‘Nashville’ Recap: Triumphant Returns Today, Revenge Tomorrow

ABC’s Nashville proved just how how unforgivable the country music community can be on Wednesday night.

The last episode (10/16) left off with Rayna James unable to sing, Juliette Barnes courting a “flash in the pan” country starlet to join her tour, and Scarlett O’Connor struggling to deal with the pomp and glamour of her new recording contract.

This episode was a defining moment for the future of Rayna and her label, Highway 65. It’s no secret she is looking to buy it from Edgehill, but the surprise investor handing her tens-of-millions to do it gets a little tied up with legal problems. So, the big question now is, will Rayna be able to pry her beloved label from Edgehill’s grasp and take Scarlett along with her as well…?

Avery Barlett begins to grow close to Gunnar Scott this week. Talk about an odd couple! Despite their rocky past (they both dated O’Connor), their chemistry as buddies shows. Avery with his cool, collective words of encouragement drives Gunnar to not give up on his dream to perform as well as he writes. Their duo, turns into a trio after inviting Scarlett’s gal pal, Zoey Dalton, to join in on a jam session. This leads two of them to make more than just good music. Regardless, their group sounds awesome and we wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more of this unlikely trio on upcoming episodes.

Things for Scarlett also don’t seem to be improving. She continues to struggle with promoting her new image and feeding the media its pound of flesh. No matter how much media coaching she gets, the flashing lights of cameras and quick questioning from reporters seems to overwhelm her. Thankfully, she has Deacon to fall back on for support. Of course, he is dealing with his own demons and makes us all wonder if he will ever get back to his true love… music.

Juliette proved herself as an opportunist once again. With Rayna dropped out of the tour, Juliette stacks the deck in her favor with fresh acts. It’ll be interesting to see if the sellout crowds are there for Juliette’s new “more mature” sound, or if they’ll prefer newly signed Edgehill artist Layla Grant’s “bubblegum” song mix.

Revenge is on the horizon and approaching fast. After this episode, it’s clear Rayna will have to watch her back next week, but so will her ex-hubby, Teddy Conrad. Nashville’s mayor is quite literally carrying a bullseye and it’s all a case of misplaced blame.

“Nashville” returns Wednesday (10/30) at 10/9c on ABC.

**Photos By: ABC/Mark Levine