Courtesy of ABC
First, let me just pick my jaw up off the ground. Once I’ve recovered, then I will attempt to comment on tonight’s episode. In one word: fantastic. Teddy (Eric Close) finally has to come clean, Gunnar (Sam Palladio) finally makes a move, and the cliffhanger has me gasping. Doesn’t get much better than this.
Let’s bitch it out…
Okay. I have to start with the most shocking moment of the episode for me, and that is the end (obviously). Here’s my thought process: Like everyone else, I assumed that Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) was going to break up with Sean (Tilky Jones) after that family dinner that didn’t go quite as planned. Then when he’s driving up and I see all the candles, I get confused, wondering why she would get so dressed up to break the poor guy’s heart. Then I think maybe she is going to try another seduction, even though that hasn’t worked out so well for her so far (which I’m loving btw). I’m sitting here thinking that at some point, that’s just going to get embarrassing for her. So when she pops the question, I have to scrape my jaw up off the ground. And I really hate to say this, but I’m going to anyway: my first two thoughts about the proposal are to wonder if a) she’s doing this to spite his family, or b) she’s doing this just because she wants to get some good Christian boning (haha). I know she’s desperate for a family and this guy actually treats her with respect, but hasn’t she only known the guy for, like, a minute? Last week she broke up with him and this week she’s proposing marriage? It’s beyond crazy, though it certainly works as a cliffhanger because I can’t wait to see what he says.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to write about the Gunnar and Scarlett (Clare Bowen) scenes and all I can think to say is how ridiculously angry that girl makes me! She is far more courteous than Avery (Jonathan Jackson) deserves when he shows up on her doorstep (and she’s just chilling … playing her banjo. Like you do). Then Gunnar confesses his love and she runs away?! I’m sorry… WHAT?!?! This guy is near perfection, in my humble opinion, and worships the ground she walks on, so what’s her problem? Oh wait, I forgot that she prefers guys that treat her like garbage, try to make her feel bad about being successful and prostitute themselves to cougars to get ahead in their career. Boy, I can see why she wouldn’t want Gunnar after that fantastic relationship! But seriously, remember last week when our collective hearts melted as she told Gunnar she didn’t want to lose him and he changed her life? WTF happened to that?! The worst is when she makes the comment about how their contracts are separate. Geez girl, you can make him sing your beautiful song alone at the Bluebird and you can run out on his declarations of love, but work is work and that is just plain insulting. My verdict for Scarlett: the girl needs a swift kick to the head.
As I have made very clear from the beginning, I think Teddy is a scumbag, and I’m not a huge fan of the casting. Tonight it seemed like Teddy was finally going to redeem himself, but instead he drives poor Peggy (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) to try to kill herself, and lies to Rayna (Connie Britton) again. In that first scene, when he is still lying about what happened with Peggy, I found myself wishing I could reach through the screen and slap this dbag. I understand why Rayna comes to his rescue at the end, but I wish she hadn’t. This guy keeps getting bailed out of things by the women in his life (and his father-in-law, Powers Boothe!). One of these days I just wish he would feel the consequences of his actions.
Other observations:
- Uhhhh, excuse me?! Deacon (Charles Esten) is going where? On tour with someone other than Rayna? Unacceptable. I’m left wondering how in the world they’re going to work that into the show because I refuse to have any less Deacon. I am aghast that they would even suggest this storyline and you can bet I will have plenty to say if it results in less screen time for him.
- Honestly, when we saw Avery on the plane with Wyclef Jean (aka Dominic King… but he’s still just Wyclef), I thought “This guy gets his own storyline now? Really?” I was under the impression that his part of the story was where he intersected with Scarlett. And now that they are no more, I hoped/figured he would fizzle out and disappear. But noooo, we have to do the classic “I want you but not your band that you’ve been with since junior high” storyline and see if he makes better (read: moral) decisions now that he’s successful than he did when he prostituted himself…to become successful. If he makes the right decision now, I’m going to find it very suspect.
- Lastly, what the heck is up with the enormous weird paintings Rayna has of her two children in their bedroom? I find them extremely creepy.
Caveat: I know I threatened/suggested a fair amount of violence regarding the events of tonight’s episode, but instead of making me unstable, it really just means that this was a great episode. I only get emotional about shows that really get to me (I swear!).
So what do you think Sean will say to Juliette’s proposal? More importantly, do you think Deacon will be on the show less because he’s on tour with the sober band, drinking their sodas the whole world over instead of helping Rayna through her crisis? Sound off below!
Nashville has finished its fall run and will return in January on ABC