Nashville - Recap: See You On Down the Road

Recap and review of Nashville - Season 2 Episode 16 - Guilty Street:

This is another one of those episodes of Nashville that focuses more on the industry side of things, so this naturally ended up being an episode I loved. Sure, there was still the requisite character stuff, but it was all rooted within the context of finding one's footing within a business that is as tenuous and changeable as the wind. The stories in "Guilty Street" spring off of how the industry is shaping relationships, and how personal considerations sometimes need to be put above business. It's a wonderfully nuanced episode that is among the best hours Nashville has put out since the first half of Season 2 back in the fall, and it's all thanks to having the organizing principle of the industry as a system that inherently changes people, even those with the best of intentions.

Credit: ABC

There isn't really an "A" story in the traditional sense, as most of the stories get equal screentime. But I suppose if I had to pick one, it'd be the continued difficulties Rayna (Connie Britton) has been facing in trying to get Highway 65 off the ground. Her family difficulties are interfering with her ability to sign talent, as Tandy (Judith Hoag) is so distressed that she's allowed checks to bounce all over town. As the Chief Financial Officer of Highway 65, this is unacceptable, and Rayna is particularly furious because this cost her Cadillac Three, the upstart act Rayna was most looking forward to signing. Luke (Will Chase) offers to bail her out, but she doesn't want their relationship tied with financial strings, and so it's up to Rayna to rebuild the reputation of Highway 65 as a label that can actually follow through on paying its artists, and paying for all the necessities of being a recording artist (music video shoots, producers, studio time, etc.). This is a fascinating storyline, as it basically gets down to brass tacks, showing Rayna less as someone who's defined by the men in her life, and more as a singular force of considerable business acumen. She's been through the rigmarole of the entertainment industry, and knows that one bounced check can lead to an explosion of bad press that could sink even the most formidable labels, as artists lose their trust in the label's ability to deliver. That's an interesting storyline, all the more for the fact that the business side of things ties back into the personal side of her story: she fires Tandy for dropping the ball, and vows that she's taking this opportunity to finally free herself from all the crap she's had to endure from her family all these years, now that her father is dead. It's as harsh as Rayna has ever been, yet it's underpinned by the cold pragmatism of business, and that's a genuinely intriguing character development on Rayna's end.

Yet Rayna doesn't put business above all of her loved ones. However, her attempts at putting a loved ahead of business this week is likely to cause as much pain as if she'd put the business side of things first: when Rayna discovers Liam (Michiel Huisman) and Scarlett (Clare Bowen) in the throes of passion, she angrily fires Liam, despite having already paid him for his work on Scarlett's album, and despite the quality of work he was churning out with Scarlett. For Rayna, saving Scarlett from the bitterness and despair of a broken heart is more important to her than the hit she'll take from Scarlett's album being delayed. Yet this act causes blowback against Scarlett, as Liam decides to be a good guy about it by playing the villain. Instead of telling Scarlett that Rayna fired him, and possibly causing a rift between the two, he chooses to blow Scarlett off as if she meant nothing to him, so that her anger can be at him and not at Rayna. It's a bit treacly (his farewell, "See you on down the road," is the same line Rayna uses to fire him), but I think Huisman does a great job of selling it, and Bowen plays Scarlett as such an innocently damaged figure that the scene works. Rayna convinces Scarlett that she'll be able to achieve the same level of quality with a different producer as she achieved with Liam, since all the emotions she let out in the studio are still going to be there no matter who he producer is. I've always loved the Rayna/Scarlett relationship, as it's very much like a surrogate mother/daughter bond, but with overtones of mentorship that goes beyond your standard parent/child relationship. It's almost a shame that Rayna's role in Liam's dismissal will inevitably come out, since I'd hate to see that bond fractured beyond repair. But then, what's a bon if it isn't tested?

Credit: ABC

There are other storylines that center on the divide between industry and personal problems: Avery (Jonathan Jackson) doesn't want to feel financially beholden to Juliette (Hayden Panettiere). Not only does she pay for a dinner he intended to pay for, but she also entertains accepting a deal from Jeff Fordham (Oliver Hudson) to return to Edgehill not just because he's offering ownership of her own imprints, but also because he's offering Avery a $250,000 producing deal as part of the package. Fordham smartly knows that Avery is a weak spot of hers, yet he can't anticipate Avery's reaction to the offer, as he doesn't see it as Juliette doing him a solid based on the merit of his work. Instead, he sees it as riding coattails, as he'd essentially owe his career to Juliette. Avery feels he'd never be his own man, and the imbalance in their relationship causes friction in his band with Gunnar (Sam Palladio) and Zoey (Chaley Rose). When Gunnar implies that Avery has it easy due to his relationship with Juliette, the two men nearly come to blows backstage at their gig. However, Zoey is thankfully there to break them up, and it's a good thing, as their subsequent performance onstage is my favorite musical moment of the season. The show smartly allows the entire performance to air, allowing the music to speak for itself. The takeaway here is that these three really have something here. Not only is "Hennessee" one of the best original songs the show has delivered in the post-Burnett era, the band is also shown to have real chemistry onstage as a band. This is to say nothing of just how the crowd responds to them. It's a wonderful moment that quickly brightens Avery and Gunnar's formerly sour moods. I just loved this.

Credit: ABC

The Avery storyline even has the added benefit of tying back into Juliette's storyline, as she reveals to Avery that she decided not to accept Fordham's offer, since she feared Avery would never respect her if she did. Avery is happy to hear it, and he and Juliette decide on a redo of their dinner date, this time with Avery paying. Once again, Avery and Juliette is my favorite romantic pairing on the show, primarily due to how well Jackson and Panettiere bounce off of one another. But their story has greater import than the fate of their relationship, or of Avery's music career. As the episode rounds to a close, Juliette is faced with having to find a label that will allow her to do country music her way, now that she has rejected Jeff Fordham's offer. So where does she turn? To Rayna, of course, who admits to respecting Juliette's bravery and artistry, in her own roundabout way. I love the idea of finally pairing these two in a business context, and not just in the sense of an adversarial, passive-aggressive world tour arrangement. Granted, I don't really expect their partnership to run smoothly. But this marks a substantial step forward in the narrative, as Juliette is an artist first (with men becoming secondary) while Rayna is a businesswoman first (with personal problems coming second). It's a terrific development for both characters, in my opinion.

The rest of the episode is hit-or-miss, mostly because it centers on a relationship I don't really care about all that much. Deacon (Charles Esten) runs into an old friend at an AA meeting, and she spends the better part of the episode not-so-subtly trying to get into his pants. Of course, this makes it sounds a bit more salacious than it actually is, as this is actually a fairly sweet series of interactions. But it never goes beyond that, as Deacon gently lets her down, saying he has a girlfriend. It's noble Deacon at his best, which is a shame since his girlfriend isn't being anywhere near as loyal. Megan (Christina Chang) comforts Teddy (Eric Close), who goes through Peggy's old things and learns she lied about the pregnancy. In a moment of weakness, they sleep together, and although Megan is clearly ashamed about what happened after she drops Teddy off at his office, there's no way for her to un-bang the mayor. With that said, this story would have far more weight if we'd been given any cause to believe the Deacon/Megan relationship was something the series intended to last for the long haul. But it seems like the relationship has little purpose beyond further fomenting ill feelings between Teddy and Deacon (and maybe causing Teddy to impregnate Megan with a child that Deacon must become responsible for in much the same way Teddy has been responsible for Maddy? Eh, it's a stretch, but I could see the show doing it). Here's hoping that no matter where the story is going, it actually is going somewhere.

It's the same hope I have for the Will (Chris Carmack) and Layla Grant (Aubrey Peeples) storyline, as the endgame isn't apparent, but it manages to be intermittently interesting. Will tries to promote Layla's fledgling single during a radio interview, only to learn from Fordham that Layla is likely to be dropped by the label, causing despair in Layla, along with a further attachment to Will, who at least seems game for continuing to commit to her. Will is a complicated guy, but he's still largely likable, and he's doing huge favors for Layla's likability as well. So is Peeples, who plays Layla as someone who might actually be the down-home girl she's portrayed as in the media (before Will, she planned on saving herself for marriage). It's a dynamic characterization and makes her far more interesting than she was before, as it becomes apparent that the Girl Next Door persona isn't the act, it's the Back-Stabbing Country Diva persona that is.

Credit: ABC

Aside from a stray subplot here or there, "Guilty Street" is Nashville at its best, nimbly weaving personal matters into the larger context of the music industry. It's as close to a perfect episode as Nashville has delivered this season.