After a jaw-dropping mid-season finale, Nashville is back. All the characters are on a roller coaster ride that some may not survive. Those on top are falling while others are climbing the mountain of success.

In this episode, special guest star Kelly Clarkson makes Gunnar and Scarlett a life-changing offer. Teddy’s life is forever changed. Will deals with his life choices. Rayna gets a serious dose of reality, as does Deacon. Juliette’s star is fading fast. 

Surviving Tragedy 

Peggy is dead, not a big shocker there. The guy who did it was after Teddy, duh, but something doesn’t add up. While reeling from his wife’s death, Teddy learns the gunman was after Teddy because the gunman lost his job. Something doesn’t add up because Teddy wasn’t mayor when the gunman lost his job. Smells like a bad cover up to me, and Teddy too, who gets worried his family is still in danger. He distances himself from the girls for their own safety. He breaks down while looking at photos of Peggy. Seriously think Teddy is going to lose it soon. 

Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen 

Protesters continue to hound Juliette. Everywhere she goes there is someone spouting off hateful comments. A guy even goes so far as to throw black paint on her. It was actually kind of funny. When one protester makes remarks about Juliette’s mom, she defends herself. In true paparazzi fashion, the words are taken out of context. A video of her saying “there is no God” goes viral, causes more haters to hate on her. In order to save face, Juliette must rely on Layla to set the record straight. Yep, her nemesis was right there when the whole exchange went down. After a little graveling and bribing, Layla holds a press conference. She reveals what Juliette really said ‘there is no god that would listen to a crackpot like you.” Alone later, Juliette cries while watching footage of people burning her picture on TV. 

Highway 65 Is A Go 

Rayna officially launches Highway 65. She meets with Liam about the album. The market research indicating that Better Days is not the single to launch her new album haunts her. Liam tells her to trust her artistic vision. After sending out the song to some trusted listeners, Rayna learns Jeff may have been right. The song is not good enough to launch her new album. It is back to the drawing board for the superstar. Bucky reminds her how easy it was to write with Deacon. 

Happiness Is Bad For Music 

Deacon meets with an A&R rep. The rep tells him his music is missing something. Advises Deacon to get back to the kind of magic music he wrote when with Rayna. Yes, I smell a little music reconciliation here, but that is for later. The advice gives Deacon writers block, causing him to fight with Megan and almost drink. Later though he shares with his ladylove, he is used to writing when he was miserable. Basically, he doesn’t know how to write when he is happy. Thankfully, Maddie comes to help him and they write a tune in a hot second. They of course perform it for Rayna as she and Deacon lock eyes the whole time. You know where that is headed – poor Megan.

The Haunting Secret 

After Will is a no show at an interview, Brent pays Zoey and Gunnar a visit. The two figure out where Will is thanks to his computer search history. Gunnar finds a shamed Will at a campsite. Those demons Will has been fighting are getting the best of him. Gunnar freaks on his roommate when the topic of suicide comes up. Gunnar has lost a lot of people close to him. The boys chat about Will struggling to be gay in country music. In the end, not much is resolved other than Gunnar makes Will promise to call if things get bad again. Later Will tries to kick Brent off the tour. 

Throwing It All Away

Kelly Clarkson wants to record Gunner and Scarlett’s song, “Fade Into You”. Gunnar and Scarlett end up performing a different song for Clarkson and their chemistry sizzles while they sing. Kelly asks them to write for her. Scarlett reveals she and Gunner can’t write together anymore. That is right. Scarlett throws away a life-changing opportunity. Gunner is livid and realizes he and his ex will never be friends. He and Zoey exchange “I Love You’s” – so something good happened, I guess. Avery too is pissed. More like jealous, actually. He and Scarlett fight prompting her to question his feelings for Juliette. In the end, the on again off again couple are now off again. Scarlett packs her bags and boards a bus, to where, we don’t know. You will have to tune in next week to find out that juicy detail. 

Nashville airs Wednesday nights on ABC at 10PM.

(Image Courtesy of ABC)

small_logo

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV