In “Move It on Over”, the Nashville girls are entering new phases in their careers – struggling to make the pieces fit with their personal lives.
Juliette has fallen from grace and is trying to weather the storm of her shoplifting scandal by burying herself in her music. She’s pulling monster all-nighters at the studio while her bleary eyed team of minions tries to keep up. But her career isn’t the only thing hanging by a thread. Constant stress from her mother’s drug using and abusive behaviour has left Juliette dangerously close to an emotional breakdown.
But at least Juliette’s got Deacon back in her corner again, rockin’ in the studio for hours on end and genuinely trying to build a friendship with her. Deacon still battles the demons of his own addictions and he offers to talk to Juliette’s mother about rehab. At first Juliette resists, but after she finds her mom passed out with her druggie boyfriend and an empty bottle of pills, she allows Deacon to step in. Juliette has tried to get her mother clean hundreds of times, but maybe she needs to hear it from somebody other than family.
Jolene gets all flustered by Deacon’s fame and actually calms down long enough for him to get through to her. He’s totally no-nonsense about it, forcing Juliette to leave the room and speaking frankly about his own drug demons. And he calls her out on her failures as a mother: “That girl is hurting and she needs you.” I kind of love Deacon right now – he’s like intervention superstar!
There’s a really fantastic scene outside the rehab centre when Jolene freaks out as she’s about to go inside. Deacon confiscates a bottle of pills she’s trying to hide, and she starts panicking. She turns on Juliette in an instant, smacking her across the face and screaming at her daughter for ‘making’ her do this. WOW! It was unbelievably awful.
I’m really curious how Juliette managed to achieve country stardom. She grew up poor with a druggie mother and didn’t have anyone to rely on. And yet she got herself to Nashville and became a chart topper. Usually those stories feature a young girl with undeniable talent who charms the world. But Juliette is portrayed as a mediocre singer. She’s pretty, but so are a lot of people. I’d LOVE to know the secret of her success.
Scarlett and Gunnar get their first taste of success as songwriters with an amazing opportunity to perform one of their tracks for Lady Antebellum’s producers. But Scarlett is naïve enough to bring Avery in as a back-up guitarist during the session. She still hasn’t realized that he poisons every aspect of her life. Avery just can’t help himself and starts straying from the sheet music to show off his guitar playing skills. He’s clearly pissed off at having to watch Gunnar and Scarlett sing their intimate track to each other like they can barely keep their hands to themselves. But it’s still no excuse for his mega douchebaggery.
Not satisfied with merely hijacking the song, Avery gets into a yelling match with Gunnar and accuses him of song-flirting with Scarlett. And because of Avery’s antics, Scarlett and Gunnar don’t land the deal. Scarlett finally grows a pair and confronts Avery about his childish behaviour. And she tries, yet again, to get through to her thickheaded boyfriend, “I choose you every time and I don’t know when you’re going to start believing it and stop trying to make me prove it all the time.” She accuses him of resenting her success and wishing she would go back to fading into the background and doting on him. YES Scarlett that is EXACTLY what Avery wants! You may be the last person on the face of the earth to put that together! Avery doesn’t even bother to deny it … jerk-off.
Rayna is adjusting to the loss of her musical sidekick, Deacon. She’s still hurting for extra cash and has resorted to filming commercials for beauty products. But even from a distance, Deacon is still causing her grief. He refuses to sign off on a co-written track that Rayna is supposed to sing in a commercial. He tells Rayna that his music is all he has – it’s pure to him. But I think he’s also frustrated and angry with her for abandoning him and then taking something that was precious to them and pimping it for money.
Rayna is eager to start fresh and record a new album. Her manager starts searching for a new songwriting collaborator. But Rayna decides to try writing solo … something she’s never done before. She digs deep in the spirit of moving forward and records a demo that her manager is really excited about.
I was disappointed with Rayna’s storyline in this episode. It was really uneventful and didn’t pack the same emotional punch that Juliette’s did. Even Scarlett had more meaty material. Also – and I hate to admit this – but Rayna has occasionally been getting on my nerves. Her treatment of Deacon is starting to irritate me. She’s been in the spotlight for years, while Deacon supported her from the sidelines. And yes there were years when he was drugged out of his mind and difficult to deal with. But sometimes I feel like she thinks he only exists to serve her career. I wanted to slap her when she just assumed Deacon should sign off on the commercial because SHE needed the money. Their music belongs to him too and not everything is about what’s best for Rayna.
On the flip side, I’m surprisingly enjoying the evolution of Deacon and Juliette’s relationship. I don’t like them as lovers, but they make really good friends. Juliette barely understands the meaning of the word ‘friend’ and Deacon needs to fill a Rayna-sized hole in his life. It’s interesting that he called Juliette to bail him out of jail after his bar fight. Rayna ignored his call, but why not Coleman or Scarlett? I think he knows she won’t judge him or lecture him. He can relax around her and that’s a really good feeling!
I’m not commenting on Teddy’s embezzling past and close relationship with his former girlfriend Peggy because I can’t bring myself to care. I wouldn’t miss any of the political plotlines in Nashville if they were dropped.
Photo Courtesy of ABC
