Nashville – Back in the Saddle Again

By starrymag | June 7, 2017

By: Nicole Dintelman

 

After a long awaited hiatus, the good news is “Nashville” is back! The bad news is, Rayna (Connie Britton) is still dead. Let’s all face it; there is a huge hole where her presence used to be and this cast has a lot of work to do to try and fill it. Let’s dive into the midseason premiere and see if they were able to do it!

 

First, let’s go back to March when we last left our friends in “Nashville.” After Rayna’s death, Deacon (Charles Esten) was on the verge of a total breakdown when Teddy (Eric Close) and Tandy (Judith Hoag) threatened to take the girls. That at least got him to snap out of it and try to get it together somewhat to protect the kids and let them stay put for the time being. Scarlett (Clare Bowen) learned she’s pregnant and because of her recent choices, she’s not sure who the father is.

 

Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) has decided to take her music career in a whole different direction and make a gospel album. Rayna was totally behind her on this decision before she passed, which makes Juliette all the more eager to do this. Will (Chris Carmack), once again, broke things off with Kevin (Kyle Dean Massey) to date billionaire Zach (Cameron Scoggins). If things don’t work out with Zach, Kevin better not take Will back again!

 

The midseason premiere opens and ten weeks have passed. Juliette’s album has just dropped and the reviews are not good. In fact, they are all bad. Deacon has taken over at Highway 65, which is an interesting role to see him in. Bucky (David Alford) is still on board to help him with talent booking and Zach is still funding the business. Deacon gets a call from the school regarding Daphne’s (Maisy Stella) academic performance. If she doesn’t get her grades up she’s going to fail the 7th grade.

 

Scarlett is having a paternity test done to try and learn the father of her baby. Gunnar (Sam Palladio) gave a cheek swab, but Scarlett has not told Damien (Christian Coulson) she’s pregnant and she doesn’t intend to. Scarlett is hoping this test will prove that Gunnar is the father and that will be that. She’s been ignoring Damien’s texts and calls since she learned she is pregnant. Scarlett tells the nurse that she’s always careful and takes her pill at the same time every day and she just doesn’t know how this could have happened. Well, Scarlett, not everything is 100% effective!

 

Deacon tries to talk to Daphne who has a serious attitude problem. She tells him: “It’s physically impossible to turn in homework everyday.” Typical teenager response. Deacon tells her that he’s going to help her and is even more dumbfounded when she tells him that she hasn’t even started on her History project. He tells her that’s fine and they will do the project together. Deacon has come a long way from a few months ago that’s for sure.

 

Scarlett is so sweet to her fans, we hope she never changes. Gunnar asks her when they will have the results and she tells him a few days, maybe even a week. Glenn (Ed Amatrudo) tries to talk to Juliette about the reviews and she tells him that even her fans hated it and she’s a failure. Poor Juliette, she’s had a rough couple of years. Will is doing a concert and isn’t sure if he wants Zach to come. Zach tells him that he really wants to come, as his boyfriend.

 

Maddie (Lennon Stella) is in the recording studio working on her first album. Juliette pops in and gives her feedback that Maddie doesn’t particularly like. Juliette tells her that it’s not a single yet, it needs just a little bit more. Deacon and Daphne are making Amelia Earhart’s plane for her History project, but she’s not participating. She tells him she doesn’t care if she has to take the year over again because it doesn’t matter, they could all die at any time anyway. Poor Daphne. For a girl, losing your momma is one of the hardest things you will ever go through.

 

Deacon drops Daphne off at school, the plane in hand, and someone knocks it out of her hand and it breaks! The jerk didn’t even stop to say sorry! Daphne runs off from the school and doesn’t go inside. Juliette is telling Avery (Jonathan Jackson) what she would do to fix Maddie’s song and Avery tells her that she needs to have Maddie listen to what she’s hearing. Daphne meets a girl on the side of the street who reads her palm and then assaults a stranger with a can and they have to run off. The girl, Liv (Odessa Adlon), takes Daphne to an abandoned building to finish her fortune. They start singing music from the show “Daria” and put on a show for the other homeless individuals in the building.

 

Gunnar is reading a book about becoming a dad when Will interrupts him asking him which shirt he should wear. The funny thing is the shirts are exactly alike. Will is nervous because Zach is coming to his show. The executives at Highway 65 are having a meeting and Zach is trying to talk Deacon and Bucky into getting into doing a Mindshare. Zach wants to make the company profitable again, but tells them they’re not going to do that by doing things the way they did in the past. Deacon gets a call about Daphne skipping school and has to leave the meeting, which frustrates Zach. Maddie finally calls telling Deacon that Daphne is at home.

 

Daphne tells Deacon that she’s not Maddie and he’s trying to make them a family, but they’re not. They’ve got to get her some counseling. She’s hurting. Maddie did Juliette’s version of her song but she doesn’t feel that it’s her. Juliette tells Maddie that she knows what works and what doesn’t and Maddie asks her why her album didn’t work. Burn! Maddie that was harsh. As always, Will puts on a great show. We’d definitely buy his record.

 

Deacon takes Daphne to see a therapist. Thank goodness! Daphne tells the therapist that she doesn’t want to be here, which to Daphne means anywhere. The therapist tells Deacon that she’s suffering from deep depression. Daphne needs to go to therapy twice a week and Deacon needs to just love her through it. Scarlett and Gunnar get the paternity results and the test confirms he is NOT the father. We are not surprised, where would the drama be if he were? Gunnar tells Scarlett that it doesn’t matter, he still loves her. However, he tells Avery that every time he looks at Scarlett he sees Damien.

 

Maddie takes the two versions of her song to Clayton (Joseph David-Jones) to see what he thinks. Clay tells her that he can pick hers out immediately and it’s better. Only he picks Juliette’s version and not Maddie’s. Ouch! He tells her that it’s her album and she should use the one that she likes best. Clay tells her that she has to please herself because at the end of the day that’s what matters the most.

 

Deacon and Daphne are having dinner and he tries to sing about beans to make her laugh. It almost works when Maddie gets home and Daphne leaves to go to her room. Maddie tells Deacon that she wishes she could ask her mom about her song. She says that Rayna was always true to her voice. Deacon says that she was, but she also made compromises also to benefit others.

 

Deacon meets with Zach again and Zach implies that he wants to get rid of Bucky. Deacon tells Zach that he’s been with them for a very long time. We think Zach is overstepping his bounds a bit. Juliette and Maddie meet for coffee and Maddie tells her that she’s going to use her version of the song. Juliette asks her what made her change her mind and Maddie tells her that she listened. Gunnar runs to Scarlett’s house; literally, runs. He tells her that she’s the best person that he’s ever known and he can’t take losing her. He wants to be with her and she tells him, yes, but it doesn’t seem like her heart is in it.

 

Deacon and Maddie make Rayna’s silly noodle casserole for dinner and Daphne says that she’s not hungry. Deacon asks Daphne to talk to him about it and she yells: “Screw you!” Deacon tells her that it’s ok and she doesn’t have to talk to him, he understands that she’s angry and he knows that everything isn’t okay. Maddie tells Daphne that they love her. Deacon tells her they will always be here for her. Daphne lets them hug her, which is a step in the right direction for this broken family.