Is everyone on Nashville trying to keep a secret? The short answer: Yes. Country superstar Rayna James is trying to keep her feelings — and her past — with ex-flame Deacon Claybourne under wraps while her mayor candidate husband, Teddy, tries to keep his past financial indiscretions under wraps.
Oh, and Juliette Barnes shows there's a lot of vulnerability underneath that b****y exterior. That's this week's Nashville in a nutshell.
"She's the most famous singer ever"
Poor Rayna just can't win. Last week, her label basically tells her she'll have to open for Juliette to keep her album going — and she rightfully tells them to shove it. This week we see that even her kiddos — and even maybe her baby daddy Deacon — can't seem to resist her charms.
Juliette is still trying to lure Deacon away from Rayna with plenty of flirty glances, kisses — and even a bit of songwriting/skinny-dipping in a lush green pasture. She even tries to lure him with a $50,000 guitar.
"Sometimes a guitar is just a guitar," a sheepish Deacon tells Rayna and Watty White after receiving the rare string instrument. Uh, no, Deacon — but thanks for trying.
Also, what's the deal with Juliette and Deacon? He seems to love the attention the young lil thang gives him, but does she really like him for him — or is it all a ploy to further her career? We're not really sure, but she does seem to have a genuine puppy dog crush on him.
"I think something about you makes me want to grow up," Juliette tells Deacon at one point.
Vomit.
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Watty White: Puppetmaster
Speaking of Watty, he tells Rayna that the "idea" he had during a rainy night at The Bluebird Café was for her and Deacon to go on a stripped-down tour in lieu of her sure-to-be-a-disaster arena tour. Deacon's down for it, but Rayna's hubby isn't so sure he wants her alone with the dreamy bandleader.
Watty has plans for Scarlett and Gunnar, too. He offers to record the pair's demo, which we're assuming is like having George Strait or Garth Brooks offer to break your career. Scarlett acts like a weirdo about it, mostly because her boyfriend Avery is trying to be a big-time country star and what kind of co-dependent girlfriend would she be if she pursued her own career?
Gunnar wants both the demo and the girl. He eventually convinces her to take the opportunity, but not before Avery finds out about the impromptu Bluebird performance and demo offer. He pouts about it, but tells Scarlett she should go for it.
Spoiler alert: He really doesn't want her to go for it.
Secrets and more secrets
As for Teddy and the mayoral race? Daddy Warbucks is still pulling all the strings and signs up Teddy and his daughter dearest for an intensive background check. Rayna is evasive during her interview, especially when it comes to Deacon. It's obvious she's hiding a lot about their relationship — like a love child — but she tells the suits that their romantic relationship stopped when Deacon went to rehab.
Teddy was pretty honest about everything, it seems — except for that "bad business deal" that apparently bankrupted a lot of people. Daddy Warbucks is super-excited that his puppet is hiding something 'cause it'll make pulling the strings a lot easier. So, how bad were Teddy's business deals? Pretty bad, it seems: Cameras cut to him burning some documents in the fireplace. It's pretty much universally understood that burning important documents = big sinister secret.
Teddy does relent on one thing, though. He thanks Rayna for going through the background check, saying he knows it wasn't easy for her. Then, he gives the Deacon tour his blessing.
But will this tour go through? Rayna makes an impromptu visit to Deacon's acoustic performance at the Bluebird and they perform one of their old songs together. It's obvious that there's still a lot of raw feelings all around and that a tour would pretty much mean lots of guilty sex.
Overall, the episode was pretty boring, but we got the much-needed character development. Previews for next week promise a lot of fireworks, including a visit from Juliette's meth addict mom. Can't. wait.