Life goes on for the dreamers and schemers in Music City as the ABC drama returns.
After keeping faithful viewers in a state of consternation for an entire summer, Nashville returned to prime time Tuesday evening to settle the cliffhanger that capped off Season 3 — Did Deacon die during liver-transplant surgery? – and to more or less resume business as usual "one month later." Here are our Top 5 Takeaways from the aptly titled “Can’t Let Go” season premiere episode. As usual, be forewarned: There are a passel of spoilers here.
CHEATING THE REAPER: They kept us guessing for, oh, I dunno, maybe five or six whole minutes, milking all the emotions they could with a shot of a moody-blue Rayna James (Connie Britton) settling into bed on her own, and a portentous line of dialogue — “I’ve had to do a lot of letting go lately!” — that appeared to confirm our worst fears. But no: Deacon Claybourne (C&I cover guy Charles Esten) is alive and relatively well, ready to marry Rayna and even help her play referee for her squabbling daughters. (Daphne yearns for good news from Teddy, who got tossed into the slammer at the end of Season 3, but Maddie thinks the dude — who, as everyone knows by now, isn’t really her biological father — is right where he belongs, behind bars.) So what was that bad news that Dr. Caleb Rand (Nick Jandl) had for Rayna during the last moments of the Season 3 finale? Poor Beverly — Deacon’s sister, Scarlett’s mom — suffered an aneurysm while anesthetized during the transplant operation, and remains in a coma. Deacon is more than a little bummed about this — but it doesn’t look like he’ll be guilt-tripping for long. And that’s OK with us because, bloody hell, hasn’t Deacon already suffered enough during the first three seasons of this show? This season, we want to see at least one episode where he dons a straw hat and a screamingly loud Hawaiian shirt and leads a conga line of hula girls up and down a beach in Waikiki. Or, if not that, then at least let the poor guy enjoy a hot fudge sundae or something. Sheesh.
THE BITCH IS BACK: Yes, it’s obvious that manic, mood-swinging Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) is suffering from post-partum depression. And, of course, even she knows (or seems to know) deep down in her heart that, for all the good things coming her way — critical acclaim for her first movie performance, a new album that’s shaping up as her smash-hit comeback, a sold-out tour as co-headliner with Luke Wheeler (Will Chase), an impromptu on-stage duet with guest star Steven Tyler (whose appearance prompts a brief but provocative discussion about the blurring of boundaries between rock and country) — she’s terribly unhappy and alone. But it’s hard to feel sorry for the gal, especially when it’s so very easy to take delight in the sheer spectacle of her full-bore bitchiness as Juliette snaps at underlings, throws shade at rivals (like Aubrey Peeples’ hopelessly outmatched Layla Grant) and well-wishers (like the grudgingly sympathetic but not infinitely patient Rayna) with equal venom, and generally behaves like a brazen vixen with a steroid-enhanced sense of entitlement. Really: Hayden Panettiere is a fine actress, but she hasn’t been this much fun to watch since she was cutting an erotic swath through the male population of Music City in Season 1.
GAY, BUT NOT NECESSARILY HAPPY: Since coming out of the closet in a very public fashion at the end of Season 3 — remember, everything that happens in this episode is “one month later” — Will Lexington (Chris Carmack) has been keeping a low profile, cultivating an unsightly beard, and tossing one wet blanket after another on every attempt by Kevin Bicks (Kyle Dean Massey), his frustrated lover, to cheer him up. The good news: Will finally rouses himself to get up from the couch and shave. The bad news: Kevin takes him out for a night of hearty-partying at a gay bar, but Will remains too self-conscious — and, perhaps more important, too fond of country music — to rave all night to electronica. Can this relationship be saved? We’ll report on further developments as they occur.
LOVE HURTS: Gunnar (Sam Palladio) desperately wants his musical collaboration with Scarlett (Clare Bowen) to once again be a personal as well as a professional relationship. But while Scarlett may be too weak to deny herself the pleasures of an occasional lip-lock with her ex-lover, she insists that she is committed to her “boyfriend,” Dr. Rand. “You make me feel like someone I don’t want to be,” she tells Gunnar. “He makes me feel safe.” So there. Meanwhile, Avery (Jonathan Jackson) has taken baby Cadence back to his hometown, and moved in with his mom and dad, while his wife, Juliette, continues her star-powered pursuit of greater fame, bigger fortune, and punier mortals to crush. But it doesn’t take long for Avery to reconsider his self-imposed exile, and contemplate a return to Nashville — if not to reunite with Juliette, then to advance his own musical career. Jackson has smoothly handled a tricky transition, from ruthless self-promoter to near-saintly nice guy, as Avery has evolved since Season 1. At the end of this episode, when Avery “temporarily” moves in with roommates Gunnar and Will, you can’t help thinking he’ll do his selfless darnedest to help those two guys straighten out their messed-up lives. We hope they return the favor.
OUT ON HIGHWAY 65: When Juliette cattily accuses Rayna of mismanaging her “vanity label,” Highway 65, the zinger really stings. And not just because the hurtful remark reflects the monstrous enormity of Juliette’s ingratitude. (Rayna has allowed Juliette to break her contract with Highway 65, and sign with Luke Wheeler’s label, because… well, because Rayna is a better person than Juliette could ever hope to be. And besides: Who needs all the legal hassles?) Truth to tell, even Rayna is beginning to fear she may have bitten off far more than she can chew by establishing the indie record company. Of course, now that Deacon is no longer knocking at heaven’s door, and capable of collaborating with Rayna on new recordings…