NASHVILLE recap: "I've Got Reasons to Hate You"

So we begin the show with a cameo from Mario Lopez and those two other pretty girls who host EXTRA, which conveniently airs on our local ABC station. WKRN-TV has the monopoly on this promo thing. Anyway, Rayna (wearing a Ryman Auditorium t-shirt) catches EXTRA on the TV where Mario and the gals are reporting on yet ANOTHER pity party surprise performance Puke has done since getting nearly left at the altar three weeks ago. The trio also report rumors are swirling that Rayna is keeping a low profile because she and Deacon are back together. (WE WISH, EXTRA trio. WE WISH!)

Deacon is finding comfort at an AA meeting and explains to his fellow alcoholics that he has liver cancer. He is also apparently avoiding Maddie by frequently cancelling on their guitar lessons. When Rayna refuses to talk to Deacon for Maddie, the moody teenager storms out. We might want to start calling her Juliette Jr.

Gunnar can’t get off the parental kick and won’t stop calling Mikah, who still refuses to talk to him. The kid is also turning into a problem child literally overnight. Look, I am just saying: Gunnar – contact Out and About and they will put you through to me. I will talk to you until you forget all about Mikah.

Wait.

Did I type that out loud?

So, anyway, Gunnar hops on a plane and moseys over to Texas to chat with Mikah. It seems Mikah is acting out at school because he found out his dad was a bad person, so he is going to be bad, too. Gunnar, take it from your Auntie Angela. Ditch the kid. He’s almost as annoying as Juliette’s unborn child. There’s really not enough room on the show for three spoiled brats, if you count Colt (AKA: Puke Jr.)

HALLELUJAH! Glenn is back! Just a little background on the actor who plays Glenn. Ed Amatrudo is a brilliant actor and a friend, so be nice to him or I will smash you. ANYWAY, Glenn interrupts Juliette doing pregnant lady yoga and brings her a bag of sea salt caramels. (Okay, Ed. Next time you visit, you know what to bring.)  Since the only career perks coming Juliette’s way is a diaper endorsement offer, she instead decides to finish recording her album.

Back at the Edgehill/Republic record label, (which look suspiciously like the CMT downtown offices) Creepy Jeff is being a dick to his pretty new assistant, Angie (who he mistakenly calls Amy). She also tells him Puke is pulling the song “Good Woman” from his upcoming album and wants to push back the release date until he can find a replacement track. Jeff complains that the label needs a Taylor Swift and she mentions they have Layla Grant (Will’s beard) and Creepy doesn’t care for that suggestion.

In a contrast with Creepy Jeff’s label scene, we find Rayna moseying into her label, and is greeted kindly by chipper and handsome Kirt, who she knows by name and who happily gives her coffee. She meets with Bucky who rattles off all of the media rumors going around about her keeping a low profile, one of them being she is in rehab. Just like Puke is doing, Bucky wants her back in the public eye. She suggests an unannounced Bluebird show and Pam Tillis will even be joining her. Sadie stops by the label and tells everyone she had the flu to cover for the downtime needed to recover from the black eye her crazy ex-husband gave her. Rayna invites her to the Bluebird to join the party.

Scarlett has called her mama (Deacon’s sister, Beverly) into town from Mississippi for a surprise visit. As Deacon is ripping into Scarlett for even thinking of telling Beverly about his cancer, he begins to struggle to talk and can’t communicate. He forgot a dosage of his medicine and had a bit of a seizure, but the incident forces him to tell his sister about the cancer and how he needs a liver transplant. Instead of offering her own liver, Beverly gets furious at Scarlett for luring her to Nashville under the guise of mending family fences. After some begging, Beverly agrees to test to see if she’s a match. Later, Deacon tries to make nice with her and they talk about putting all of their bad blood behind them.

In the recording studio, Juliette is struggling and Avery tries to be supportive. When he wakes in the middle of the night to find her missing, he finds her back at the studio still struggling. Avery gives her a pep talk, explaining that having the baby will give her more of a voice and the motivation needed to focus on the music.

Teddy stops by Maddie and Daphne’s school, where they are performing a lovely tune in the Edgehill/Republic-sponsored school recording studio. Creepy Jeff just happens to be there. If I were Teddy, I would have already taken out a restraining order against Jeff to steer clear of any and all members of my family. But Teddy isn’t that smart and Jeff explains he can make Maddie a star and that he only needs Teddy’s consent to sign her to a record deal. Later, Maddie bitches to Teddy that all she wants to do is make music and he admits he’s not opposed to her pursuing a career, but Rayna is not and he’s respecting her wishes.

The afternoon before the show, Pam Tillis greets Rayna and Sadie at the Bluebird, where Rayna immediately has flashbacks of her many times there with Deacon. She can’t handle it and walks out. Sadie finds her crying and agrees to cover for her so she can take off and get herself together. Maddie is dealing with her own Deacon issues and she and Rayna both end up in tears over Deacon. At least he’s worth crying over. So they decide to solve the problem like all Nashville superstar families— they write a song!

When it’s show time at the Bluebird, Sadie, who is in tears, can’t do it and calls in sick. Rayna goes on and sings the song she and Maddie wrote together. She calls Mads along with Daphne on stage to perform it with her.

Gunnar is trying to help Mikah not be such a tool and takes the brat to his brother’s old stomping grounds. He does his best to prove Jason wasn’t such a bad guy and the kid begins to come around. I am sorry, but this storyline is a snooze fest. It’s almost as boring as Juliette and Avery right now. Who needs Lunesta when you have Juliette, Avery, the brat and Gunnar?

Back at Deacon and Scarlett’s casa, Beverly is making fried chicken from scratch and so HELP ME GOD, Scarlett, you are eating every last morsel on your plate! While mama cooks, they all stand around the kitchen pickin’ and a grinnin’ an old song from grandma. It’s easily the best song of the show and it’s interrupted by a call from the lab telling Beverly she’s not a transplant match.

Jeff is burning the midnight oil and still taking out his frustrations on Angie because he can’t seem to find a hit song among his pile of hit-making artists and his grand poobah boss will be in town soon. So he meets with Teddy at Tootsies to talk business. Creepy didn’t waste any time in sending Teddy a recording contract for Maddie, but he turns it down. Then Jeff threatens to go public with Teddy’s hoochie mama prostitute liaison if he doesn’t sign.

As Beverly packs up to head home, Scarlett confronts her about her test results. It seems Scarlett called the clinic and the doctor told her that Beverly was indeed a match, but indicated she didn’t want to go through a second round of tests. As Scarlett calls her a terrible person (GO SKINNY SCAR!!!) Deacon breaks in. Beverly then admits she doesn’t want to turn her life upside down just to help Deacon overcome something he brought on himself. She doesn’t think its fair that it’s up to her to save him. In tears, she leaves town.

We wrap things with Deacon getting all philosophical at his AA meeting, admitting that not long ago, he wouldn’t have fought the cancer, but now he has a lot to live for. The prospect of not surviving cancer terrifies him.

 

 

See also:

NASHVILLE recap: "I'm Not That Good at Goodbye" (season 3 episode 11)

NASHVILLE recap: "I've Got Reasons to Hate You" (season 3 episode 12)

NASHVILLE recap: "I'm Lost Between Right & Wrong" (season 3 episode 13)

 

 

 

 

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