Rayna Jaymes and Luke Wheeler perform onstage. ABC.com
“Steel is forged in a fire,” quipped Connie Britton‘s character Rayna Jaymes during last night’s episode. There were plenty of fires to make most of the characters a bit stronger. Scarlett makes a spectacular stumble in her first showing as superstar Luke Wheeler’s opening act during a concert in Tampa, Fla. After her in-ear monitors aren’t set properly, Scarlett fumbles the performance, to the disappointment of the rowdy crowd. Even uncle Deacon is convinced she’s not cut out for life on the road.
After a pep talk from Rayna, Scarlett dazzles the crowd at the next show in Dallas with a rendition of “Crazy Tonight” (penned by Chip Boyd, Jay Clementi and Kacey Musgraves).
Rayna does some wheeling and dealing of her own after police show up at her home demanding the masters from her upcoming project. They say she is in illegal possession of Edgehill Records property.
Gunnar and Scarlett brought back their performance chemistry when Scarlett helps her ex with a song he’s trying to write for Luke Wheeler. The resulting song, “Ball and Chain,” (penned by Tammi Lynn Kidd and Paul Kennerley) is a hit with Wheeler and the perfect vehicle to get Edgehill off Rayna’s back. Luke Wheeler and Rayna perform the song during the concert, thrilling the crowd; Rayna later makes a deal with Edgehill Records’Jeff Fordham that he can release the duet as a single to increase the label’s quarterly earnings, which should be enough to buy Rayna the time she needs to finish her project.
Later, in Dallas, Juliette faces down Charlie and wife Olivia Wentworth, after she declined Olivia’s sexual advances. Juliette delivers the best lines of the episode, saying, “You know what? I’d rather spend the rest of my life in a double-wide than spend another minute around a billionaire bitch like you,” Juliette declares. “But I guess my trailer park education did let me down a little bit because I wasn’t smart enough to realize just how empty you really are.”
Juliette’s co-writing session with Avery Barkley features the song “Dreams” (penned by Cory Mayo and Jaida Dreyer).
Meanwhile, Peggy Cantor’s eyebrow-raising ways continue; in this episode, her secret non-pregnancy is almost revealed when new husband Teddy says he’d like to visit the doctor with her. She manages to find a container of pork blood and fake a miscarriage.
Watching Luke’s and Rayna’s onstage chemistry, it seems Deacon misses his role in the spotlight more than ever. “I blew every shot at being a solo artist i ever got. I ain’t dead and I ain’t done,” he says, presumably meaning he’s not done with music or his relationship with Rayna.
To see a preview of next week’s episode, watch below.
Category: Featured
About the Author
Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at jnicholson@musicrow.com.View Author Profile
