“I’m Sorry For You My Friend” was all about big events: concert tours and elections. I’m going to focus on the first half of that equation because I could not care less about the mayoral race. I’ll just sum it up by saying Teddy won. So now the writers will have to dream up silly mayoral scandals that viewers will care even less about.
Juliette and Rayna are about to launch their “Red Lips, White Lies” tour in a major arena (having worked out the kinks during smaller shows), but they’re both dealing with major personal drama behind the scenes.
It’s been a couple of weeks since Juliette bailed on her church wedding and everyone is buzzing about her disappearing act. But the press haven’t yet clued into the fact that she and Sean and are already married. Juliette served Sean with divorce papers, but he refused to sign them. He wanted her to appear before family court, admit she defrauded him into marriage and agree to an annulment. Sean is a man who only marries once, and he doesn’t count his short-lived tryst with Juliette as a real marriage. Initially Juliette fought him on it and insisted that he sign the divorce papers instead, but eventually she relented and admitted that she deceived him when she said ‘I do’. She was never going to be the kind of wife he wanted and that’s why she walked out.
Man, Juliette is endlessly fascinating to me!!! I could unravel her screwed up psyche and her dysfunctional relationships for weeks! She wanted an ‘out’ and yet she resisted an annulment because it would completely erase her brief union with Sean. Even though she knew it was a mistake, Juliette didn’t want to be brushed aside and forgotten as though she never existed. I believe that for her part Juliette truly cared for Sean and got caught up in the romance of their relationship. She didn’t mean to hurt him but she found herself in over her head and she couldn’t breathe. The whole thing makes her really sad … hell it makes ME really sad. There was something beautiful about Sean and the way he cared for Juliette.
It was interesting because during sound check Juliette refused to add her big hit “Love Like Mine” to the set list, even though it’s the song that all her fans go crazy for. On my first viewing of the episode, I wasn’t sure what that was all about. It seemed like it had something to do with how upset she was about Sean, but I didn’t get it. When I sat down to write this review I remembered that on her first date with Sean he picked up her guitar and started singing “Love Like Mine” to her. They performed it as kind of an acoustic ditty together and it was the moment he called her out on actually having fun with him. Awwww! After Juliette decided to keep the song in her show, she gave Sean his annulment, realizing it was time to move on.
Rayna was debating whether or not to trek home for the Nashville election. She and Teddy have not completely mended fences and she wasn’t sure whether she should show her public support or give it some more time. Personally I hope they get a divorce and we get to see Rayna develop steamier, more interesting relationships.
While she fretted about her family life, Rayna started obsessing about her guitar players. She wasn’t happy with a highly recommended guy who took Deacon’s place and he ended up walking off the tour after she micro-managed his position. Forced to make a last-minute replacement, Rayna begged Liam to join her on stage for a few shows … just until she finds someone else she likes. He was reluctant and wants to be her producer, not her back-up musician. But for some reason he agreed to help her out.
I’m really starting to warm up to Liam. I’m almost hoping for some type of romance between him and Rayna. You have to wonder why he’s so available to Rayna right now. Sure, he was inspired by their musical collaboration, but for a busy rock star/producer, he’s sure spending a lot of time hanging around one country girl! And yet he’s not a pushover who’s all too willing to please. When Rayna presented him with a pair of cowboy boots to welcome him to the world of country, he opted not to wear them on stage. And he called Rayna on her hypercritical behaviour with her first guitar player. She’s nervous about touring without Deacon … about getting on stage and realizing that it doesn’t feel the same without him. Liam gets her!
There was a hilarious little scene between Juliette and Liam when he jumped on stage to interrupt her sound-check. She was running into Rayna’s scheduled time so Liam laid down in the middle of the stage and refused to move until Juliette showed some manners and wrapped it up. This is exactly the kind of person Rayna needs in her life – a guy with a set of brass balls who isn’t afraid to make a little noise!
Rayna did end up flying home for the big election announcement and publicly celebrating Teddy’s big win. But it’s still strained and awkward. Coleman made a concession speech that included a beautifully heartfelt declaration of love for his wife. Her love is all he needs, win or lose. Rayna and Teddy watched it while seated beside each other on a couch. They could barely look at each other and the distance between them is painful.
In other tour news, Deacon had a bust-up with the Revel Kings after the lead singer Cy basically tried to rape Scarlett. Pretty damn good reason to quit a band! Cy had been acting like a spoiled brat ever since he invited Deacon to join the tour. He gave Deacon a hard time about hogging the limelight on stage, he was jealous of his relationship with a sexy reporter and he seemed to constantly resent his presence. When Scarlett showed up for a backstage tour, Cy couldn’t resist luring her into the green room and putting his hands on her. Scarlett kneed him in the balls, Deacon punched him in the face and that was the end of Deacon’s time with the Revel Kings.
I’m worried that Deacon will end up on Rayna and Juliette’s tour now. He’s lacking a gig, Rayna is lacking a guitar player and it seems like a perfectly orchestrated set-up. But I don’t want them back together right now. I prefer watching Rayna interact with new people and seeing Deacon struggle to get by on his own.
We also got some really great back story on Gunnar in his episode. He showed up at a prison to welcome home his older brother Jason who spent 8 years in the slammer for armed robbery. A 16-year-old Gunnar watched the crime go down from the safety of a parked car and took off when the cops showed up. Jason basically raised his little brother and Gunnar was anxious to help him re-enter society. Jason payed him back by pawning Gunnar’s guitar and violating his parole by buying a gun. I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him again. Gunnar is secretive about his past at first, only telling Scarlett that he’s ‘visiting his brother’. But he opened up to her at the end of the episode.
Favourite Moment:
When Juliette and Sean are staring at each other across a table during their annulment hearing and she apologizes for her role in their predicament, he looks coldly at her says, “Remember you told me that I wouldn’t like you very much once I got to know you? You were right.” Totally broke my heart. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy for poor Juliette. She believes she’s unlovable, so she’s constantly sabotaging her relationships and taking sick solace in the fact that she was right.
Photo Courtesy of ABC
