Nashville – Ghost in This House

By: Nicole Dintelman

Previously on “Nashville” a gossip columnist reported that Gunnar (Sam Palladio) is not the father of Scarlett’s (Clare Bowen) unborn child. It was leaked that Damien (Christian Coulson) is, in fact, the father. While this is the truth, Scarlett didn’t want this getting out. She was just fine with everyone thinking the baby was Gunnar’s. It was better for her and it was also better for their band’s image. Now there’s going to have to be a lot of damage control done.

Maddie (Lennon Stella) and Daphne (Maisey Stella) got into a huge fight when Maddie found out it was Daphne and Liv (Odessa Aldon) who made the GIF of her online. Deacon (Charles Esten) took Daphne’s phone away for a month and Maddie kicked Liv out of the house. The girls eventually made up on their own and Maddie apologized to Liv and asked her to move back in, but she said no. Bucky (David Alford) also signed on to be Maddie’s manager, which we think is awesome!

Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) was in full-blown crazy mode and accused Avery (Jonathan Jackson) and Hallie (Rhiannon Giddens) of doing more than just making music together. We’re not exactly sure what is fueling her paranoia, but she has a lot of it. Maybe she’s bored. Juliette definitely feels left out since Avery and Hallie have grown closer, but that is what happens when you’re spending so much time in the studio. Avery would never cheat on Juliette though and she knows that.

This week on “Nashville” Deacon takes the girls to breakfast and they run into Diane Harrison (Lane Carlock). She tells him how sorry she is to hear about Rayna (Connie Britton) and everything. Diane turns her flirt on thick, but Deacon tells the girls that they’re the only ladies he’s interested in right now. Scarlett goes to the Highway 65 offices to see if Alyssa (Rachel Bilson) can spin her new PR problem into something positive. Alyssa tells Scarlett that she’s destroyed the fan fantasy about her. Scarlett tells her it’s Mackenzie Rhodes (Amanda Brooks), she’s the one that destroyed everything. Alyssa tells Scarlett tells they need to do a surprise performance and only announce it on social media with a meet and greet afterwards.

Will (Chris Carmack) is at a meeting for his Budweiser commercial. They tell him that he’s liked by straight men and women. Will is also told that everyone wants to have a beer with Will Lexington. Zach (Cameron Scoggins) and Alyssa are having a meeting with Jessie Caine (Kaitlin Doubleday) at the Highway 65 offices when Deacon is leaving for the day. Zach calls him in and tells him that they were thinking that Jessie might make a good addition to the Highway 65 family. Deacon tells Zach, yeah, they can talk about that but he’s on his way out right now.

Zach walks out with Deacon and asks him about the gossip surrounding Jessie. Deacon tells him that he doesn’t listen to the gossip. Zach tells Deacon that he wants him to meet with Jessie too before he signs her. Deacon asks him why and Zach tells him he just wants him to meet with her. Deacon tells Zach that he will meet with her, but he also wants to hear some of her new music before they sign her as well. Zach agrees.

Will is on set to film his new video. They’re using Johnny Cash as a mentor to create Will’s look for the video. They want to remake Will into the new “Man in Black.” Jakob (Murray Fine), the tailor, plants some questions in Will’s head about Zach and his faithfulness. Scarlett and Gunnar are doing their pop-up show and Scarlett sees a familiar face in the audience, Nadine. She remembered her from when she signed her cast at another show. Nadine (Isabella Amara) is so upset with Scarlett because she thinks that she cheated on Gunnar.

Jessie and Deacon meet at a diner to discuss her music career. Deacon tells her that other than The Bluebird he hasn’t heard much of her new music. Jessie says that she does have some new stuff she can send him, but she thinks he may find it too raw and personal. Deacon asked her why she thinks that and she tells him because she does. The two of them end up talking for hours about much more than music. Deacon still can’t talk about Rayna without tears. He was the happiest when he was with her. Jessie tells him that she envies him because of what he had with Rayna. It’s nice to see Deacon talking with someone about everything. Hopefully, he’s making a friend.

Juliette and Avery are having breakfast and Juliette tells him she will be at the studio late so she will call Emily (Kourtney Hansen) to watch Cadence. Avery tells her there’s no need since he’ll be home. Juliette asks him what he means as she thought he’d be in the studio with Hallie and he tells her that he found Hallie a new producer. Juliette tells Avery that he must have agreed with something that she said if he went to that much trouble. Avery tells her that he didn’t agree with any of it, but he knows how she is. Things can only go one way with her, her way.

Scarlett goes to see Mackenzie Rhodes and tells her that she’s a manipulative liar. Mackenzie tells Scarlett that she didn’t tell her that anything they talked about was off the record. Scarlett told her that she made it seem like she had something to be ashamed of and she doesn’t have anything to be ashamed of. Scarlett tells Mackenzie that she feels sorry for her, she really does, and she leaves. Somehow we don’t think that little confrontation is going to be a good thing for Scarlett. Mackenzie seems like the type of person to get even.

Will goes to meet Zach for dinner, who greets him with raincoats. Okay, is this an inside joke here? Why did you buy your boyfriend raincoats? Right away Zach can tell something is off with Will. Will asks Zach who else he’s dating. Zach tells him that he’s not dating anyone else and wants to know who gave him that idea. Will tells him it’s something Jakob said. Zach tells him that ancient dinosaur knows nothing and there’s only him. The other dinner guests start to arrive then. Did Zach buy them raincoats too?

Scarlett is at home on Facebook and decides to message Nadine to see if she will meet up with her. When Deacon gets home he finds the girls digging in the fridge and they ask him to make them dinner. There is also a casserole on the counter and Deacon asks what it is and they tell him that Diane dropped it off. They tell him they wanted to run for their lives. Lane is definitely laying it on thick. We’re not thinking that Deacon is ready to date yet. Deacon also gets a voicemail from Jessie to let him know that she’s playing a gig if he and Zach would like to come to hear her new music.

Nadie asks Scarlett why she wants to meet because she’s just a stupid fan. Scarlett tells her that she’s not stupid. Nadine tells Scarlett that when she listens to her music and reads about her and Gunnar she can forget who she is and pretend to be Scarlett. Then, Scarlett proved she was human and ended her fantasy. Just then Nadine’s phone chimed and she tells Scarlett it is her mom and she has to go. Nadine says that she can’t leave her mom home for very long.

It’s commercial time for Will and he’s nervous. Zach tells him that he’s going to do great and everything goes great on set. Deacon meets Alyssa for dinner. Alyssa tells Deacon that she wants a lay of the land, get to know who she’s working with. Deacon tells her that he has his daughters at home so he can’t do a big meeting. Alyssa tells Deacon that she knows that he doesn’t like her and he says that’s not true so she says let me rephrase: “I know you don’t like anything I stand for.” Deacon tells her that may be true.

The waitress arrives with two martini’s and Alyssa says that she went ahead and ordered. She tells him you can never go wrong with a martini! Deacon says that he can’t drink one either because he doesn’t drink. Alyssa tells him that she wants to find the best way she can help him with Highway 65. Deacon tells her that he’s a guitar player and he never dreamed he’d be running the business. He’s doing it because he couldn’t let Rayna’s dream die. It’s a label for artists. Alyssa tells him that he’s a handsome widower still married to his grief, he’s straight out of a romance novel. Then, she asks him how his meeting with Jessie Caine went and implied that Jessie has a crush on him. Uh oh, Alyssa put your cupid arrow away!

Zach and Will are asleep and a vibrating phone wakes Will up in the middle of the night. He gets up to get some water, but still hears the phone. It wasn’t his phone nor Zach’s on the nightstand. He finds the second phone in Zach’s jacket pocket. Busted! Who’s Jeff, Zach? The next morning Zach comes in to find Will packed to go home. Zach asks him what was going on and Will asks him why he has different cell phones and who is Jeff. Zach asks for a chance to explain. Will tells him that he doesn’t really want to hear it. Zach tells him that Jeff is a guy that loves him and won’t let go. He’s fragile and it’s really hard for him to hurt people. Will tells Zach that he’s hurting him and leaves.

Mackenzie Rhodes wrote another article. Gunnar tells Scarlett that allowing herself to get all wrapped up in all of it is unhealthy. Scarlett tells him that he doesn’t know what it’s like being a girl. Scarlett gets an idea and rushes off. Deacon calls Jessie and tells her that he does want to hear more songs so send them on. She asks him if he wants to come to her show and he hesitates then tells her that it’s weird right now. Deacon tells Jessie that he doesn’t talk to that many people and he just wants to be clear about what’s going on. Jessie tells Deacon that she’s not looking for a relationship with anyone ever and she’ll just see him around. Well, that went fantastic.

Scarlett calls Mackenzie and invites her to a get together she’s organizing. Say what? Zach shows everyone at Highway 65 the rough cut of Will’s Budweiser commercial. Afterward, Zach tells Will he wants him to hear something. He calls Jeff (Aaron Cavette) in front of Will to tell him that he needs to stop calling him. Will tells Zach that someday he’s going to do that to him. Zach asks Will to give him a break, he’s trying to earn back his trust. Will tells him that he knows.

Avery comes home from the commercial screening to find Juliette on the couch with her computer. She asks how Will did and Avery tells her he was great. Avery tells her that they need to talk. Avery tells Juliette that Billy (Michael Chase) put together a tour for him, twenty cities that will begin in Atlanta. We thought you turned that down Avery? Juliette asks him if he’s already said agreed and Avery says it wasn’t an easy decision. She asks him if he’s made this decision without talking to her and he tells her yes because she wasn’t going to make this decision, he was.

Juliette asks Avery if he’s punishing her for Hallie. Avery tells her it’s been building in him for a long time and he can’t put it off anymore. Juliette asks him what she’s supposed to do and Avery tells her that she’s well now and she has the resources to handle everything. She starts to cry and tells him that she doesn’t want him to leave. Avery tells her that he’s been taking care of everyone for a long time. He’s been taking care of her and putting himself aside. He’s grateful for all of it, but he has to do something for himself. He’s not breaking up with her, they’re going to be fine.

Scarlett has a meeting with teens. Teens that may be struggling. One of them begins a sentence with “People like you…” Scarlett tells them that she’s going to stop them and tell them that when she was their age she was just like them. They all have things they’re ashamed of or things they want to change about themselves. Even Mackenzie came, hiding in the shadows, and came forward with a story of her own. We’re not surprised by this. Many girls that are teased as children become mean as adults. Hopefully, this will end her attacks on Scarlett.

Deacon attends Jessie’s show after all. She sings a beautiful song “Still Learning How to Lose You.” It really strikes a chord with Deacon. He’s definitely still trying to feel his way through things right now without Rayna. Deacon leaves the show abruptly in tears, knowing that he may never truly learn how to lose his one true love.