Nashville - Recap: You're Not the Boss of Me!
Recap and review of Nashville - Season 2 Episode 17 - We've Got Things to Do:
Nashville is going through a bit of a creative renaissance, I think. "We've Got Things to Do" continues the recent tradition of blending business with family in ways that are both organic and exceedingly interesting. This could very easily be a show about the politics of the entertainment industry every bit as easily as it could be a show about families and individuals in turmoil over the strains of the music business. But by being about both, Nashville has often walked a difficult line in finding ways to balance those two aspects of the show. Yet I feel these past two weeks have brought us closer to achieving that perfect balance than ever before, and it makes for some excellent television, by the standards of a juicy primetime soap. "We've Got Things to Do" is a damn fine episode, an hour that sets up new dominoes, while knocking over the ones that stood before, in entertaining fashion.
Credit: ABC/Mark Levine
Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) is anxious to announce her signing with Highway 65, but Rayna (Connie Britton) wants to take a much slower approach, feeling that it'll be best to do a gradual rollout of the announcement rather than dropping it all at once. In Rayna's mind, this is all about rehabbing Juliette's tattered image among the country fanbase, a task that is not easily accomplished given her public image. And so Juliette begrudgingly agrees to Rayna's plan, taking her up on the offer to perform alongside her at the Opry. The dynamic between Juliette and Rayna is as effective now as it's ever been, as the context of their relationship has changed considerably. Rayna is now, for all intents and purposes, Juliette's boss. That fundamentally changes the dynamic from one in which Juliette is expected to respect Rayna because she's her elder and forebear in the industry, to a dynamic in which Juliette is expected to obey Rayna because she's her boss. It's clear that Juliette doesn't exactly enjoy the new arrangement, but she agrees for lack of a better deal. Yet things quickly go awry at the Opry...
Credit: ABC
Not only does Juliette receive a tepid reception from the crowd, she also ends up blowing Rayna's plan by announcing she's been signed by Highway 65. Worse, she does it for foolish reasons: she's overcome by jealousy and growing feelings of irrelevance after overhearing critics raving about Scarlett (Clare Bowen), who is apparently still fostering an addiction to pep pills. And so Rayna absolutely tears into Juliette for her stupidity, leading to yet another blow-up in the long-standing respect/hate relationship between the two. Hayden Panettiere is great at playing stubborn, and it's a trait in Juliette that is often meant to service the later scene in which she inevitably is made to feel bad for how she's acted. And so it is here, as Rayna explains that not only was her plan meant to salvage Juliette's country music career, but also to give her new label mainstream cred. Everything is riding on this label succeeding, since Rayna could lose her house if this fails. Realizing she was being short-sighted and selfish, Juliette apologizes, and is invited back onstage to sing with Rayna. Ultimately, while the newly-formed partnership isn't off to a great start, there's a recognition of just how much they both need one another. And that's a worthy story to pursue, since it continues the encouraging business of getting these women away from being defined by the men in their lives.
However, poor Layla Grant (Aubrey Peeples) is still finding definition not in her career, but in her relationship with Will (Chris Carmack). Layla hires Brent (Derek Krantz) as her new manager, only to discover that she and Will have been dropped from Juliette's tour, since Juliette doesn't want to be promoting Edgehill artists. It's not personal, it's simply business, and it's a decision that has interesting consequences for Layla and Will's relationship. Brent suggests that Layla and Will go on a small tour of 1,000-seat theaters, in order to build their brand. Yet, privately, Brent warns Will about the dangers of fame. Now that he has a hit single, Will is bound to become more famous; and the more famous he becomes, the larger the magnifying glass on his life. And with people poking around in his past, it's inevitable that someone will discover his sexual history, and rumors about his sexuality will begin spreading, potentially tearing down everything he's built.
It's a consideration Will takes to heart, especially when his relationship with Layla implodes after he decides to accept Luke Wheeler's (Will Chase) offer to go on tour instead of going on the tour with Layla. Layla is furious that Will would make this decision without talking it over with her, and she even notes that he doesn't even have sex with her anymore, leading her to ask if he even wants to still be with her. When Will doesn't answer, she storms off in disgust, leaving him to come to the realization that he can't do this without Layla. In fact, she's his armor from the rumors -- his beard, if you will. And so he does something rash, yet clearly calculated to protect his public image: he proposes to Layla. And the only thing more surprising than the proposal is that, despite all the acknowledged issues in their relationship, Layla says yes. Honestly, when the Will/Layla story first started, I wasn't onboard. Yet there's so much pathos in Chris Carmack's performance of a man who won't allow himself to be honest with the world he inhabits, because that world wouldn't understand. And Peeples is just as good, playing Layla as the doe-eyed innocent who's in over her head without realizing it. But beyond this, the story is also effective in illustrating the ways in which public image can make or break a career, while also noting the lengths to which people will go to protect that image. It echoes Rayna's attempts to rehabilitate Juliette's bad girl image, as well as establish the mainstream credibility of Highway 65. When entertainers have an image or brand to protect, all bets are off. And that sort of determination (bordering on desperation) can make for some truly compelling storytelling, especially when it forces characters to leave their comfort zones.
Credit: ABC
Case in point, Avery (Jonathan Jackson), who decides to accept Scarlett's offer to produce her album because he doesn't want to become just another wheel in another band, as Gunnar (Sam Palladio) seems to want. Juliette isn't thrilled, however, since Avery is turning down the offer to produce her album in order to produce Scarlett's. Avery is every bit as mad as Juliette, since he feels she's trying to keep him beholden to her, while Juliette simply feels abandoned. For her part, Scarlett isn't actually trying to win Avery back, she just wants someone she knows to produce her album, telling Rayna that she doesn't feel she can trust another stranger after what happened with Liam. And so Avery is at a crossroads: he still has the offer to make the band with Gunnar a more permanent arrangement (although Avery straight-up tells Gunnar that he only sees the band ending in "bad feelings"), or he could agree to help Scarlett with her album. Of course, there is the third option, in which he caves in to Juliette's demands and basically does neither. It's this desperation to reach out and make a name for himself that causes Avery to confront Juliette: he tells her that he'll turn down Scarlett's offer if she wants him to, but he would prefer if she could get herself to a place, emotionally, where she'd be okay with his working on Scarlett's album. And so we're left with the question of whether Juliette's stubbornness/selfishness will win out, or if she'll once again find herself apologizing for her pigheadedness. It's not the most riveting stuff in the world, but it still helps to develop their relationship (a pairing I love) primarily through their careers in the music industry. This isn't just a relationship between two normal people, but between two artists, with artistic dreams and artistic demands. So of course their careers will factor into their romance. It's just a smart way to move that narrative forward.
Credit: ABC
Many of the subplots I might not have liked in other weeks actually came together quite nicely here. We see Gunnar's world gradually crumbling around him, as Avery bails on the band and Zoey (Chaley Rose) decides to audition for a paying gig as a backup singer on a major tour -- a gig that would put her on the road for six months, at least. We don't really get all that much of Gunnar's turmoil this week, but what we do get is mostly in service of illustrating his fears of failure and abandonment. Of course, one of those feelings end up being guilt, as Zoey ends up losing out on the backup gig, and while Gunnar's disappointment and concern for Zoey is evident, it's hard to imagine he's not at least a little relieved. But while things aren't going so well for Zoey, things are looking up for Deacon (Charles Esten), who gets an offer to go on tour with Luke Wheeler, and the okay from Megan (Christina Chang) to go for it. Yet there's a big problem in his life of which he isn't even aware, as Megan is being harassed by Teddy (Eric Close), who refuses to accept Megan's answer that their hook-up last week was a one-time mistake. He insists they share a deeper connection, and intimates that she has no real future with Deacon. So once again, Teddy goes from sympathetic to jerkwad. And in the same episode, no less!
Teddy's attempts at getting the increasingly unruly Maddie (Lennon Stella) to put her education over her music is classic, reasonable parenting. And yet he's met with defiance at every turn, to the point where Maddie declares she wants to go live with her "real dad." It's hard not to feel bad for Teddy in this moment, as her words clearly wound him. He grounds her for a month in response, and this prompts her to record a new song and post it to YouTube under the name "Maddie Claybourne." She may be Deacon's daughter, but it seems like she got "being an inconsiderate jerk" from Teddy's side. Still, I generally liked this storyline, since it's yet another plot rooted in how the music industry (or even just the promise or potential of a career in that industry) affects relationships. Maddie doesn't see school as a necessity, since she plans on being a famous musician. She just doesn't see what value education holds, even though it's a path that both Rayna and Deacon support Teddy on, unquestioningly. It's a story of youthful bullheadedness, sure, but it feels like an honest story to tell, as Maddie is a girl in transition into womanhood, and discovering who she is and what she wants to do with her life.
Credit: ABC/Mark Levine
"We've Got Things to Do" is one of the best episodes of Nashville this season, striking an admirable balance between music industry intrigue and interpersonal drama. As a primetime soap, Nashville is frequently salacious, but there's also nuance to be found here, and this was a week in which that deeper storytelling approach (weaving business concerns with personal matters in a way that felt natural and hardly even drew attention to itself) was in full display. Color me impressed. I pretty much loved this.
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