Welcome back to Nashville! We pick up where the last episode left off, right after Deacon finally revealed his illness to Rayna and Rayna slapped him before collapsing into his arms and making it clear she’ll never let him go. They apologize to each other – good to see Rayna apologize from hitting Deacon, and Deacon admits he’s known his diagnosis since before Christmas.
Episode setup cuts us over to Layla, who slept on the couch after a late night out. She’s awakened by a call from Jeff, who has scheduled a noon interview for Layla with a blogger of some influence. Layla’s ambition is curbed by her grogginess for the timebeing, so she wants the interview pushed back, but Jeff is having none of it.
Next, we visit the Triple Exes’s tour bus, where Gunnar is on his phone, Scarlett is staring out the bus windows, and Avery is calling Juliette after just 4 hours on the road. This time, Juliette is amused by his concern. She’s due in 3 weeks, Avery’s back in 3 days, and she promises she’ll call him if anything happens. Back in the front of the bus, Gunnar tries small talk with Scarlett while fishing for news on her relationship status with Blandly Cute Young Dr. Rand, whose 1st name is apparently Caleb. When he asks Scarlett why she’s had so little to say since they left Nashville, Scarlett muses about how they’s going to play Chicago, and the last time she was in Chicago, she had on on-stage breakdown. Gunnar assures her that things are different now, that she’ll be playing with friends and she has more shows under her belt. Scarlett just wishes she could stop thinking about what happened. Gunnar suggests she help them set up their new band Twitter account (wait, the Triple Exes are actually the Triple Xs? Is that really a good idea?). Scarlett’s all “What’s Twitter” (really? Just fell off the turnip truck again, I suppose) and Gunnar explains. Avery shows up so they can take their new profile picture.
Teddy is at a restaurant-type place, where he meets up with none other than Lamar Wyatt’s former henchman Albert. Surely nobody will notice this. Teddy slips Albert information (and a payoff?) plus instructions to find out everything about a possible Natasha investigation. Albert is ready to get back to work.
Meanwhile Will is recording “Broken Song,” written in real life by Cody Johnson, Tony Lane, and Travis Meadows but presented on the show as his 1st co-write with the Shane McAnally-inspired Kevin Bicks character. Luke overhears the session and is really pleased, so he walks in to congratulate the two and encourage them to work on a love song yet. Kevin accepts the congratulations with a friendly neck hug to Will, but Will freezes at his touch and Kevin notices.
To DOWNLOAD “Broken Song,” written by Cody Johnson, Tony Lane, and Travis Meadows and performed by Chris Carmack, click HERE!
Back to Deacon and Rayna, where Deacon explains how committed Scarlett’s been in support, and Rayna naturally has suggestions too. Deacon says he’s considered it all (and doesn’t specifically mention the clinical trial he turned down), and said he just has to wait out somebody coming through with a transplant. Rayna promises she’ll wait with him. But Deacon says he can’t do this with her by his side. Why not? Because he doesn’t want to put her through this whole process, and he doesn’t want to see the pity in her eyes. Rayna says what’s in her eyes is love, not pity, but Deacon claims he’s determined, that he gets to make this decision unlike all the ones Rayna’s made for them (and we do get that list).
Over at Pine Hill Studios, Luke is surprised to run into Sadie, whose GMA interview he watched just that morning. They have the kind of awkward conversation that’s obviously setting up something for the future, with Luke saying he didn’t realize how bad things were with her ex, and Sadie telling him she’s sorry things didn’t work out with Rayna. After the pleasantries, they part to work on their respective albums.
Layla arrives for her interview, 5 minutes late as Jeff chides her. They start what seems like their usual flirty banter, but Jeff is in business mode – convenient as he tries to weasel out of Layla’s questions when it turns out his blogger friend is an attractive woman who seems really familiar with him, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.
Back at Pine Hill Studios, Kevin Bicks is packing up, and when Will suggests booking another writing session, he tells Will he thinks they should quit while they’re ahead, and that he could practically feel Will’s skin crawl when he (Kevin) touched him. Kevin seems to have more or less figured out that Will is closeted, and tells him that whatever his deal is, it doesn’t need to be his (Kevin’s) problem. Will’s all, “Fine, I can do this on my own” (he won’t be able to).
Now we’re in Chicago, where Scarlett is admiring the white roses Caleb’s sent her when Gunnar and Avery walk in (after knocking, but the door was unlocked). “Adjoining rooms!” announces Gunnar. He’s not so thrilled about the progress in Scarlett’s love life, but is cheered up when his social media check reveals their band already has 500 followers. He starts reading their mentions, which start out supportive. Gunnar covers so badly when he comes across their 1st negative mention (which is directed at Scarlett’s breakdown) that both Avery and Scarlett see it. And Scarlett is going to talk to the hater, which is obviously not going to end well (as the boys warn her) but it’s going to happen anyway.
Layla’s interview with the blogger starts off well enough, but quickly derails when the blogger starts flirting with and teasing Jeff over his Alanis Morissette obsession. Layla walks out, telling the 2 it seems they’d rather be alone.
Deacon brings in some firewood to his getaway, where Rayna is still waiting. Rayna wants to know why he steps away when things get tough. They argue as Deacon doubles down on his fatalism, which culminates in him declaring that he doesn’t get a happy ending and therefore “nothing matters.” Rayna makes it a point to smash 1 of his guitars so he can really think about whether he means that. Rayna reminds Deacon of how many times he’s said he wants to be the man she believes him to be, and this is his chance, with her by his side. Deacon says it’s not that simple, but doesn’t explain. Rayna asks why not, does he not believe in them enough? Deacon has no answer, and Rayna tells him that if he wanted to break her heart, he just did. She walks out.
Jeff catches up to Layla to ask what the hell she’s doing, and Layla lays into him about his paramour blogger friend Adele. Jeff says she’s not his ex, that they were just satisfying each other’s needs. Layla asks if that’s what they’re doing now, and Jeff answers honestly that that’s all he can offer right now. Layla suggests that he go back to Adele now, and walks off.
Meanwhile Will is at Gunnar’s place trying to write, and getting nowhere. Many yellow notebook pages are crumbled, even though a lot of songwriters write/record to computers and Garage Band-type software these days.
A shot of an underpass meeting within view of an apparently homeless man tells us something clandestine is going down. And sure enough, it’s Natasha who drives up, exits her car and enters Teddy’s. Teddy confirms to her that the she is under FBI surveillance because they are investigating several prostitution rings. So wait, they’re not following her around? Natasha naturally wants to know if he can do anything about it. Teddy says it’s outside his jurisdiction, and then seems shocked when Natasha tells him she will sell him out. Natasha finally suggests that maybe she can disappear for a while, but she tells Teddy he has to find a couple hundred thousands of dollars for her if that’s going to happen. Teddy naturally doesn’t have that kind of money. Natasha tells him to find it.
Back over at Pine Hill Studios, Sadie opens the door for a P.A. on a coffee run for Luke’s people, and overhears Luke recording “Can’t Help My Heart,” written by Sarah Buxton, Kevin Griffin, and Jedd Hughes. This song was 1st introduced in Episode 13 of this season, as a cowrite between Luke Wheeler and Gunnar Scott. As she hears the beautiful heartbreak song, she can’t help but stay. The hearts start to appear in her eyes, and Luke’s, as he spots her while singing, when he cuts himself off. She apologizes for the interruption, and he plays it off, says he can’t quite get right with the song, it feels too bare. She suggests adding another voice. Luke invites her. We see what you’re doing, show.
Avery and Gunnar return from lunch in Chicago to find Scarlett way down the Twitter wormhole, learning that engaging with cruel haters only seems to bring more out of the woodwork. Avery and Gunnar give advice and encouragement, and there’s a hilarious exchange where Gunnar tells Scarlett that if she wants people to listen, there’s 1 thing she can do, and then looks at Avery like he knows what Gunnar means. Avery nods, and then confesses he needs a hint. Gunnar tells him to get the guitars, and as Avery scampers off, Scarlett grabs her notebook and pen.
It’s nighttime now, and Rayna actually hasn’t left Deacon’s getaway cabin, she’s just sitting outside. Hey, who’s watching Maddie & Daphne? Deacon is gazing forelornly at the framed picture Maddie gave him, and finally goes out to ask Rayna, “What about Maddie?” He’s scared of promising her the fairy tale ending and then taking it away from her. Rayna tells him all of them, including Deacon, are stronger than he gives them credit for being, but Deacon isn’t so sure. He tells Rayna he’s resolute about this, that Maddie won’t miss a life she’s never known, and so he wants to fight this fight alone, and then, God willing, reunite with Rayna and the girls if he survives.
Cut to studio, where Luke and Sadie are singing “Can’t Help My Heart” together, and their vocal and personal chemistry is lovely. Luke is so excited he invites Sadie to cut vocals for a duet version right now. But Sadie turns him down, and Luke knows why – she’s on a competing label! Still, Luke wants to thank her, and invites her out for coffee. Sadie accepts. Hm, we saw abusive ex Pete in the “previously…” does this mean he’ll spot Sadie and Luke together and have a violent rage fit?
To DOWNLOAD “Can’t Help My Heart,” written by Sarah Buxton, Kevin Griffin, and Jedd Hughes and performed by Laura Benanti and Will Chase, click HERE!
Teddy tracks down a post-workout hooded Jeff to tell him he needs to help Teddy come up with the money or Teddy’ll take Jeff down with him. Jeff says unlike Teddy, he has nothing to lose because there’s nobody left for him in this town. Teddy snipes that this is Jeff’s own fault, because the only person he cares about is himself. That seems to reach Jeff.
So when we cut to a shot of Layla opening the door, we might think it’s Jeff. But it’s not, it’s Will. He’s trying to work out his writer’s block, and is hoping she’ll help. Turns out the song he’s writing is a love song about them. Layla gently reminds him that they were never in love. Well, he was never in love, and so maybe he shouldn’t be writing about it. Will tells her he wanted to love her, that he had feelings, but that he was incapable. Layla smiles wryly and says she knows, she was there. She asks Will if he’s ever been in love, and he realizes he hasn’t.
Avery is calling Juliette again, and his desire for news means she has to tell him that their baby girl was not so keen on the Mexican food Juliette had. Juliette tells Avery to enjoy the moment and not worry about her. These scenes are clearly shoehorned in so that the show lead has some screentime. While Avery’s on his call, Scarlett stares out into the audience from the side of the stage, and Gunnar naturally approaches. He puts his hand on hers to reassure her, and tells her that if she starts feeling anxiety, to just give him a sign and he’ll be there for her. She thanks him, and they’re interrupted by Avery, who notices their quick & guilty snapback of hands and wonders if he’s interrupting something. Oh no, of course not, doth protest Gunnar and Scarlett. Sure.
Rayna finally comes back inside to announce to Deacon that he’s wrong. She accepts that Deacon may die, but she wants the time with him, for her, for all of them. She wants her girls to see what true love is, even if it ends. She points out, quite rightly, that he cannot protect them from the pain of this. Rayna notes how many times she and Deacon have screwed this up, but bravely claims they won’t screw it up this time. This is finally enough for Deacon, who kisses her.
Meanwhile Layla opens the door again, and this time it’s Jeff. He admits he’s not good at/scared of intimacy and the complications it brings, but stops Layla from closing the door in his face by saying he’d like to give it a try with Layla. And they kiss.
We go from a couple we’re not sure we should like to one that many a show shipper does: Rayna and Deacon, who have gone from kissing to love-making.
A good time to head back to Chicago, where the Triple X’s are introduced. Scarlett greets the crowd and acknowledges what she went through on that very stage about a year ago before the group launches into “My Song,” a folky song of strength and defiance, written in real life by Femke and Sarah Siskind. Scarlett is all over the stage, strutting and dancing with confidence, and Gunnar and Avery are only too happy to support her in having her moment.
To DOWNLOAD “My Song,” cowritten by Femke and Sarah Siskind and performed by Clare Bowen, Jonathan Jackson, and Sam Palladio, click HERE!
Darker times reign in the Nashville mayor’s office, where Teddy’s now beleaguered assistant informs him that their Finance Director would like to push off whatever Teddy wants to talk about until Monday. But Teddy bangs his desk and goes off on his assistant, who retreats to do Teddy’s bidding.
Avery, Gunnar and Scarlett celebrate another successful gig as they walk offstage, with Avery giving full credit to Scarlett before he walks off. Gunnar tells Scarlett he’s proud of her, and they’re having a moment as Scarlett tells him she doesn’t think she could have gotten back on stage without him. Then she notices that Blandly Cute Young Dr. Caleb showed up as a surprise to support her, and Gunnar glowers in the distance as they embrace.
Deacon and Rayna are in post-coital glow, and they’re looking forward to telling Maddie about their romantic reunion, though Deacon’s nervous about telling Maddie about his illness. Deacon admits everything seems less daunting with Rayna by his side, and Rayna loves it when she’s right.
Meanwhile Luke is confiding in Sadie about the difficulty he’s having getting over Rayna. He admires Sadie for going on national TV and telling everybody her truth while he’s not sure he can sing a song about his. Sadie tells him maybe he’s not ready, but he will be. Luke compliments her on having a good ear, not just for music but for getting him to talk about his feelings with a woman he hardly knows. They laugh and she takes his hand, and I’m still shocked we don’t have a shot of Pete glaring menacingly out the window. But anyway, Luke and Sadie are definitely having a moment, and Sadie knows this as she pulls back her hand.
The Nashville finance director arrives having received Mayor Teddy’s summons, and contrary to Teddy’s message of urgency, his cover story is the need for a discretionary fund to convert an old canning factory-turned-bastion-for-illegal-activity into a place kids can enjoy. The finance director says it’ll take 6 months if they follow protocol, which is obviously too much time for Teddy’s liking. He leans forward with a twinkle in his eye and nudges the finance director about the possibility of getting it done faster. The finance director sees through the facade, and says he doesn’t know what’s really going on but he doesn’t appreciate being strongarmed.
Scarlett and Blandly Cute Young Dr. Caleb have a cute little conversation in which he assures her that he has no expectations despite coming up to Chicago. He has a room at the Four Seasons, and assumes Scarlett has a room of her own at her own hotel. Meanwhile, Gunnar grouses about how the guy could be an axe murderer, while Avery reminds him that Dr. Rand is, in fact a doctor. Sensibly, Avery tells Gunnar that if he wants to get back together with Scarlett, he probably needs to act fast.
Will drops by Kevin Bicks’s again, and apologizes for earlier. He asks if Kevin might give him another chance, because it turns out he can’t just write on his own. Kevin says there are plenty of great songwriters around town, but Will admits Kevin might understand something he’s going through. Kevin says he might. A friendship/mentorship here would be cool to see.
Back at Layla’s, she is staring at a shirtless Jeff, but thinking of something other than how his abs look. When Jeff asks what she’s thinking about, Layla says she now realizes she’s making the same mistake here that she did with Will – falling for a guy and hoping to change him into something he’s not. When Jeff says he wants to try a relationship with her, Layla shuts him down and says he’s incapable of loving her, just like Will was. Their manager-artist relationship works, and that’s all they are going to be now. Good to see this possible take a turn for the healthier.
Henchman Albert shows up at the bidding of a scotch-drinking, dark chamber-brooding Teddy. Now Teddy wants him to dig up any skeletons the Finance Director may have in his closet. This isn’t going to end well.
Avery calls Juliette…again. She is still fine, but he misses her. So he sings a sweet song for their daughter, called “This Is What I Need To Say,” written by Sarah Siskind.
To DOWNLOAD “This Is What I Need To Say,” written by Sarah Siskind and performed by Jonathan Jackson, click HERE!
As Juliette smiles, we see Scarlett smiling at Caleb’s white roses, and then at the lyrics to “My Song” while Gunnar paces in the next room as he debates talking to her. As he finally gains the courage to open the door to Scarlett’s adjoining room (are there seriously no locks?), we see that Scarlett’s gone to see Caleb.
Rayna and Deacon return back to Casa James hand in hand, and Maddie is delighted to realize that her biological parents are “together together.” She runs to hug them, and Rayna gestures for Daphne to join them. Why haven’t we gotten a story about how Daphne feels about all this, anyway? Deacon says there’s some other stuff they need to talk about.
Meanwhile Luke and Sadie have taken the elevator into the parking garage and are keeping a respectful distance from each other. Luke asks Sadie if she would like him to walk her to her car. Sadie smiles and says she doesn’t think that would be a good idea. Luke quickly accepts that. They shake hands and go their separate ways.
Back at Rayna’s, we see but don’t hear Deacon telling the girls about his illness, and tears ensue.
Back in the parking garage, it is indeed Abusive Ex Pete who is waiting for Sadie near her car. He approaches and threatens her, and a terrified Sadie pulls her (probably not licensed) gun on him while demanding he back off. Abuser Pete makes like she doesn’t have the guts to use the gun, and goes after her and the gun. In the ensuing struggle, a shot goes off. After a moment’s suspense where both have their eyes wide open, we find that Abuser Pete’s been shot through the abdomen area. As he falls to the floor, Luke drives up, and sees what happened. “Sadie!” he shouts. So their stories will be entwined for a few more episodes yet. And we leave it there. Come back next week for a baby shower, tantrums, and much, much more, won’t you?
P.S. Here’s a teaser for later in this season:
@NashvilleWrites with a surprise guest!!!! Shhh I'll never tell #Nashville
— Whirly Girl Music (@WhirlyGirlMusic) April 2, 2015
So who do we think it is? Maybe Martina McBride or Reba on “Can’t Help My Heart”? Both are signed to Big Machine’s Nash Icons label, & Big Machine releases the music from the show (plus Reba just performed on Nashville On The Record 2). Or am I completely off base and is it upcoming multi-episode but not surprise guest Christina Aguilera?
