Courtesy of ABC
Now that’s what I’ve been waiting all season for. This is the Rayna (Connie Britton) and Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) show and they knock it out of the park. Tonight we get to see exactly why the show centers around these two and why we should care.
Let’s bitch it out…In the pilot, we got a glimpse of the magic that could happen when Rayna and Juliette are forced to work together. Tonight we finally get to see that come to fruition. And boy is it worth the wait! They play the cattiness to perfection and Rayna’s verbal smackdown of Juliette is exactly what I have been waiting all season to see. I’m not even upset that Deacon (Charles Esten) stands up for Juliette, because it results in the creation of this song that just won’t get out of my head (note to self – remember to buy that on iTunes tomorrow). It is a bit strange when they came to a sort of understanding at the end of performing the song…mostly because I don’t want to see them get along. Their jabs back and forth make this episode an absolute pleasure to watch. Consider me a Juliette fan (finally!), but only when it involves scenes with Rayna.
Switching storylines: when Scarlett (Clare Bowen) knocks on the door of her old home to tell Avery (Jonathan Jackson) she misses him, my heart sinks. I am fiercely representing team Scarlett and Gunnar (Sam Palladio) these days so there’s no way I want her running back to that spotlight thieving, “casting couch” man whore who will sleep with anyone to get his career ahead. Gunnar is patiently waiting in the wings for any nod of affection from Scarlett so I’ll admit I was scared when I realized where she was. However, true to form, Avery is still banging the older lady to be able to meet people like Wyclef Jean (or Domino King, as he’s playing on the show. But let’s be serious – it’s Wyclef). Hopefully this will be the last time we see Scarlett run back to Avery and she can move forward towards her destiny, otherwise known as Gunnar. Think I’m too romantic? Tell me that your heart didn’t melt when she told Gunnar that he changed her life. This is the beginning of a great romance, I can feel it. And it makes me wonder if this is how Rayna and Deacon first fell in love. Are we seeing their story re-incarnate here with these two potential love birds? This is a great idea for a flashback episode at some point (take note Nashville writers).
Courtesy of ABC
Finally, it looks like Teddy (Eric Close) should have been a little more honest with his wife from the beginning. Coleman (Robert Wisdom) pulls out the big guns tonight to try and get Teddy to back down from the race, but we had to know that Lamar (Powers Boothe) would not let that happen. Clearly the fall-out of all of this is that Teddy is going to finally have to confess his sins to our dear Rayna. And honestly, I can’t stand Close so I can’t even force myself to care about this plot. Other than one vital point: this could finally open the door for Rayna to leave Teddy and get back together with Deacon (*squeal*). That is the only reason I could ever care about this storyline. Let’s just hope that’s how it plays out. Somehow I fear we’ll have to put up with a lot more Teddy before that will happen, though.
A few observations:
- Juliette reads my mind when Sean (Tilky Jones) doesn’t want to have sex with her. She pulls his shirt off and my only thought is “umm… how come this guy is supposed to be such a good boy but he has a full sleeve tattoo?” I wonder if they had to write it in because the actor they picked had the sleeve and it didn’t fit with the character.
- It seems as though music producer (aka creepy guy) Liam (Michiel Huisman) is here to stay now and I can’t say that I’m happy about it. Seems like Rayna is trying to replace Deacon, but then he plays alongside Deacon during the song, too? I thought he was Rayna’s producer? Why does he need to play as well? That just seems like the writers are going for too much symmetry. It would’ve played better for me to have just Deacon with the two ladies and him going back and forth between them. Alas, the writers don’t check with me about these things before they put out the scripts.
- I missed seeing Gunnar and Scarlett sing together this week. Those two play so well together (FYI: I actually download their songs from iTunes!)
After a weird and unfulfilling episode last week, this show really came back with a bang for me. I loved (almost) every second of it, especially the final Rayna/Juliette song. And I can’t wait to see Rayna’s reaction to finding out the truth about Teddy next episode.
Did you enjoy this week as much as I did? Tell me I’m not the only one who desperately wants Gunnar and Scarlett to get together!! Is it just me, or does Deacon seem to be floating a bit now that he’s not with Rayna and he’s not with Juliette? Sound off below!
Nashville airs at 10pm EST on ABC