Primetime ‘Nashville’: Episode 106

Episode 106: “You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave)”
First aired: November 14, 2012

Nashville finally picked up the pace last night, with interesting new characters and storylines. As usual, the music made a phenomenal centerpiece, with new songs by characters Avery and Rayna.

Characters hitting the Music City scene were squeaky-clean NFL rookie Sean Butler, new-to-town hit rock producer Liam McGuinnis, and artist manager Marilyn Rhodes, a cougar on the prowl for (un)suspecting young singers.

Liam (played by Treme’s Michiel Huison) initially dismissed Rayna as a “moms and SUVs” singer, but he was intrigued after she convinced him to listen to the new song she wrote “Buried Under” (actually by Natalie Hemby and Chris DeStefano). A whiskey fueled recording session helped him see her as a true artist and helped her tap into her reason for singing in the first place. The result was an edgy sound that pleased labelhead Marshall Evans, until he found out who produced it. The subplot shares a lot of parallels with Black Keys singer Dan Auerbach, who has a studio here and produced Rayna’s version of the Lucinda Williams song “Bitter Memory” for an upcoming episode.

Juliette agreed to a date with Sean as a strategic PR move, but things got interesting when they ditched the café and hopped a jet to Miami. Sean wasn’t as boring as she thought when he grabbed a guitar and started strumming her song “Black Mascara Tears.” Later, he fought off the paparazzi outside a nightclub, and she returned the favor by paying the photog $25K not to sell the photos.

Elsewhere, potentially damaging photos of Peggy (Kimberly Williams Paisley) and Rayna’s doormat husband Teddy landed in the hands of his mayoral race rival Coleman. He’s considering leaking the pics after his campaign was damaged by Lamar (to whom avid watcher David Ross refers as the Belle Meade Monster). During a traffic stop Lamar orchestrated, police found a bottle of Oxycontin in Coleman’s car. Ironically, he was pulled over on his way to the “clean campaign” event. In a no-good-deed-goes-unpunished scenario, Coleman had possession of the pills because his addiction recovery sponsoree, Deacon, surrendered them.

At The 5 Spot Avery’s (Jonathan Jackson) howling vocals shined on groovy, cool new song “Kiss” (written by Sean McConnell) and caught the attention of manager Marilyn. Avery and Scarlett called it quits after she suspected him of cheating on her with Marilyn—or at least wanting to.

Actors Clare Bowen (Scarlett) and Sam Palladio (Gunnar) are set to make their Grand Ole Opry debut this Saturday (11/17) at the Ryman Auditorium.

The episode also included a performance of “The Day You Die” by Lindi Ortega at The 5 Spot. It’s available for free download here.

Big Machine Records will release the Nashville soundtrack on Dec. 11, featuring music performed by cast members Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere, Charles Esten, Jonathan Jackson, Clare Bowen, and Sam Palladio. A full track listing is here.

Nashville needs extras on Tues., Nov. 20, at Bridgestone Arena. Details at nashvilleextras.com.