My "Nashville" 1x11 Recap
Apologize if I got the lyrics wrong. I did my best. I may stop the recaps for this and Arrow depending on personal issues. I’ll keep going for the time being.
We open with Juliette and Rayna performing “Wrong Song” together. Though, it’s really more like Rayna and Liam are doing foreplay while Juliette interrupts them with her singing and existence. Juliette fumes about it offstage and gets more upset when she learns she’s giving them a lift back to Nashville. Meanwhile, Ming Na as Calista Reeves from Countless Records has come to woo Rayna. Liam has also taken to that. Given how the episode ends, this is retroactively skeezy.
In Scarlett’s place, she and Gunnar work on a duet called “One Works Better.” The lyrics are as follows:
This plane can’t fly on just one engine
This heart can’t beat without affection
I’m not a choice of natural selection
This house can’t stand fine on its own
This hand-
....
There’s regretting and survival
I’ve got a voice and I’ve made my choice
Between heartbreak and revival
Don’t you worry your head
How I make everything look easy to do
Darling, it’s my pleasure doing everything better without you
‘Cause one works better than two
‘Cause one works better than two
The song is interrupted by Gunnar’s cheap guitar slipping out of tune. He vaguely tells Scarlett what happened but mostly insists he needs money from this job to buy a new one. Scarlett wants to try her luck at winter fest but is discouraged when she finds out Avery will be performing there. To be fair, it is an opportunity to guilt Avery into buying one of your songs but why do that when you can sulk?
On a stage, Avery finds out he’s getting at least $1,000 on his next gig and he’s going to Rayna and Juliette’s “Wrong Song” party. Marilyn is trying to get back into his good graces and I can’t imagine why. He can’t be that good in bed though maybe it would explain Scarlett’s whole character. I’d give my opinion on her character but this recap is already full of me taking stances.
On a plane, Juliette, Emily, Rayna, Liam, Bucky and Glenn are all in close quarters which means fighting. They hit a few topics including Calista wanting to steal Rayna from Edgehill, Juliette getting edged out in the “Wrong Song” performances and Juliette’s mother’s court hearing. A lot of controversy has been made about the way Rayna and Liam laugh at Juliette about the last thing. Some people have complained Rayna in particular was too insensitive about Juliette’s mom being a drug addict. I think they were more laughing about Juliette acting like a victim when she has her own agenda. That’s just me. The cat fight won’t become too interesting to me until it’s clothing optional. Finally, the people on the plane see an article about Deacon getting “fired” from the The Revel Kings.
Cut to Deacon’s place where he’s yelling on the phone to Carmen. The Revel Kings claimed Deacon was fired for becoming an addict again. Deacon, who has been sober 4,420 days (that’s 12 years), explains he was just defending his niece and didn’t want to tell the papers to protect her privacy. Yet, you’re telling a reporter right now to save yourself? Stay classy, Deacon. Carmen does not believe him and he is forced to hang up.
Rayna comes home and surprises her girls. Soon enough they’ve run off so Rayna can get a weird gift from Calista. It’s a model plane with a watch wrapped around it. I feel like on another show that could be interpreted as a bomb threat. Instead, it’s Calista offering to buy Rayna a plane if she leaves Edgehill. Teddy doesn’t care about all the money that their family desperately needs being within their reach. He wants to DTR. Rayna is not having it. It’s worth noting they have not had sex in months. I’m frankly shocked they had sex ever.
At the courthouse, Juliette, Jolene and Jolene’s lawyer are inside while the press mobs the outside. Deacon shows up. Apparently, he was supposed to speak on Jolene’s behalf because he’s practically her sponsor (according to Juliette) but given there was just a national article about Deacon falling off the wagon, he doesn’t think he’s the best choice for the job. Juliette for her part knows the article is crap but panics when she has to speak for her own mother. Poor Jolene was probably hoping that love really is blind.
At Rayna’s house, Teddy takes care of the girls while Calista has a meeting with Rayna in the livingroom. Calista says all the right things (and there is a reason for that as we find out later). She mentions being a working mom and sole breadwinner, mentions hating Juliette and mentions wanting to be Rayna’s partner unlike Marshall who has to be tricked into doing what Rayna wants. She adds that Liam will vouch for her. This is a big deal because Rayna has a strong affinity for men who are not in her family.
At the Belmont Winter Music Fest, Avery performs a song called, “Keep Asking Why.” The lyrics are as follows:
You got the hold in your hands
And this is brave what you planned
I tell the crazies ‘spread the word to the rest for a start’
There’s a song that I can’t hear
Hope you know that it’s still unclear
Ask for forgiveness
Restoration for my soul and I’m still fulfilled
I know I’ve seen an angel
I know that if I try
Now I’m going to heaven
And keep on asking why
Scarlett watches everyone liking Avery’s music and is sad. Don’t be, the sound quality is terrible. As she’s leaving, she sees JT had the same idea as she did. They leave together.
At the courthouse, the time comes for Juliette to speak for her mother. Deacon encourages Juliette to speak from the heart. She does but it’s lukewarm. She hopes this time her mom will stay sober. Them’s are the opposite of fighting words. Afterwards, Deacon teases Juliette about her speech but she claims it is all she had in her. She also complains about having to go to a party where everyone is giving Rayna credit for the song they are writing together. Deacon acknowledges that Juliette did contribute. He also reveals he is going to disappear in the wake of his scandal. Juliette tries to get him to come on tour with her instead. Jolene has to finish rehab before an appeal can be made for her criminal charges. However, she still has the day pass so Deacon invites her to be his date to Juliette’s party. Juliette objects at first but cannot resist Deacon or his facial hair.
At the studio, Bucky encourages Rayna to take Calista’s deal. Rayna thinks something feels wrong about it. She also complains about Liam giving Calista her unfinished new tracks. Liam makes the sell and makes a crack about her marriage that has even Bucky thinking they’re doing something that rhymes with Buck.
Back at Belmont, JT and Scarlett are having some drinks. Scarlett suggests murdering Avery. I’m sure almost anyone that’s ever met him is on board. JT’s counter proposal is that Gunnar and Scarlett join the old band.
At Deacon’s place, Deacon is selling his house to go stay at the cabin. In what is a very loaded scene, Rayna tries to reach out about Coleman and Deacon’s band problems. Deacon does not want to talk to Rayna because lately she has been nothing but bad news. This gets to the core of their problems. Deacon doesn’t like that Rayna is married to Teddy and that she didn’t wait for him. Rayna on the other hand, does not think she should be blamed for not knowing the fifth time in rehab would be the charm for him. Deacon tells her to get out of his life. Guilt tripping a girl about not wanting you and then getting rid of her is a weird tactic to win her heart. Just saying.
At the “Wrong Song” party, which I should mention is celebrating the song becoming number 1, everyone is flailing over Rayna, including the people talking to Juliette. Juliette handles this as well as you would expect. The most interesting part of the scene is how the show’s promotional material have been slapped together to make this poster.
At the Bluebird Café, Gunnar gets a call from his brother’s parole officer. Jason has become a fugitive and if Gunnar knows anything he is also a fugitive. Given Gunnar’s guitar was sold for his brother’s gun, Gunnar is probably imagining what kind of blues songs he’ll be writing from jail. For the time being, he just puts on a happy face and listens to the perpetually oblivious Scarlett babble.
At the party, Rayna chats up Chris Young and Brantley Gilbert and hugs Teddy while Liam watches like the creeper he is. Meanwhile, Juliette keeps trying to keep her mom in line while Avery fails to get her attention. Marilyn doesn’t get enjoyment out of this because she’s still wasting time with him for some reason.
At Deacon’s place, he declines a call from Juliette and does not make a call to his sponsor. It is a scene about nothing happening really.
At the Bluebird Café, Scarlett pitches working with Avery’s old band. She is really nice but Gunnar is all mad about the fact he might go to prison. She gets offended. He has to make it up to her. Rinse and repeat. Something that makes this scene interesting is that Gunnar’s brother Jason dropped off Gunnar’s guitar earlier in the day. The guy who delivers it to him is the real bartender at the real Bluebird seen here:
At the “Wrong Song” Party, Teddy presents an award to Rayna and Juliette to thank them for their song. He gives extra attention to Rayna like a good puppy. Avery tries to recreate the moment in the pilot where he bumped into Juliette and she hit on him. Instead, she is watching her mom touch all the food on the food trays and talking to Rayna. Juliette runs off without hearing a word Avery says but does use the word “sorry.” Does she have a polite default setting? She tells off her mother without kindness though. That is a great way to handle a newly sober person. In another part of the party, Marshall comes and tosses Rayna a compliment. Then he reveals that Liam gets a huge reward for recruiting Rayna to Calista’s label. Rayna fires Liam. Some said that this was out of character. While Liam does not like people who are fake when it comes to music, I do think that he admires people who play the game. Plus, he was honest when confronted. This all makes sense to me for this character.
At Rayna’s house, Teddy and Rayna have a fight about her firing Liam and her inability to trust people because of Teddy. Teddy brings it down to basics which is that Deacon let her down over and over. What Rayna liked about Teddy was that he was stable. So, when he became a business failure, he committed a crime to make himself appear still stable because that is what Rayna loved about him. Now, of course, this is insane reasoning. Let’s be honest. However, the main point is that he was not trying to betray Rayna, he was trying to please her out of love.
Teddy: “Wrong choice. Right reason. Maybe that’s why we ended up together.”
At Scarlett’s place, she meets with the band to tell them Gunnar is not interested. However, Gunnar is already there to play. He admits he is not always a good guy. She just wants him to talk his stuff out. They play instead. It is too bad he did not talk because I would love to see Scarlett as the accessory to a crime.
At Deacon’s place, Juliette shows up pissed at him for not showing up at the party to take care of her mom (how did her mom get in without an invite?), but she softens when she sees him in a bad place. He has trashed his apartment. She tells him he needs music so he should go on the road with her and there is even an AA meeting within her band. He admits he got sober for Rayna and the idea of being with Rayna which is never going to happen. In Rayna’s mind it does. Deacon then says that he and Jolene are the same, she is just doing better than him. I love Deacon but I think he over-identifies with Jolene so that he is blind to Juliette’s justifiable caution. Yes, it would probably help Jolene stay sober if Juliette was in her corner but on the other hand Juliette spent her entire childhood getting abused, molested and starving due to Jolene’s drug problem. That is worth thinking about.
However, Juliette adores Deacon more than any other character we have seen her with so she goes to Jolene and apologizes for not speaking up for her more at the courthouse. Jolene calls Juliette an equal with Rayna (who Juliette admired growing up) and says she never said it before because she did not think Juliette would care about her opinion. Turns out she does. Oh the power of Deacon Always Right Claybourne.
In his new car, Avery hears his song “Kiss” playing on the radio for the first time and is genuinely happy until he drives by the house he shared with Scarlett. He sees the band, Scarlett and Gunnar playing and being happy without him. This upsets him either because of emotions of that annoying laugh Scarlett gets out at the end.
At the airport, Rayna says goodbye to her girls. She tells Teddy he was the right choice and she considers herself married. They hug and she, Juliette, Bucky, Glenn and Emily board the plane. Just when you think it is going to be smooth sailing or flying as the case may be, Deacon rushes through the airport (being seen by Rayna’s family) and boards the plane. Rayna thinks Deacon is there for her but no, he is there to join Juliette’s band. Teddy tries to take the plane down just through the power of his stare. He is as ineffectual at this as he is at all things.
Now, here is Juliette’s set list from the last episode. There were ten songs and we have heard six so far.
Tell me your thoughts if you have any.
We open with Juliette and Rayna performing “Wrong Song” together. Though, it’s really more like Rayna and Liam are doing foreplay while Juliette interrupts them with her singing and existence. Juliette fumes about it offstage and gets more upset when she learns she’s giving them a lift back to Nashville. Meanwhile, Ming Na as Calista Reeves from Countless Records has come to woo Rayna. Liam has also taken to that. Given how the episode ends, this is retroactively skeezy.
In Scarlett’s place, she and Gunnar work on a duet called “One Works Better.” The lyrics are as follows:
This plane can’t fly on just one engine
This heart can’t beat without affection
I’m not a choice of natural selection
This house can’t stand fine on its own
This hand-
....
There’s regretting and survival
I’ve got a voice and I’ve made my choice
Between heartbreak and revival
Don’t you worry your head
How I make everything look easy to do
Darling, it’s my pleasure doing everything better without you
‘Cause one works better than two
‘Cause one works better than two
The song is interrupted by Gunnar’s cheap guitar slipping out of tune. He vaguely tells Scarlett what happened but mostly insists he needs money from this job to buy a new one. Scarlett wants to try her luck at winter fest but is discouraged when she finds out Avery will be performing there. To be fair, it is an opportunity to guilt Avery into buying one of your songs but why do that when you can sulk?
On a stage, Avery finds out he’s getting at least $1,000 on his next gig and he’s going to Rayna and Juliette’s “Wrong Song” party. Marilyn is trying to get back into his good graces and I can’t imagine why. He can’t be that good in bed though maybe it would explain Scarlett’s whole character. I’d give my opinion on her character but this recap is already full of me taking stances.
On a plane, Juliette, Emily, Rayna, Liam, Bucky and Glenn are all in close quarters which means fighting. They hit a few topics including Calista wanting to steal Rayna from Edgehill, Juliette getting edged out in the “Wrong Song” performances and Juliette’s mother’s court hearing. A lot of controversy has been made about the way Rayna and Liam laugh at Juliette about the last thing. Some people have complained Rayna in particular was too insensitive about Juliette’s mom being a drug addict. I think they were more laughing about Juliette acting like a victim when she has her own agenda. That’s just me. The cat fight won’t become too interesting to me until it’s clothing optional. Finally, the people on the plane see an article about Deacon getting “fired” from the The Revel Kings.
Cut to Deacon’s place where he’s yelling on the phone to Carmen. The Revel Kings claimed Deacon was fired for becoming an addict again. Deacon, who has been sober 4,420 days (that’s 12 years), explains he was just defending his niece and didn’t want to tell the papers to protect her privacy. Yet, you’re telling a reporter right now to save yourself? Stay classy, Deacon. Carmen does not believe him and he is forced to hang up.
Rayna comes home and surprises her girls. Soon enough they’ve run off so Rayna can get a weird gift from Calista. It’s a model plane with a watch wrapped around it. I feel like on another show that could be interpreted as a bomb threat. Instead, it’s Calista offering to buy Rayna a plane if she leaves Edgehill. Teddy doesn’t care about all the money that their family desperately needs being within their reach. He wants to DTR. Rayna is not having it. It’s worth noting they have not had sex in months. I’m frankly shocked they had sex ever.
At the courthouse, Juliette, Jolene and Jolene’s lawyer are inside while the press mobs the outside. Deacon shows up. Apparently, he was supposed to speak on Jolene’s behalf because he’s practically her sponsor (according to Juliette) but given there was just a national article about Deacon falling off the wagon, he doesn’t think he’s the best choice for the job. Juliette for her part knows the article is crap but panics when she has to speak for her own mother. Poor Jolene was probably hoping that love really is blind.
At Rayna’s house, Teddy takes care of the girls while Calista has a meeting with Rayna in the livingroom. Calista says all the right things (and there is a reason for that as we find out later). She mentions being a working mom and sole breadwinner, mentions hating Juliette and mentions wanting to be Rayna’s partner unlike Marshall who has to be tricked into doing what Rayna wants. She adds that Liam will vouch for her. This is a big deal because Rayna has a strong affinity for men who are not in her family.
At the Belmont Winter Music Fest, Avery performs a song called, “Keep Asking Why.” The lyrics are as follows:
You got the hold in your hands
And this is brave what you planned
I tell the crazies ‘spread the word to the rest for a start’
There’s a song that I can’t hear
Hope you know that it’s still unclear
Ask for forgiveness
Restoration for my soul and I’m still fulfilled
I know I’ve seen an angel
I know that if I try
Now I’m going to heaven
And keep on asking why
Scarlett watches everyone liking Avery’s music and is sad. Don’t be, the sound quality is terrible. As she’s leaving, she sees JT had the same idea as she did. They leave together.
At the courthouse, the time comes for Juliette to speak for her mother. Deacon encourages Juliette to speak from the heart. She does but it’s lukewarm. She hopes this time her mom will stay sober. Them’s are the opposite of fighting words. Afterwards, Deacon teases Juliette about her speech but she claims it is all she had in her. She also complains about having to go to a party where everyone is giving Rayna credit for the song they are writing together. Deacon acknowledges that Juliette did contribute. He also reveals he is going to disappear in the wake of his scandal. Juliette tries to get him to come on tour with her instead. Jolene has to finish rehab before an appeal can be made for her criminal charges. However, she still has the day pass so Deacon invites her to be his date to Juliette’s party. Juliette objects at first but cannot resist Deacon or his facial hair.
At the studio, Bucky encourages Rayna to take Calista’s deal. Rayna thinks something feels wrong about it. She also complains about Liam giving Calista her unfinished new tracks. Liam makes the sell and makes a crack about her marriage that has even Bucky thinking they’re doing something that rhymes with Buck.
Back at Belmont, JT and Scarlett are having some drinks. Scarlett suggests murdering Avery. I’m sure almost anyone that’s ever met him is on board. JT’s counter proposal is that Gunnar and Scarlett join the old band.
At Deacon’s place, Deacon is selling his house to go stay at the cabin. In what is a very loaded scene, Rayna tries to reach out about Coleman and Deacon’s band problems. Deacon does not want to talk to Rayna because lately she has been nothing but bad news. This gets to the core of their problems. Deacon doesn’t like that Rayna is married to Teddy and that she didn’t wait for him. Rayna on the other hand, does not think she should be blamed for not knowing the fifth time in rehab would be the charm for him. Deacon tells her to get out of his life. Guilt tripping a girl about not wanting you and then getting rid of her is a weird tactic to win her heart. Just saying.
At the “Wrong Song” party, which I should mention is celebrating the song becoming number 1, everyone is flailing over Rayna, including the people talking to Juliette. Juliette handles this as well as you would expect. The most interesting part of the scene is how the show’s promotional material have been slapped together to make this poster.
At the Bluebird Café, Gunnar gets a call from his brother’s parole officer. Jason has become a fugitive and if Gunnar knows anything he is also a fugitive. Given Gunnar’s guitar was sold for his brother’s gun, Gunnar is probably imagining what kind of blues songs he’ll be writing from jail. For the time being, he just puts on a happy face and listens to the perpetually oblivious Scarlett babble.
At the party, Rayna chats up Chris Young and Brantley Gilbert and hugs Teddy while Liam watches like the creeper he is. Meanwhile, Juliette keeps trying to keep her mom in line while Avery fails to get her attention. Marilyn doesn’t get enjoyment out of this because she’s still wasting time with him for some reason.
At Deacon’s place, he declines a call from Juliette and does not make a call to his sponsor. It is a scene about nothing happening really.
At the Bluebird Café, Scarlett pitches working with Avery’s old band. She is really nice but Gunnar is all mad about the fact he might go to prison. She gets offended. He has to make it up to her. Rinse and repeat. Something that makes this scene interesting is that Gunnar’s brother Jason dropped off Gunnar’s guitar earlier in the day. The guy who delivers it to him is the real bartender at the real Bluebird seen here:
At the “Wrong Song” Party, Teddy presents an award to Rayna and Juliette to thank them for their song. He gives extra attention to Rayna like a good puppy. Avery tries to recreate the moment in the pilot where he bumped into Juliette and she hit on him. Instead, she is watching her mom touch all the food on the food trays and talking to Rayna. Juliette runs off without hearing a word Avery says but does use the word “sorry.” Does she have a polite default setting? She tells off her mother without kindness though. That is a great way to handle a newly sober person. In another part of the party, Marshall comes and tosses Rayna a compliment. Then he reveals that Liam gets a huge reward for recruiting Rayna to Calista’s label. Rayna fires Liam. Some said that this was out of character. While Liam does not like people who are fake when it comes to music, I do think that he admires people who play the game. Plus, he was honest when confronted. This all makes sense to me for this character.
At Rayna’s house, Teddy and Rayna have a fight about her firing Liam and her inability to trust people because of Teddy. Teddy brings it down to basics which is that Deacon let her down over and over. What Rayna liked about Teddy was that he was stable. So, when he became a business failure, he committed a crime to make himself appear still stable because that is what Rayna loved about him. Now, of course, this is insane reasoning. Let’s be honest. However, the main point is that he was not trying to betray Rayna, he was trying to please her out of love.
Teddy: “Wrong choice. Right reason. Maybe that’s why we ended up together.”
At Scarlett’s place, she meets with the band to tell them Gunnar is not interested. However, Gunnar is already there to play. He admits he is not always a good guy. She just wants him to talk his stuff out. They play instead. It is too bad he did not talk because I would love to see Scarlett as the accessory to a crime.
At Deacon’s place, Juliette shows up pissed at him for not showing up at the party to take care of her mom (how did her mom get in without an invite?), but she softens when she sees him in a bad place. He has trashed his apartment. She tells him he needs music so he should go on the road with her and there is even an AA meeting within her band. He admits he got sober for Rayna and the idea of being with Rayna which is never going to happen. In Rayna’s mind it does. Deacon then says that he and Jolene are the same, she is just doing better than him. I love Deacon but I think he over-identifies with Jolene so that he is blind to Juliette’s justifiable caution. Yes, it would probably help Jolene stay sober if Juliette was in her corner but on the other hand Juliette spent her entire childhood getting abused, molested and starving due to Jolene’s drug problem. That is worth thinking about.
However, Juliette adores Deacon more than any other character we have seen her with so she goes to Jolene and apologizes for not speaking up for her more at the courthouse. Jolene calls Juliette an equal with Rayna (who Juliette admired growing up) and says she never said it before because she did not think Juliette would care about her opinion. Turns out she does. Oh the power of Deacon Always Right Claybourne.
In his new car, Avery hears his song “Kiss” playing on the radio for the first time and is genuinely happy until he drives by the house he shared with Scarlett. He sees the band, Scarlett and Gunnar playing and being happy without him. This upsets him either because of emotions of that annoying laugh Scarlett gets out at the end.
At the airport, Rayna says goodbye to her girls. She tells Teddy he was the right choice and she considers herself married. They hug and she, Juliette, Bucky, Glenn and Emily board the plane. Just when you think it is going to be smooth sailing or flying as the case may be, Deacon rushes through the airport (being seen by Rayna’s family) and boards the plane. Rayna thinks Deacon is there for her but no, he is there to join Juliette’s band. Teddy tries to take the plane down just through the power of his stare. He is as ineffectual at this as he is at all things.
Now, here is Juliette’s set list from the last episode. There were ten songs and we have heard six so far.
Tell me your thoughts if you have any.