Nashville - Not Ready to Make Nice - Review: "A Simple Life"

Welcome to this week’s review of Nashville, and your patience has been well-earned as we finally had a good episode. It’s been awhile, but this is the kind of episode I want to see going forward. The pacing was well-done, there weren’t too many storylines, and the drama felt organic. I really hope these sort of episodes continue because this is the Nashville I fell in love with; the show I looked forward to watching week after week. So without further ado, let the review commence.

First up is our central family: Maddie, Daphne, and Deacon. Maddie wants to show Daphne the new graphics for her EP when she finds out Daphne and Live created the gif. I’m really glad they didn’t drag out the reveal. Daphne is rightfully apologetic while Liv is cavalier. Thankfully, Maddie kicks Liv out of the house, which is something I’ve been wanting to do since Daphne decided to bring Liv home. So where do we go from here? Deacon has the unpleasant task of trying to decide on an appropriate punishment for Daphne; he ultimately ends up taking her phone for a month. Daphne thinks the punishment is too severe while Maddie thinks it’s too light. Daphne basically reacts as if her phone being taken away is the worst thing in the world. Maybe she should make a gif about #FirstWorldProblems. Poor Deacon; he can’t win with these girls. Though I will admit I laughed when Deacon said he got along just fine without a phone for half of his life. However, Deacon obviously knows nothing about teenage girls, when he tries to get Maddie and Daphne to talk about their feelings. He’s trying so hard to be a good parent, but he’s way in over his head. As he tells Scarlett, the Clayborne/Conrad/Jaymes household looks like an emotional bomb was dropped on it.

Daphne does make a good point when she says Maddie has hurt her a thousand times, not just with Maddie going to New York, but with her getting emancipated. I usually focus on Maddie’s lack of common sense, and how her actions have consequences. Well, one of those consequences is hurting your sister. It seems like Daphne’s words get through to Maddie because Maddie is the one who starts by apologizing to Daphne. Both sisters may have done things to hurt the other, but they’re in a lot of pain right now. Even though things are going well for Maddie, she still misses Rayna. Maddie realizes she can’t lose Daphne too, and the scene with them making up broke my heart. They are both still going through a rough time, having lost everything as Deacon put it. Sisters may fight, but they always come back together. I was glad to see Maddie and Daphne make up, but also I liked that what happened wasn’t one person’s fault. Yes, Daphne messed up by creating the gif, but Maddie has also hurt Daphne. Instead on continuing the cycle, they hugged it out and sang. Happy endings all around, well at least for this family; not so much for Scunnar and Javery. Side note: Deacon’s reaction to the girls making up just made me laugh again because he’s just like what is going on with my daughters?

The limelight has officially shifted to Scunnar. Scarlett and Gunnar are at a gas station, fantasizing about leaving it all behind, when it’s revealed that the couple is expecting. They seem to be in a happy relationship, except we really have no idea if they are, because Scarlett continues to flip-flop, but I digress. The media has pictures of Scarlett with a baby bump and naturally, the world assumes Gunnar’s the father because why wouldn’t he be? Everyone on the internet is trying to name Scarlett’s baby, and I did appreciate the meta references about shipping and cosplaying. However, Scarlett’s not ready for the whole world to know her business, and as much as she’s been annoying me to no end in season 5B, I can sympathize, especially since by the end of the episode, everyone knows a version of her truth. Of course, Gunnar once again is stuck with the short end of the stick. Even though Scarlett had no control over what the woman printed, the story still affects him. This should be a happy time for the couple as they’re having a baby girl. Yet, there continues to be turmoil. Scarlett feels like she won’t be able to protect her daughter from the world, and Gunnar feels like second-string, only this time on a larger scale. While I’ve complained about this whole storyline, the media finding out and subsequently revealing the identity Scarlett’s baby daddy at least feels like a real obstacle, not something that was fabricated to create drama.

For the record, that “reporter” is horrible. I put the term in air quotes because that woman is a vile human and a poor excuse for a journalist. As a reporter, I am especially insulted when I see TV shows portray all journalists that way, but that woman was completely out of bounds. Besides being completely ethically and morally wrong, she ran a story with inaccurate facts. Scarlett specifically told the reporter she never had an affair with Damien, but the reporter made it seem like Scarlett cheated on Gunnar. For all the crap I’ve given Scarlett, she was at least honest about her feelings toward Gunnar and Damien before she became pregnant. She was upfront with Gunnar about her feelings toward Damien, even if we didn’t understand it. Also, she never actually confirmed that Damien is the father. While Scarlett implied that sentiment to the reporter, the woman ran a story without verifying her facts and printing inaccurate information. By the end of the hour I was feeling bad for Scarlett, so if this character was introduced with the sole purpose of getting the audience back on Scarlett’s side, mission accomplished. I can only imagine the backlash Scarlett will continue to face, if we learned nothing else from Maddie’s storyline.

Juliette has shifted gears toward mentoring Hallie. She arrives at the recording studio all huffy because she, Avery, and Hallie have a meeting with Deacon in an hour, and Juliette thinks the track isn’t ready. The meeting, however, goes less than smoothly with Avery siding with Deacon about the song. Juliette takes it personally, getting upset that Avery didn’t have her back. I can deal with this Juliette. She is well intentioned, trying to save Hallie from making the same mistakes she made with her gospel album. Juliette believes a pop song will do better than a roots song, which may be true, as I have very little knowledge about the country music industry. Her getting upset that Avery sided “against” her: acceptable. While it may be wrong of her to expect Avery to always side with her because they’re married divorced cohabitating with a common biological child, it at least makes sense from an emotional standpoint. We all, theoretically, expect our loved ones to be on our side in a disagreement, but when it doesn’t work out the way we planned, we can be upset. We mope, shake off the dust, and move on. What we don’t do is accuse a person of trying to manipulate our loved one when we see them bonding or growing closer.

And then comes the paranoia. Juliette is certain Hallie is just using everyone around her to get what she wants. Despite Avery’s protests that Juliette sought Hallie out, Juliette is steadfast her belief. Juliette really does seem to believe what she says, or at least, that’s what she tells Avery. She then goes so far as to suggest something intimate is happening as Avery and Hallie are smiling and touching. Like where did this come from? This storyline took a sharp right turn out of left field, and I’m not sure what to think of it. We knew Hallie was going to cause drama for Javery personally, but I didn’t think the writers would it take it this far. I can see two possible ways that this storyline could one. One would be that Juliette has some sort of mental illness or this paranoia is some sort of delayed reaction to the trauma she suffered from the plane crash. If Juliette really believes what she’s saying, then I am deeply concerned like Avery for her well-being because I don’t understand how a person goes from A to B in this scenario. The other more likely option, is that Juliette is attempting to manipulate Avery due to her jealousy. Hallie and Avery seem to be getting along and the sky is the limit for Hallie’s career, while Juliette is struggling in hers. Juliette sees how close Hallie and Avery are becoming and either she’s scared Avery will leave her for Hallie, despite him being constantly at her side since the plane crash; she’s jealous of Hallie and Avery’s newfound friendship and potential success; or a combination of the two.

I personally think Juliette is threatened by Hallie, so she’s trying to convince Avery that Hallie is up to no good or convince herself that Avery and Hallie are in the wrong. Despite my griping with Hallie’s increased screen time last episode, I don’t think she’s a snake. Avery basically makes my case when he says Juliette was just a phone call away from a restraining order. Juliette turned to Hallie in the aftermath of the plane crash and sought solace in her; Hallie initially wanted to remain anonymous and had no desire in pursuing a music career. I really hope the point of this storyline was to address the elephant in the room that is Javery’s relationship. After the plane crash, they sort of just got back together without really solving or addressing any of their problems that led to the divorce. Yes, Juliette was taking drugs and suffered from post-partum depression, but they never really reconciled any of their differences. I hope the writers take this opportunity to explore this aspect of their relationship because Javery has some issues to work through.

So Nashies what did you think of the episode? Has Liv left the series for good like Clay and hopefully Damien? Will Scunnar ever catch a break? Is this the beginning of the end for Javery? Oh, and previews will resume next week as I have been on vacation in Spain for the past week. Until next time my fellow TV lovers.