carpet with Luke, waving her wedding ring and declaring her love at the same moment Deacon is onstage singing about the many times he broke her heart.
In the audience grooving along is Maddie, who was brought their by Teddy as a conciliatory gesture to prove that he doesn't hate Deacon or music. Teddy explains that without Deacon he wouldn't have Maddie. She appreciates her father's gesture.
Also participating in the live Bluebird session is Will. The morning after his confession, Layla wonders if he ever loved her. He said he did and does. She wonders what they'll do and if he can change. He doesn't know but says the camera crew is there so they have to go on with the show. Later, when he dedicates his song at the Bluebird to her it is too much and Layla runs off. On the tour bus outside they agree to split. When they try to tell the TV producer they want off the show, she shows them the footage of Will coming out and says the network signed on for a show about up and coming country singing newlyweds not a gay cowboy and his naive wife. They realize they are stuck.
Also ending up stuck are Scarlett, Gunnar, and Avery.
A drunken Avery, upset by his betrayal by Juliette decides to hitch a ride back to Mississippi with Scarlett. Gunnar hops in the car and says he won't get out until she decides to stay so she drives off with him in the car. After Avery and Gunnar begin to fight about Avery's woes, he doesn't want Scarlett to know what happened, Scarlett pulls over and the car dies. Avery continues to drink and Gunnar continues to try and convince Scarlett to come back to Nashville. Avery finally comes clean to Scarlett about Juliette and Jeff. He also confesses that he never thought he was good enough for her and a better man would come along. They get a tow to a service station where the mechanic recognizes Scarlett from video footage of her meltdown. Avery nearly gets his ass handed to him in a bar fight, but Gunnar and Scarlett managed to save him and take off. Gunnar again notes how she has more friends in Nashville than anywhere and she needs to let go of the past and embrace the future. From the backseat Avery declares his love for them both. Scarlett finally relents and they head back to Nashville.
Juliette is a hot mess. After again going to Avery and begging for his forgiveness and being rebuffed she freaks out. Glenn and her assistant manage to prop her up long enough to go to a film audition for a Patsy Cline movie. She auditions but breaks down in tears, aptly, mid-"Crazy.' She goes home and freaks out some more and starts chopping off her hair while she babbles in the mirror to the self about she's a horrible, stupid, terrible person. Glenn and the assistant try to calm her down. She says she has lost everything Avery, her soul, the part. Glenn notes she may have lost Avery but never her soul and definitely not the part. The producers loved how emotional she was and want to screen test her for the lead role. She says she feels sick but she's excited. They fix her hair and her doctor comes over to check her out. She wants something to help her sleep but he declines; she's pregnant! (Who's the daddy?? Avery? Jeff? That Australian millionaire?)
The night closes, incongruously, with Florida Georgia Line singing "Dirt" at the Bluebird with Deacon sitting in on guitar.