‘Nashville’ Season 2, Episode 19 – Recap & Discussion Post

Welcome back to Nashville, where Deacon is in the lakehouse he had bought for Rayna, trashing the place. He finds a hidden bottle of alcohol.

Meanwhile at Rayna’s, Luke and Rayna are having a morning-after conversation where Luke apologizes for his reaction to the bombshell about Deacon being to Maddie’s father. Why is he apologizing? From what they showed us, he handled it as well as could be expected? This leads to a conversation where Luke and Rayna reminisce about the 1992 Oklahoma State Fair. Apparently Luke was crushing on Rayna back then and hoped he’d have his chance when they got stuck at the top of the ferris wheel together. But Rayna was still hung up over a drunk Deacon. They’re interrupted by a phone call from Manager Bucky, who brings the bad news that Maddie’s video is a hot topic on The View. For some reason, Rayna seems shocked that Maddie taking down the video didn’t stop it from getting around. But then again, I guess her character isn’t supposed to *get* the internet.

Manager Glenn is at Juliette’s, and Manager Glenn makes a little joke about the tabloids having something other than Juliette to talk about. Juliette says Maddie’s a kid and Juliette would rather the tabloids talk about her than go after Maddie. They talk about Juliette’s upcoming Chicago show. Manager Glenn says it looks better than Portland but is still only half full. Juliette’s disappointed country radio stations still won’t have her in, not even in Chicago. Manager Glenn tells her that old paramour Charlie Wentworth is in town, and he still holds a lot of sway over radio. Just then, Avery walks in, and Juliette hides the newspaper featuring Charlie on it. Avery plans to use their day off to record with Scarlett, but he promises he’ll see Juliette that night. Juliette doesn’t say anything about Charlie, and Avery takes off.

Gunnar brings home coffee and warm biscuits for Zoe, who is poring over her new headshots. She gives him a manila envelope that was messengered over. It contains an ASCAP royalties check for over $400k! They’re bowled over!

Scarlett panics when there’s a knock on her hotel door because she’s overslept. But it’s her mother, there on a surprise visit. She has some story about her (former) employer telling lies about her but the bottom line appears to be that she is now unemployed. There’s something quite uncomfortable about this whole scene, even when Scarlett’s mom gifts Scarlett with a snow globe with the Mississippi River to remind her of home. There’s another knock on the door, and it’s Avery. From the way Scarlett drags him inside, it’s clear there’s something wrong. He greets and hugs Beverly on command. Beverly says she didn’t realize Scarlett and Avery were back together, and Scarlett sheepishly informs her that they’re not, but he’s producing her album. Scarlett is ready for them to make their escape, but Beverly invites herself to the studio with them, and walks out arm in arm with Avery.

The paparazzi swarm Teddy, Rayna, and the girls as they leave school. This isn’t too believable in Nashville *yet* (though TMZ has recently set up an office there). One paparazzo grabs at Maddie, and Rayna tells him off. No comments likely to be taken out of context, though.

Back at Rayna’s, Maddie swears she took the video down, but apparently somebody reposted it. Maddie wonders if Colt did, but Luke says he knows the girls are off-limits. Teddy sarcastically says he’s sure Colt does everything Luke tells him, while a teary Daphne says she hates this and Tandy arrives. Rayna wants everybody to focus on resolving this, and, though Daphne wants to stay, tells Tandy to take Daphne upstairs while they figure this out. Teddy wants to call a press conference, but Rayna wants to put out a press release saying this is a private matter concerning a child. Teddy says the media hounds won’t respect their privacy, and Manager Bucky agrees. A deflated Rayna says they’ll have to tell their story and present a united front. She asks Maddie if she’s been in touch with Deacon, because he’s not returning her calls. Maddie hasn’t. Luke insists on going with Rayna to find him, because he does feel partly responsible for all this. I’ve been wondering if Teddy would ever start to act or feel threatened by Luke considering how Daphne adores him, so I’m glad there’s finally a scene where they interact.

Gunnar is still way excited about his royalty check from his 2 hit songs, and wants to buy a couple tickets to Paris for a celebratory dinner. Then he wants to buy a motorcycle. Zoe laughs and says she’s going to hold on to the check until Gunnar calms down. She wants to stay in Nashville to celebrate, and besides, she’s got a meeting with an agency tomorrow. She says they already think she’s some hick from the sticks and almost laughed her out of the room when she handed them that unpolished CD of her singing in church. That gives Gunnar an idea.

Rayna and Luke drive up close to Deacon’s house, but somehow the media surrounding his house don’t notice them. Deacon’s truck isn’t there. Luke and Rayna talk about whether Deacon may have fallen off the wagon again. Luke asks Rayna where Deacon would be if he had. Rayna knows, and wants to go alone but Luke won’t allow it.

Avery, Scarlett, and Momma Beverly arrive at his little studio set up. Momma Beverly starts getting passive-aggressive about new technology when Juliette walks in. Momma Beverly is only too eager to introduce herself, and continues the passive-aggression by talking about her own interrupted aspirations to make it in music. Juliette asks to speak with Avery, and after they leave, Momma Beverly circles Scarlett menacingly, talking about all her good fortune. Yeesh. Creepy.

Juliette brings Avery up to speed on Manager Glenn’s Charlie suggestion. She’s surprised when Avery doesn’t seem bothered by the prospect of her talking to Charlie. It does seem kind of out of character for Avery to encourage Juliette to call in a favor from Charlie like that. Not because he’d be jealous but because respect seems like such a big issue to him. Anyway, he smiles and gives Juliette a kiss and a blessing.

Rayna and Luke arrive at the lakehouse, which apparently has no cell service. Deacon’s truck is there, and they discover an empty bottle outside, plus the trashed inside. Deacon is snarly when they find him, and Luke steps up between them in case Deacon is drunk. But he’s not. Rayna asks Luke to give them a moment, which he does while glowering. Deacon thinks Rayna knows about Megan and their wires cross until Rayna reveals that their secret is out. Deacon doesn’t seem too upset about this until Rayna asks him to join Teddy and her in a united front. Deacon refuses despite his willingness to do anything else for Maddie. He tells Rayna to ask Teddy why Deacon is so furious that he doesn’t think he can be in the same room as Teddy.

Scarlett and Avery are setting up to record, though I have no idea how they got rid of Momma Beverly. Scarlett says she hates that her mother acts like everything is OK, like nothing ever happened. Avery asks why Scarlett goes along with it, since he’s heard Scarlett have hundreds of normal conversations with her mother where she tells her she loves her. Scarlett says they’re all surface conversations, but of course she loves her mother. Scarlett alludes to her mother growing up under difficult circumstances and says she can’t help how she is. Avery says it’s not an excuse to treat Scarlett like she does.

Back in Nashville, Gunnar’s bright idea is actually a very sweet one: he’s taken Zoe to a studio to record a professional demo. Aw! While she’s singing “Done Runnin'” Gunnar gets a call from the Mercy Lounge. They’re eager to book Gunnar/Zoe/Avery for a gig together, but aren’t interested when Gunnar says they broke up and offers himself as a solo performer instead. That’s a mood killer for Gunnar, but he forces himself to smile through the rest of Zoe’s session.

To DOWNLOAD “Done Runnin’,” cowritten by Jacob Davis, Bob Moffatt, Clint Moffatt, and Shelley Skidmore and performed by Chaley Rose, click HERE.

Juliette is lounging around in a bar with Charlie, and Charlie takes the opportunity to kiss her. In public. Full on the mouth. Because Juliette needs a new scandal. Juliette gently tells him he may have gotten the wrong idea, and that she’s actually in love with Avery. Charlie doesn’t seem thrilled but promises he’ll send a fleet of programmers to her show with a command to promote the hell out of the show. Well, that’s nice. Juliette gives him a kiss on the cheek and says it was good to see him.

Teddy has confessed his dalliance with Megan to Rayna, and Rayna is understandably disgusted. He says they were friends and Megan was the only one who was there for him, and Rayna scolds him for not thinking about Maddie in that situation. She needles Teddy about whether he did this to take revenge on Deacon for being Maddie’s father, and that sets Teddy off into a rant about how he’s the outsider in this world but he will not step aside, that he’s been there for Maddie and he is her father.

Momma Beverly is back in Scarlett’s hotel room watching coverage of the Maddie-Deacon paternity scandal when Scarlett walks in. Momma Beverly lays into Scarlett for not telling her, escalating into a physically and emotionally abusive rant that absolutely terrorizes Scarlett.

Juliette and Avery are lounging in a bath together, discussing her conversation with Charlie. She fesses up that Charlie tried to kiss her and Avery says he figured he would. Juliette doesn’t seem to understand why this doesn’t faze Avery. But they don’t have the conversation where Avery explains to Juliette that he doesn’t need to trust Charlie because he trusts her, because the plot point is going to be Juliette’s insecurity over Avery’s lack of insecurity. OK!

Zoe takes her headshot and her new demo to that agency that all but laughed her out of the room before, and this time, she impresses the woman evaluating talent. The talent agency rep says there isn’t a lot coming up in Nashville soon, and suggests Zoe go out to LA because pop/rap/R&B all book tours out of there and will have backup singer spots. Maybe just me but I can’t help but notice a possible racial undertone here – are the writers trying to make a realistic statement about the Nashville scene?

Scarlett is in her dressing room pre-soundcheck when an assistant walks in and tells her her mom’s awesome. Scarlett is surprised her mother’s there, and in fact, she’s been jamming with Scarlett’s band for the last half hour. Super! And there’s Momma Beverly, taking over the stage when Scarlett arrives for her soundcheck. Scarlett dedicates “Black Roses” to her. It’s the firmest and strongest Scarlett has been yet, though Clare Bowen overacts this part. Momma Beverly alternates between angry and tearful, but she once again physically and emotionally terrorizes Scarlett backstage, triggering Scarlett’s flashbacks of the history of abuse she suffered at her mother’s hands as a child. Momma Beverly tells Scarlett that whatever she went through, it’s nothing on what she (Momma Beverly) went through, and she leaves Scarlett a wreck.

Maddie goes to see a glum Daphne and asks if she wants to sing. But we finally get to see how Daphne’s reacting to all this upheaval. She asks Maddie why she posted that video of her singing along with a different name. Doesn’t she want to be Daphne’s sister anymore? Maddie explains she was mad and frustrated and she did something stupid. She starts singing “Ho Hey” sweetly to Daphne, and though Daphne doesn’t join her at first, she eventually pipes up on the lines about family and not knowing where she went wrong. It’s adorable and fitting when they harmonize on “I belong with you, you belong with me, you’re my sweetheart.” Awwww, sisters!

A stoic Rayna waits in studio with Luke and Tandy for a satellite interview with Robin Roberts. Luke apologizes again for his role in it, and says Colt is still trying to figure out how the video got out. Rayna says she just wants to get this over with. Tandy asks Luke to go see if Teddy’s arrived yet, but it’s really just an attempt to get Rayna alone and tell her it’ll be OK, that Robin Roberts will be fair and responsible. Rayna wonders if she should have told Deacon from the start, that maybe that would’ve made him get clean earlier. Tandy tells her that’s not how addiction works. Rayna says what’s going on now doesn’t feel like the “better life” she was trying to give Maddie.

Back at Gunnar’s, Gunnar is cottoning to the idea of Zoe going out to LA too well. Gunnar says she hasn’t even given Nashville a real chance, but Zoe says it’s just a possible 2 week trip to be more proactive about her career. Gunnar says she can quit her job and move in with him while pursuing her dreams in Nashville. But Zoe, while thanking him for being willing to support her financially, wants to see what she’s capable of on her own. She wants him to spend his money on his dreams.

Backstage at Juliette’s Chicago show, Avery sees Charlie Wentworth and asks what he’s doing there. Charlie smugly and smarmily says he finds the allure of being backstage at a Juliette show intoxicating. Avery steps up and says he didn’t like the way Charlie treated Juliette, that she deserved better and still does. Charlie sneers at Avery that he’s out of his league, and sooner or later Juliette’ll realize that. Avery laughs and says Charlie think it’s all about money and power, but he doesn’t get that you can’t buy Juliette and you never could. He suggests to Charlie that he move on, and walks away himself. This conversation would make Juliette so happy, but she’s in her dressing room texting with somebody (maybe Maddie?). A crumpled Scarlett goes to see her, and begs for the night off. Juliette seems to get that this has something to do with Momma Beverly. She’s not unsympathetic, but tells Scarlett that she has to figure out a way to smile even when she feels like crying. Scarlett agrees, but only because she’s too broken to argue.

Scarlett locks herself in her dressing room and weeps. She grabs the whiskey in her room and takes a giant swig. She’s been popping pills too, so this is probably not going to end well.

Meanwhile Rayna and Teddy are ready for their GMA satellite interview when Deacon shows up last minute. A concerned Luke looks on. He asks Rayna what he should say, and Rayna tells him to tell the truth. The interview starts, and as Rayna slowly tries to explain the situation, Deacon interrupts. He says the truth is he was a major drunk and in no state to be a father despite Rayna’s repeated attempts to get him sober. Rayna says she and Deacon were no longer together when she discovered she was pregnant, that she was up front with Teddy about her pregnancy, which Teddy agrees with. He says he may not be Maddie’s biological father but he fell in love with her the moment he saw her and held her in his arms. Deacon says he too has a good relationship with Maddie and thinks she’s an exceptional young woman whom Rayna and Teddy have gone a great job raising. That ties it all up in a pretty little knot, and Robin notes Maddie’s video has over 900k views. She asks if Maddie’ll be releasing her debut album anytime soon, and all 3 parents laugh and say no.

Back in Nashville, Gunnar stops by a house with a “For sale” sign and smiles. OK now THIS seems like a good idea.

Robin Roberts wraps up the GMA interview, and Deacon can’t walk out fast enough. Tandy says the interview went perfectly, and Luke tells Rayna they diffused the situation. But boy, there’s a look in Luke’s eyes and you can tell he’s struggling. He excuses himself, walks through a crowd of intrusive media, and jumps into his car. Sure enough, he punches the seat in front of him, and asks the driver to take him to the airport. You know, this feels realistic. Luke’s trying to be the good guy and not make things worse, but he’s bothered by all this. It makes sense.

Scarlett is wandering around backstage when Avery greets her. Turns out she’s drunk, and when she pushes him away, Avery asks an assistant to go find Juliette, because this is an emergency.

Rayna goes to see Deacon at the lakehouse, and thanks him for what he did. Deacon says Rayna was right, that they needed to do that interview. He asks how Maddie is doing. Rayna isn’t sure. Deacon says Rayna should’ve told him about Maddie earlier. He acknowledges he was a mess at the time, but why couldn’t she have told him after he got clean, when Maddie was 3 or 5 or 10? He’s mourning the missed time. Rayna gives the totally inadequate defense that she made sure he was in Maddie’s life, watching her grow up. Deacon correctly observes that it wasn’t the same, that he never got to sing her to sleep, never got to hold her hand when she was scared, never got to do those little things that he would’ve done if he’d known. He also calls out Rayna for never intending to tell him the truth, because the only reason he knows now is that Maddie found that. Rayna’s temporarily got nothing in response, and Deacon says he did what had to be done for GMA for his daughter but that’s all he’s got.

But then, Rayna starts laying out her grievances too. Rayna reminds him that Maddie’s their daughter, that she had wanted nothing more than for the 3 of them to be a happy family together, that she cried herself to sleep for a year wanting it so bad. But Deacon couldn’t provide that. Rayna agrees she could have told Deacon earlier but she asks, “When is a good time, really, to blow up your kid’s life?” Rayna reminds Deacon that when he did find out, he didn’t scoop Maddie up in his arms and tell her how proud he was of her, he got drunk, he got angry, and Rayna almost died. Rayna admits she lied to me and she gets that he resents her for that, but she promises she resents him even more for putting them all in this position in the first place. Well, now Deacon’s got nothing, because they’re even, sort of.

So back we go to Chicago, where Charlie’s hitting on Scarlett. Avery jumps in to rescue her, and Juliette naturally assumes he’s got a problem with Charlie hitting on Scarlett but not with Charlie kissing her. Avery says Juliette said he only tried to kiss her. Whoops! And while that awkwardness is going on, Scarlett is introduced and she ambles on stage to the strains of her song “Crazy Tonight.” She greets the audience, but quickly gets woozy, thinks she sees (or actually does see) Momma Beverly in the crowd, has flashbacks to some of the more traumatic experiences of her life, and breaks down on stage, begging for the invisible enemy to stop hurting her. At least one person in the crowd gets this on smart phone video. Juliette is concerned and horrified, and Avery bolts out onto the stage to try to help Scarlett.

That’s where we’re leaving things for a month! But come back in 3 weeks for a Nashville concert event featuring songs from the show – it should be fun!

About Deb B 432 Articles
Also known as Windmills, I cover country music news and live televised country events, in addition to recapping ABC's 'Nashville.' Additionally, I occasionally do long-form chart analysis that has been cited by Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The Guardian, The New Republic, NPR, and more.