Primetime ‘Nashville’: “I Don’t Wanna Talk About It Now”

Scarlett O’Connor shows off a new look. ABC.com

Deacon (Charles Esten) and Rayna (Connie Britton) grappled with the aftermath of their near-tragic accident in Wednesday evening’s (Oct. 9) episode of Nashville. Rayna’s troubles continued to mount as she confided in producer Liam (Michiel Huisman), who is now back in the picture producing her forthcoming project, that she fears she has permanently damaged her voice after the accident. She also shared plans to leave her longtime label Edgehill Records. The discovery comes at an unfortunate time, as label head Jeff is pushing Rayna to get new music into the marketplace. She also finalized her divorce from Teddy, who had Peggy waiting anxiously in the wings.

Meanwhile, Juliette (Hayden Panettiere) ticked off labelhead Jeff (Oliver Hudson) by refusing to perform at the Edgehill Records stockholders’ party. Instead, she agreed to a performance for media mogul Charlie Wentworth (Charlie Bewley) for an fifth wedding anniversary party for Charlie’s wife. The appearance seemed like a great idea at first, when Juliette performed “Trouble Is,” (penned by Marv Green and Kate York) and welcomes Charlie onstage to play guitar with her band. The occasion turned sour when guitar player/sometimes friend Avery Barkley (Jonathan Jackson) overheard Juliette telling Charlie that Avery is “just on the payroll.” Avery later confronted Juliette about the comment and she threatened to fire him. Later, in true Juliette fashion, the troubled superstar failed to reject romantic advances made by Charlie at the end of the episode.

Rayna, desperate to hide her vocal malfunction and to promote her fledgling Highway 65 label’s sole artist, surprised label head Jeff by allowing Scarlett O’Connor (Clare Bowen) to perform for the execs, when they were expecting a performance by Rayna. Scarlett wowed the audience (especially old flame Gunnar) not only with her new look, but with the song “Waitin'” (penned by Caitlin Rose). The location of the stockholder event, by the way? Downtown Nashville’s Wildhorse Saloon.

Several of the Music industry’s favorite haunts made last night’s episode, including clothing store Two Old Hippies, where Will Lexington (Chris Carmack) and Scarlett O’Connor get makeovers in preparation for Edgehill’s stockholder event. Once again, the songs were the stars of the episode, thanks to Will’s performance of “What If I Was Willing” (co-penned by Randy Montana, Billy Montana and Brian Davis) and the performance of “Waitin'”.

In the episode’s most emotional plotline, Deacon finally faced down his demons. He started by allowing doctors to help him repair his damaged hand.

He also talked to Teddy about his relationship with Maddie, saying “I’m not built to be a father.” Fortunately, Teddy didn’t let Deacon get away with it, reminding him that Maddie will be watching everything he does now that she knows Deacon is her biological father. Deacon returned to Alcoholics Anonymous, where with the support of  Coleman (Robert Wisdom), he confessed his own troubled family history. Deacon shared that his father was an alcoholic that beat Deacon’s mother and sister. “When you’re a man, you’re going to be just like me,” his father told him. “Here I am,” Deacon heartbreakingly said, and vowed to not be like his father.

It seems like last night’s episode was good fodder for some more hit song material.