After a long hiatus, we’re back for four straight weeks of new Nashville! Welcome back!
This fine morning in Cincinnati, Juliette and manager-lover Dante are bantering about her living situation. Dante wants to know why Juliette is still renting a place instead of buying one. She says she always figured that when she would finally buy a place, she would have somebody to share it with, which naturally leads to her asking Dante if he wants to go house-hunting.
Back in Nashville, Gunnar is reading his brother’s journal, which includes lyrics his brother wrote, while Scarlett greets him tenderly. Cowboy Will interrupts their moment when he drives up in a motorcycle. Gunnar is all about that, and Will reveals that he traded in his pickup truck for the new bike. He got his first gig, a morning performance at a Lower Broadway venue, and invites Gunnar for a spin on his new ride. Scarlett reminds him of an appointment.
The Red Lips & White Lies tour principals have flown back to Nashville on Juliette’s private jet, and Deacon and Rayna are arm in arm as they walk out. Juliette didn’t say a word to Deacon the whole flight home, which amuses Rayna and Deacon. Stacey runs up to greet Deacon while Manager Bucky walks off with Rayna, asking how she would like to spend her next few days in Nashville. This isn’t Rayna’s week with the girls, so she suggests meeting with Scarlett, and also tracking some more with Liam. Meanwhile Jolene surprises Juliette with flowers, and tells Dante that she doesn’t like her new sober companion. Juliette doesn’t appear to be too pleased to see her, and gives her version of a gentle brush off as she sends her mother home while she, Dante, and Emily drive off.
In the mayor’s office, Teddy and Coleman are concluding a successful meeting with a Subway rep. Teddy and Coleman are pleased with their progress, though Teddy wishes they could cut Lamar out of some of the metro business (which Coleman says is impossible). Peggy walks in and asks if she could have a moment, which Coleman gives them. Teddy seems friendly enough, but it turns out it has been a week since they last saw each other, and Teddy isn’t acting overly eager to make time. This is also his week with the girls. He takes a call from his lawyer.
At Deacon’s place, Stacey is flustered trying to set the table. She and Deacon have invited Scarlett and Gunnar over for dinner (Stacey ordered out), but so far only Scarlett is here. Deacon asks Scarlett if everything is alright with Gunnar, and Scarlett says that though her seeing Rayna alone turned things upside down a bit, things are OK. Deacon tells Scarlett she has to talk to Rayna because you can’t get what you want if you don’t ask for it. Stacey runs off to answer the door, and Scarlett tells Deacon he should keep Stacey, because she’s lovely and he’s happy. Deacon agrees, but hesitantly.
Rayna and Liam are in studio together and bantering away. Liam compliments Rayna on doing better now than she was the last time they met. They make out a little until Bucky interrupts them.
Cowboy Will is playing his live gig and impressing the ladies with ‘Tough All Over,’ the song he cowrote with Gunnar. Gunnar is there supporting his new pal, and after Will gets yet another female fangirl’s phone number, Gunnar compliments Will on his swagger. Will gets him a beer.
Meanwhile Rayna and Tandy are helping Lamar back into his mansion, where he is his usual ornery self. At least until he greets his new attendant, to the amusement of his daughters. Tandy is excited that Rayna is staying with her, and they have a little girltalk about Rayna making out with Liam. Tandy is excited for her.
Meanwhile at rehearsal, Deacon is trying to get Juliette interested in working with the band, but she is too busy hanging all over Dante. Deacon tries to get Juliette to be considerate of the band’s time, but Juliette is deep in self-centered mode. Deacon tells her that he’ll finish out the current leg of the tour but will be quitting after that. Juliette, backed by her enabler, tells him he’s replaceable, and Deacon calls off the rest of rehearsal.
Meanwhile Teddy’s meeting his lawyer/PI, who tells him the phone records are real and though the tabloid reporter wouldn’t give up his/her source, he/she did say it was somebody “close to the mayor.” The lawyer/PI is convinced Peggy was the leak, which disappoints Teddy.
Rayna and Scarlett are meeting, talking about thinking about the first single and setting up a tour. Scarlett respectfully talks to Rayna about Gunnar, explaining that Gunnar didn’t turn up to the audition because of a death in the family the day before (why this is news to Rayna when Scarlett had allegedly been talking to the label for a month to get Gunnar included on her deal I don’t know). Rayna is sympathetic, and Scarlett says she was reminded of when Rayna said that there would be no Rayna James without Deacon Claibourne, because there would be no Scarlett without Gunnar.
Speaking of Gunnar, he is getting a lesson from Will about how performing is all about connecting with the ladies. Will tells Gunnar it’s open mic night at Tootsie’s, and tells Gunnar he’s going to take the stage.
Juliette is still hanging all over Dante when Jolene walks in, this time accusing Dante of making out with another woman. She says she saw Dante on Lower Broadway, which Dante smoothly cops to, claiming it’s an old friend/realtor who showed him the house he showed online to Juliette. Dante condescends to Jolene about stalking him, but Jolene says she just wants to talk to him. Juliette yells at Jolene, and kicks her out of the rehearsal room.
Avery shows up for open mic night at Tootsie’s, only to be told that the list is full for the night. He sees Gunnar performing “Something Reckless” by Lonesome Heroes, with Will’s backing. Gunnar has attracted some attention from an attractive brunette.
BONUS: See Lonesome Heroes performing “Something Reckless” live:
Back at Deacon’s, they are bantering over groceries when Deacon tells Stacey that he has told Juliette that he is done with touring after the end of this leg of the tour. He is ready to be of the real world for a while, and he has had enough crazy. Stacey is pleased.
Meanwhile Liam offers to book a little getaway to St. Lucia with Rayna. She is giggly and excited but unsure based on her responsibilities.
Juliette is checking out the new house with Dante and Emily. They briefly discuss Juliette’s concern for Jolene when Dante takes a call that’s ostensibly from this realtor. Juliette isn’t that excited about the house and tells Emily to get Dante’s realtor friend free tickets to their upcoming Nashville show.
Will & Gunnar are celebrating Gunnar’s successful performance with laughs and beer when an attractive redhead drops off her phone number for Gunnar. Gunnar also gets approached by Jack Nelson, who works with Lindi Ortega, offering to a cut a demo of the song he just performed. Will and Gunnar share another laugh, and then with Gunnar’s permission, Will heads off with the redhead’s phone number. When Will leaves, we see Avery drinking at the bar, where he compliments Gunnar on the song and apologizes for his past behavior. Gunnar tells him they weren’t together then but are now, and that Gunnar has a new deal with Rayna James at Edgehill. Avery didn’t know that, and wishes Gunnar luck with his song.
BONUS: Watch Rob Baird’s video for “Dreams & Gasoline,” which he cowrote with Rick Brantley. This was the song playing behind the bar scene with Will & Gunnar:
Back at Lamar’s mansion, Lamar is “taking stock” when Rayna walks in with smoothies. Lamar has a scrapbook of Rayna’s career. Rayna tries to talk to him about Watty, and Lamar tells her that he had a lot of time to think during his time in the hospital. He would like to start over with Rayna, and Rayna says she would like that too.
In the mayor’s office, Teddy confronts Peggy about having leaked his divorce to the tabloids. She plays it off, saying she got tricked by a reporter into confirming things. She tries to apologize for hiding things, and lets slip that Lamar came to see her, which is news to Teddy. She confesses that Lamar told her to influence Teddy on the stadium site, or he would expose her to Teddy. The fact that she hid this from Teddy angers him further, and he orders her to leave. He had thought they were building something together, and she is convinced they love each other, but he tells her that’s not enough.
The next morning, Gunnar and Scarlett greet each other after Gunnar’s late night (which Scarlett doesn’t mind). She tells Gunnar that Rayna has agreed to give him another chance but Gunnar isn’t thrilled. He explains to Scarlett that there was a time that he would’ve been thrilled but he’s realized that Scarlett knows who she is as an artist and he’s still figuring that out. Last night at Tootsie’s he feels like he got his first taste of who he can be, and he loved it. Scarlett just wants him to be happy.
At the Bridgestone, Deacon and Stacey meet with Liam, where Liam catches Deacon up on the fact that he and Rayna have made up. Stacey knows who Liam is, so she’s apparently a rock fan. Rayna greets the group, and after Deacon and Stacey head off, tells Liam that she’s game for the St. Lucia getaway. No kissing at her place of work though!
In her dressing room, Juliette meets Esme the realtor, who presents as a nerdy, awkward girl (deceptively so, right? This is Nashville after all). Juliette wants to know about her relationship with Dante, and Esme tells her that Dante basically saved her life. Dante walks in and doesn’t seem terribly thrilled that Juliette went straight to Esme, but Juliette tells him and her that she got the answers she wanted and that she’ll take the house, furniture and all.
Meanwhile at the mayor’s office, Teddy has gleefully cancelled all of the city contracts with Lamar’s business. Coleman doesn’t think this is a good idea, because some were set up as favors for underprivileged communities. Teddy tells him they’ll work out new deals, but Coleman is concerned about Teddy being impulsive.
Scarlett and Avery see each other while he’s hauling equipment backstage. He updates her on how he needed a job so he took this one, and congratulates her on her success.
Juliette has brought Jolene to her dressing room, and Jolene immediately identifies Esme as the woman Dante she saw kissing. Emily takes Esme away and Juliette and Dante confront Jolene about whether she is using again. Dante discovers some pills (that he probably planted) on Jolene, and the scene descends into an intervention and denials from Jolene about the pills being hers. Dante wants Jolene recommitted to Riverside. Juliette is upset because she believes her mother has relapsed.
On stage, Rayna gives Liam a shoutout, and when a fan requests an old hit called “Postcard From Mexico,” she says Liam doesn’t know a lot of the old ones. He tells her he knows the cool ones, and they start to sing a duet on the sultry number. Stacey and Deacon are watching from the sidestage, and Deacon confirms to Stacey that this is a song he and Rayna wrote together. Deacon squirms seeing Rayna and Liam performing together, and eventually has to excuse himself to get some water.
To DOWNLOAD “Postcards From Mexico,” written by John Hadley and David Olney and performed by Connie Britton and Michael Huisman click HERE.
BONUS: Check out Kieran Kane, Fats Kaplin, and Kevin Welch’s version of “Postcards From Mexico”:
Back at Lamar’s, Tandy is surprised to discover her father up late working. He tells her that Teddy cancelled all their contracts because Tandy told him about Lamar’s contact with Peggy. Tandy tells him she felt Teddy ought to know as somebody who had been a member of their family for 13 years. Lamar chastises Tandy for not being there for him, and says it was Rayna who was holding his hand when he woke up, and Rayna who isn’t treating him as if he’s lost his edge. Tandy is taken aback, but leaves when he wishes her good night.
Stacey finds Deacon backstage, and asks why he never came back. This leads to a conversation where he admits he still has feelings for Rayna but is really, really trying to get it out of his system because he wants to be with Stacey. Stacey is walking out and Deacon is chasing her, and of course just as she is telling her that she just needs some time, Rayna appears. Rayna asks Deacon to talk to her, and Deacon starts confessing his feelings for Rayna. Rayna tells Deacon that she and Liam are jetting off to St. Lucia, so he should figure out a way to work things out with Stacey.
Tandy has set up a dinner meeting with Coleman, where she tells him that there are going to be some changes to the company. Coleman sees that Tandy is here to make some power moves herself, anticipating that Lamar will take a step back and she will take a step forward. She proposes a new alliance between Coleman and her for the betterment of Nashville, and says they both know that Teddy’s not the right man for Nashville. Then Tandy drops the Cumberland hint on Coleman, and says that if he looks into that deal, he may find some valuable ammunition there should he need it. Ohhh, the intrigue!
Back in Juliette’s dressing room, Emily walks in and tells Juliette that they got Jolene home. Juliette takes a closer look at the pills and realizes they couldn’t be her mother’s because they happen to be something her mother is allergic too. Juliette starts to realize that Dante set her mom up, and tries to find him. His phone is going straight to voice mail, and he had said he was going off to pay the crew. Ruh roh.
Scarlett greets Avery backstage as he is loading up. They chat, and Avery invites her to take the stage at the Bridgestone. They take in the sights
Rayna shows up at Deacon’s. She tells him that she has “never not loved” him, and keeps telling him she loves him. And they make out. And more.
Emily has discovered that in addition to the crew money, there’s $475k missing from Juliette’s corporate account. Emily suggests calling the police but Juliette doesn’t want anybody to know about this. Juliette asks her to call Jolene to tell her that she doesn’t have to go back to rehab. Emily tells Juliette that she doesn’t have to take this new place. But Juliette says she will as a reminder never to trust anybody.
Back at Scarlett and Gunnar’s, Will greets Gunnar with a beer. Gunnar tells him that the song he played was actually built on lyrics from his brother and that he couldn’t explain that to Jack Nelson without getting all dark. Will asks Gunnar if Scarlett is mad he decided to stay in with him instead of going out with her. Gunnar confides in Will that he’s starting to doubt whether their relationship will last. Will tries kissing Gunnar! And Gunnar kicks him out even as Will tries to apologize.
Dante is on a plane with hot Esme, and gets rid of the cell phone that keeps ringing as Juliette tries to reach him. Juliette breaks that mirror she hates by throwing her own phone at it. And scene!
BONUS: Watch Lennon & Maisy perform “Ho Hey,” written by Jeremy Fraites and Wesley Schultz live at the Grand Ole Opry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-lLlEtoAS8
BONUS: Watch Lennon & Maisy perform “Ho Hey,” written by Jeremy Fraites and Wesley Schultz live at 3rd & Lindsley:
BONUS: Watch Jonathan Jackson perform “Twist Of Barbwire,” written by Elvis Costello live at 3rd & Lindsley:
BONUS: Watch Jonathan Jackson perform “The Morning Of The Rain,” a song he wrote and that is set to be featured on an upcoming episode of Nashville live at 3rd & Lindsley:
