The midseason finale of Nashville does a good job of wrapping up several storylines, though not all of them end up happily. With most shows ending in cliffhangers this month, isn’t it nice to say that there are no cliffhangers here?
Luke is beside himself with guilt over his situation with Colt. He has sacrificed the most precious person in his life to build his brand, which is about to come crashing down. Luke is shell-shocked to learn that his financial advisor has been embezzling from him and now Luke owes the IRS $40 million. He has to liquidate all of his assets just to come out the other side, which means very little when word gets out. Luke goes to Colt to try to make amends, but the damage is done.
Scarlett and Gunnar have finished their tour and officially return home. Scarlett spends some time with Deacon before the opening of The Beverly, but is also avoiding Caleb. Caleb gets a job offer to run his own department in Seattle, paving the way their breakup. Instead she has a conversation with Gunnar about a way to make their duo work long distance. This is just ridiculous! It’s like watching the early, unseen years of Rayna and Teddy. It’s not that Teddy or Caleb are bad guys, but they deserve more than to be in the middle of the destined couples. Thank goodness Scarlett realizes that she can’t follow Caleb and they do break-up.
Three men and a baby are reunited! Cadence is getting all kinds of love from Avery, Gunnar and Will. However, any mention of Juliette and Avery goes ballistic. When Emily tells Avery that Juliette is in treatment and has taken responsibility for her mistakes, Avery thinks this is all a manipulation. He’s so furious with Emily for seeing Juliette that he doesn’t even allow her to babysit. Avery is terrified that Juliette will come back into their lives, even after his lawyer assures him he holds all the cards. Gunnar came back not a moment too soon, since the boys need to talk some sense into Avery about taking his anger out on Emily. Avery won’t listen to anyone, not even Juliette’s therapist. Emily practically has to scream at Avery to get him to see he would be hurting Cadence by not going to see Juliette. It takes some time, but on the condition that Emily supervise at all times, Avery agrees to let Juliette see their daughter.
Will is finally starting to hope that Wade is not such a bad guy, only to find out that Wade is a closeted gay artist himself. Luckily Will has finally gotten to a place in his life where he is completely comfortable with who he is and the decision he made to show his true self to the world. The final shot of him unwinding with Avery, Gunnar and Scarlett is probably one of my favorite friendship moments on the show to date.
Markus is white as a sheet before the launch of his album. It’s not just posturing for effect, you can actually see the terror in his eyes. Rayna is the queen of pep talks, but even she knows that her entire label rides on Markus’s album doing well. The launch does in fact go splendidly, then Markus has to go and ruin everything by hitting on Rayna. Rayna is horrified and Markus retaliates by leaving the label to rejoin his old band, thereby killing her label.
Deacon doesn’t need the tension with the opening of his bar. Not to mention this turn of events throws a monkey wrench in his plans to propose to Rayna. They have a huge fight about the whole Markus situation, which is really more about Deacon’s never-ending insecurities than anything else. Like a good man should Deacon wises up, apologizes, and proposes to a gleeful Rayna.
Congratulations to the happy couple! All I can say is, it’s about time!
Nashville returns Wednesday, March 16.
[Photo credit: Mark Levine/ABC]
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