In which our heroine faces a number of problems, one old favorite gets scrubbed from the history books, and a Tiffany box goes unopened.

Scarlett and Gunnar: I am thoroughly unclear on what the showrunners think their relationship status is, or was. My understanding had been that they’re back together pretty tightly, but the way everyone is acting, it’s like maybe they were just nebulously banging without being totally sure how they felt about it. This feels like a puzzle piece that doesn’t connect with the season four jigsaw. I don’t think the two of them falling apart felt like it happened sensibly. At any rate, Scarlett and the video director finally do what we’ve suspected, and kiss. And then, she has a whole sensible conversation with Gunnar about how she’s got feelings for him — I think his name is Damian — and she wants to explore it, because she’s numb to Gunnar due to their history. I feel like… I would have bought this if they’d had Scarlett say, “The video made me realize I’ve only ever been in serious monogamous relationships, and it’s time for me to live a little.” But instead, she’s acting like they have more of an open situation and that her disinterest is due to their drama — which, the show has already implied, she’s revising as “Gunnar Is A Selfish Bone Addict and I Just Keep Taking His Sorry Ass Back.” Boo.

Will: Nope, not present.

Avery and Juliette: She’s pursuing her gospel album; he’s writing songs that sound like he used to, and when he asks for her feedback, he doesn’t take it well when she says the song sounds like an angry young ne’er-do-well that doesn’t gel with who he is now. What’s interesting about this storyline is that Jonathan Jackson is EXTREMELY devout. Like, to the point where he would be vocal about turning down roles if he felt the overall project flew in the face of God. So I assume they won’t head down the Avery and Juliette Break Up Because He Thinks God Is A Drag route.

Maddie and Clay: Are fine. Dating. He’s still 24, but because he can sing, Rayna is marginally cooler with it. Largely due to Rayna having to seem like a model parent, before Her Sadness.

Daphne: gets her period, which leads to some adorable scenes in which Deacon — prompted by Rayna wanting to mark the milestone somehow — tries to act like he understands how momentous it is, but then overplays his hand when he suggests they throw Daphne a party. But, like Maddie and Clay, this storyline only exists so that Rayna can be Mom of the Year before…

Rayna: She’s been hit by a car. Oh, sure, first we had some stuff where she and Deacon argued about writing together, because apparently when DEACON said he thought dredging up their past was a bad idea, she didn’t want to listen. But now that they’ve started, and are finding it harder than it used to be, SHE decides it’s a bad idea and somehow flips that on Deacon. They have a whole melancholy scene about it on a rooftop… and then at the start of the next episode, they’re writing together, merry as you please. Because Episode 7 is all about how Rayna is the best, leading up to a) her stalker confronting her with a knife, b) Rayna getting out of it by the skin of her teeth, and c) Rayna’s cop car, which is driving her home, getting t-boned by a pickup truck. Have we not already done Rayna’s car accident storyline? Did the new showrunners forget to read their show Bible? Because they ALSO forgot the existence of Tandy, so let’s just say my faith is inverse in proportion to Juliette’s.

Tags: Nashville
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