Nashville - Recap: Joy Ride

It's an approach I could appreciate, even though I often struggle to care all that much about characters like Zoey (Chaley Rose) or Teddy (Eric Close). There's a bigger arc the show is setting up, and it's becoming apparent that the show isn't just spinning its wheels, biding time until November sweeps. Things are actually happening from week to week, and that's a lot more than I've been able to say for some of the shows that have come back this season. Another thing I appreciated about "I Feel Sorry For Me" is something I've appreciated about Nashville in general this season (well, barring the season premiere), which is that the storytelling is confident enough to leave some characters out of an episode.

Credit: ABC

There was no room for Will and Layla this week, or Luke, for that matter, and the show wisely didn't try to cram them in. This ended up paying dividends, since the episode was able to further develop other aspects. For example, if this episode had featured Will and Layla, I doubt we'd have gotten as much of the terrific Juliette/Glenn interactions as we did (although I did think Juliette's quest to give up her baby for adoption without anyone finding out was downright ridiculous). I also don't think we'd have seen as much of Avery's self-destruction as we saw, had the episode been attempting to touch on every single storyline in the show's universe. Sure, Avery's downward spiral is one of the show's big storylines, but I don't think it's immune from getting the short shrift. However, thanks to the less-crowded nature of the episode, we're able to spend more time watching Avery (Jonathan Jackson) unravel, so that his big speech at the end to Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) carries more weight. This more open structure gives time for other developments too, since I don't think we would have gotten much with Deacon (Charles Esten) and Pam (Brette Taylor) otherwise. Here, their relationship is allowed to develop fairly organically, resulting in one of the best scenes of the episode, as Deacon and Pam write a wonderful duet together on the fly about Deacon's brokenhearted feelings over Rayna. Nashville needs more of these moments, and this episode gave the show time to find them. "I Feel Sorry For Me" is an episode of encouraging focus, and my favorite of the season so far.

Credit: ABC

Naturally, one of the bigger storylines of the episode centered on a bidding war between Rayna (Connie Britton) and Jeff (Oliver Hudson) over the contract of Sadie Stone (Laura Benanti), a talented performer looking for a record label. As always, I'm a sucker for the storylines centering on music industry intrigue, and other behind-the-scenes business, although I don't actually expect that the owner of a major record label necessarily goes dress shopping and joy-riding with a client they're trying to woo. Still, I thought it was as fun as it was interesting, as Britton and Benanti have great on-screen chemistry, whether it's Rayna showing Sadie her wedding dress (which is downright lovely) or Sadie speeding past an oncoming truck to avoid paparazzi, ending in a joyful duet to a song on the radio (as both women pretend they didn't just come within an eyelash of getting killed). It makes for an enjoyable story for Rayna, but it also makes it a bit of a gutpunch when we learn Sadie signed with Edgehill. Her rationale is that she doesn't want to be one of Rayna's artists, she wants to be Rayna, and it's a rationale that does a good job of humanizing Sadie instead of vilifying her. She just wants success, and feels Edgehill is the best label through which to get it. It isn't personal, it's just the music business. However, Rayna's response is every bit as compelling, as she makes a great case for why Sadie should renege on the Edgehill deal and sign with her. She basically tells Sadie that Edgehill wasn't the label it was when she was part of their roster, and that Edghehill is no longer a label for women. It's a far more convincing argument than I'm making it sound, I promise, which is why it isn't all that surprising that Sadie ultimately decides to go with Rayna after all. That said, I do admit to being surprised that Jeff's big plan to get back at Rayna is to sign Daphne and Maddie (Maisy and Lennon Stella) to a contract, since he only needs the consent of one parent, and he's just made in-roads with Teddy. It's a story that's bubbling with potential for conflict that blends family drama with the hard-and-fast business of the music industry, so I'm naturally pretty interested to see where it goes.

Credit: ABC

I'm similarly invested in Juliette and Avery, even if I think it's kind of silly that she still hasn't told him about the pregnancy yet. It's not like she didn't have the chance to tell him after she bailed him out of prison following his arrest for disorderly conduct. Avery's drunken meltdown at the Blue Bird is one of Jonathan Jackson's more powerful scenes in the series, and it's only eclipsed by his baleful speech to Juliette later, as Avery tells her that all she ever does is destroy people. For Avery, loving Juliette is his curse, since he can't hate her without destroying himself, but he can't love her without having his heart broken again. And while Juliette can promise up and down that she won't break his heart again, her history suggests it's hard to know for certain. "I wish I'd never met you," he tells her, and while I'm irritated that, once again, she didn't tell Avery about his child, it resulted in Juliette returning home to Glenn, and reestablishing just how vital that relationship is in her life. In both their lives, actually, since Glenn tells Avery he considers Juliette like a daughter, "And you never give up on your kid." It's a great storyline, and far more successful than the stuff with Zoey's ongoing jealousy of Scarlett (Clare Bowen). But at least there, it cuts both ways, as Scarlett ends up resenting Zoey a bit for asking her to perform onstage with her, resulting in a severe panic attack that leaves Scarlett reeling. Clare Bowen hasn't had a whole lot to do this season, but she's good with what the show gives her. And I don't dislike Chaley Rose. She does a solid job, even if I do feel like I could do with less Zoey.

Credit: ABC

"I Feel Sorry For Me" is the best Nashville so far this season, and it's an episode that's encouraging for what it says about the future. The series has shown a willingness to adopt a more focused approach, to leave out things that aren't necessary and save them for subsequent weeks. This frees up individual episodes to explore things they might not have gotten the chance to in a more crowded episode. Ultimately, the open approach works, and I hope Nashville continues to recognize they can do much more with less.