Primetime “Nashville”: Episode 104

Episode 104: “We Live in Two Different Worlds”
The episodes are named for classic country songs, this week it’s a Hank Williams tune.

Nashville ratings slipped to a season low Wednesday (10/31) night, impacted partly by Hurricane Sandy coverage and Halloween. The ABC show drew about 5.8 million viewers, according to overnight ratings from Zap2It.com. In more business news, the network ordered full seasons of several other series, but not Nashville.

Last night’s episode was packed with new locations (Catch This Music, Jack’s BBQ, Watermark, Hillwood Country Club) and cameos (Katie Couric, Robin Roberts), but only debuted one song. Laying the foundation for a few story arcs, including one led by Kimberly Williams Paisley, resulted in a somewhat slow-paced hour.

During a $1400-per-ticket fundraiser for husband Teddy’s slumping mayoral campaign, Rayna sang “Changing Ground,” a Gillian Welch song making its first appearance as part of Rayna’s catalog. The concert at the country club ended disastrously after a fight between Teddy and Deacon caused Rayna to decide to fire Deacon from her band. Emotions between the star and her former lover remain fresh years after the end of their romantic relationship. It makes for the show’s best drama, with Rayna’s steamy dreams and their fantastic onscreen chemistry.

New plot developments included a secret meeting between Teddy and former flame Peggy to discuss keeping a deep secret, which has yet to be revealed but could destroy their families. Adding to the intrigue was the revelation that Deacon’s addiction recovery sponsor is opposing mayoral candidate Coleman Carlisle, which means he is also in recovery.

Teddy and Peggy's secret meeting.

Juliette’s shoplifting scandal spun out of control after she refused to accept the seriousness of the situation. She repeatedly tried to shrug it off because “it’s just a bottle of nail polish.” She slammed the door in the police officers’ faces and laughed, “seriously, get a real job.” Her story showed up in all the major media, including a report by Katie Couric and an SNL sketch. But when the CMA Awards dropped her as a presenter, she conceded to an interview with GMA’s Robin Roberts (a real life country music supporter). When asked about her mother’s recent arrest, Juliette yanked off her microphone and ended the interview. It should have been a dramatic, highly-charged scene, but was anticlimactic instead. Industry viewers might have noticed James “Spoon” Williams as part of the TV crew, and Juliette’s Martin Guitars shirt in another scene.

One of the episode’s most emotional moments was when Juliette found a tattered photograph in her mom’s bag, a picture of them when Juilette was a child. She collapsed in tears. During such a trying time, Juliette didn’t have one friend in her corner. The scandal resulted in her losing tour sponsors and likely having to call off the outing. Looks like Deacon is going to be out of job from both camps. Her manager Glenn tried to drop her as well, but she convinced him otherwise.

The Scarlett, Avery, Gunnar triangle is getting tired. Avery’s jealousy and resentment of Scarlett and Gunnar’s new publishing deal, as well as their potential interest in each other, is driving Avery and Scarlett apart. Spicing up the storyline was Gunnar’s fling with Hailey, an assistant at the publishing company, which is housed at the real-life offices of Catch This Music. The video below features the actors singing “Fade Into You” with The Mavericks at a recent party at Anastasia Brown’s home.

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