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As you may recall from the last episode ONE MONTH AGO, Deacon now has a puppy, given to him as a birthday present from Juliette. Despite his annual viewings of Old Yeller, Deacon has no idea how dogs actually work, so thinks his is defective. He heads to the puppy doctor, where he meets a sassy veterinarian who is a recent transplant to Nashville and also hates country music. He summarily bones her and is ready to forget about her until Cole suggests that he stop being strung out on Rayna Jaymes and go on a real date already. Despite the fact that she doesn't get why he'd name his male dog "Sue," Deacon asks the vet out again and she agrees. I'm sure this will go over great with all parties on the "Red Lips White Lies" tour.
Meanwhile, Juliette is still devoid of a manager and isn't thrilled with the traditional rollout her label has planned for her new album. She courts the cutting edge by tweeting info for what was supposed to be a 50-person fan club concert out to her entire following. Deacon isn't so into the throngs of children who show up to the venue, but Juliette thinks it's exciting. Until, that is, the crowd starts to push and shove and poor Maddie -- yes, THAT Maddie! -- gets hit on the head by some falling shelves. Young Maddie has manipulated her confused, divorcing parents into thinking she went to a friend's house to do homework, so they are quite concerned to find her in the hospital, escorted by Deacon. She's totally fine though. Juliette is NOT so fine when Rayna calls her up and gives her hell for hurting people around her all the time and never taking responsibility. This prompts Juliette to pay the medical bills for all the fans who got crushed at the show, and also invite Jolene AND her sober coach to come on tour, implicitly agreeing to actually partake in family therapy.
Speaking of Rayna, she and Teddy are going at it like Kramer and Kramer, and she finally takes off her wedding ring after asking him not to bone Peggy in their house. The two of them have worked out a schedule with the kids, which is obviously going really well given how he allowed Maddie to get concussed at a concert on his watch. Teddy was obviously too busy announcing Cole as his Deputy Mayor and foiling Lamar to really keep a close eye on the whereabouts of his eldest. Despite their ad hoc custody arrangement, Rayna turns up at the house after Maddie's incident to introduce the notion that sometimes kids need both of their parents, even when said parents are divorcing. She gives Maddie the first guitar she ever learned to play, which was given to her by her mom, and suggests she start channeling pain into song. Rayna also lets Maddie know that she's grounded for life, then goes on the Katie Couric show to talk about the divorce.
Gunnar and Scarlett are VERY dramatic this episode, with both of them claiming that their boning doesn't have to mean anything and/or is a mistake, and Gunnar being very upset about Jason's death. He won't talk about it to Scarlett, but does freak out when he learns that the Nashville PD aren't taking Jason's case very seriously. Instead of turning up at their showcase for Rayna and Marshall, in hopes of Rayna signing them to her label, Gunnar drowns his sorrows in wine spritzers. Scarlett has to perform by herself, and even though she's lip syncing poorly (and Rayna has to rush out in the middle of the performance to tend to Maddie), she pulls it off. Of course then she has to round up Deacon to help her talk Gunnar out of trying to kill the dude who killed Jason. Not that hard, since Gunnar doesn't even know who that guy is. We finally learn the story of Deacon and Vince, the best friend who drove drunk and hit a tree and caused Deacon to ruin his own life from the guilt of it all. The tale of Vince is enough to convince Gunnar and Scarlett to bone again, and things seem like they're on track for these two scraggly-headed lovebirds UNTIL Scarlett gets a call saying that Rayna wants to sign her as a solo artist. Whoops.
And then there's Avery. He's not so into the "East Nashville meets dubstep" sound that Domino has forced him into, but Dominic rightly points out that he now owns Avery and can do what he wants with his music. Avery in turn steals his masters and lights them on fire! He signs over the remainder of his publishing advance (minus one bus ticket back to Nashville) to cover the cost, and dumps Marilyn in the process. Though Domino claims he'll now be dead in the industry, Avery feels more alive than he has in months and sings a sad song at the Bluebird to celebrate.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously onNashville: Rayna was interested in potentially signing Scarlett and Gunnar to her new label. They hugged in joy, but his penis didn't fall into her ladyparts just yet. Nay, that occurred after Gunnar learned that his ne'er-do-well brother, Jason, had been murdered. Scarlett totally boned Gunnar to convince him that it wasn't his fault that Jason died, even though it kind of WAS since Gunnar threw Jason's gun into the river, leaving him defenseless against Texan thugs. News of Rayna and Teddy's divorce hit the tabloids, and Maddie started the age-old process of hating both her parents. Avery was unsure of his path to success, while Jolene fell off the wagon. Thank goodness bang-able addiction counselor Dante was around to offer help to the whole family. OH, and Teddy asked Cole to be his deputy mayor, in a move that's going to be sure to cause some mustachio-twisting on Lamar's part. In other news, it has been a LONG TIME since the last episode!
We open at Deacon's house, where he's strumming an acoustic version of "Love Like Mine." Is he practicing, you may ask, for his job as Juliette's bandleader? No, in fact he's serenading...his new puppy! But Young Yeller is not impressed by the greatest hits of Juliette Barnes (which apparently come at the end of "every damn song I know"), and runs off to be restless and bark and sniff stuff. Deacon, who apparently has never been near an actual dog, wonders what Young Yeller's problem is, given that he's already eaten and peed all over the house. He calls the animal hospital asking for an appointment, for the reason that someone gave him a defective dog. Isn't it funny how everyone on this show is just a little dumber than we thought? Take the puppy for a walk, you idiot!
Meanwhile, in post-coital griefville, Gunnar and Scarlett wake up, both looking tortured. Gunnar claims he's fine, though Scarlett doesn't understand how he could be. She offers to call Bucky and reschedule the meeting with Rayna and Marshall. Gunnar is all, "Why would you do that?" See? Dumber than we thought. Scarlett thinks he shouldn't have to deal with record company shenanigans on the morning after he had to ID his dead brother's body, but Gunnar reiterates that he's fine. Before the meeting, though, he has a couple of things he has to do. You know, things that fine people do, like disappear for hours on end. Scarlett wants to help, and in turn Gunnar tells her that they slept together and "it doesn't have to mean anything." Grief sex: it's not ideal. In other news, Scarlett's post-sex hair looks slightly less scraggly than her everyday hair! Victory!
Meanwhile, Rayna is in her own house, getting the girls ready for school and packing a suitcase. Daphne greets "Mr. Bucky" as he enters and hands Rayna a stack of CDs. It turns out they're having trouble finding another act worthy of a label start-up, aside from Gunnar and Scarlett. And can I ask, why does Rayna even want to start a label? And while I'm asking questions, when is Liam coming back? Rayna is a bit scattered to say the least, and says she's been running around since 4 a.m. and feels like she's "in quicksand, on one leg, blindfolded." But it's nothing she can't handle! The subtext here is that Teddy was always the one to get the school lunches ready, and was actually kind of useful as a Mr. Mom. It turns out that Bucky has a "crisis management friend" who thinks a classy, exclusive way for Rayna to address her fans' questions and concerns and tell it like it is would be to go on Katie Couric's show. Rayna seems unsure about a tell-all interview, but asks if she can see the questions first. Maddie shows up to grab a banana and skulk back out of the room without a word. Rayna excuses herself to go give Maddie what-for in her room. She says that she knows it's a hard day for everybody, but that's no excuse for Maddie to be rude to Bucky OR her own mother. Maddie asks if she can go to the mall with a friend after school. Rayna says no, because Maddie has homework and Teddy's taking over tonight. Ah, the joy of the joint-custody tango! Maddie mouths off, and in the process calls Rayna a bitch. When Rayna begs her pardon, Maddie adds, "No wonder dad left." So, um, grounded.
Meanwhile, Teddy holds a press conference to announce that Cole will be his deputy mayor. Judging from some audience reaction shots, this is indeed a real shocker. Cole jokes that when Teddy first called him, he was hoping it would be to say that he was resigning. But in the spirit of collaboration and having "all hands on deck" to help the city, he's pleased to serve as deputy mayor. That thing that sounded like a thunderclap was actually Lamar gnashing his teeth on the other side of town.
Juliette and Emily have a meeting with Marshall, who enters saying that he was hoping he'd be meeting a new manager. Juliette says she hasn't "found the need," and besides she thinks it's finally time she sat at the adult table. And really, you can't blame the girl for wanting to take the reins on her own career even if her instincts are...questionable. She asks about the label's launch plan for her new album, which involves traditional press events, appearances, and intimate fan club shows like one she has booked for this afternoon. Juliette makes a crack about the same "boring websites," and says that a traditional rollout may work for Rayna, but she and Juliette aren't exactly of the same generation. Marshall points out that the traditional rollout worked quite well for Juliette's album, but she says that it was a different album, and she's different as an artist, and wants her fans to be excited about what she's doing now. Marshall is incredibly dismissive, telling her to let them do what they know how to do, and she can go do what she knows how to do. Which is: ruin everything. Good advice, buddy.
In Atlanta, Avery meets with Dominic and his "dream team" in a converted church studio. They tell Avery how much they love his new tracks, which he himself hasn't even heard yet. Domino plays them for Avery, raving about how great they are, but Avery doesn't exactly seem pleased that he's been turned into some sort of R&B/electronica hybrid that Dominic calls "East Nashville meets dubstep." Marilyn doesn't help things by interjecting, "They're going to love this in Europe." Avery doesn't think dubstep is the way to go with this particular song. But Dominic thinks it is, and doesn't seem to care much that Avery even has a brain of his own. Avery has a look on his face like he's choking on the emissions from that classic car signing bonus.
Meanwhile, Juliette leaves her meeting ranting that Marshall is infuriating, with no imagination or vision. And she HATES the rollout plan. Emily says that the event planned for today seems nice, and the venue is exclusive and intimate. Juliette notes that intimate is code for small. And fire codes be damned -- Juliette is tweeting an invite to the show to her legions of fans. And we all know from the previews how well that's going to go.
We then catch up with Deacon and Young Yeller at the vet. Deacon complains that Young Yeller was moaning and complaining and whining all night, and the vet -- who happens to be a foxy lady -- is like, "He's a puppy, you doofus." She asks him about microchipping and Deacon is basically like, "Look lady, I just learned what a text message is." He also admits that he hasn't yet named the dog since he just got him and isn't even sure if he's going to keep him. Way to win points with the animal doctor! Deacon asks if Young Yeller will travel all right on the road, and she in turn asks if he's a truck driver. Amused, Deacon explains that he's a musician, which leads the vet in turn to explain that she actually hates country music. He tries to zing her by stating that she's making an assumption that he plays country music. Dude, you live in Nashville. You look like you. It's a pretty grounded assumption, I'd say. In turn, he guesses that she's "San Francisco by way of Colorado," and in fact nails it. She's only been in town for five weeks and hasn't found any dim sum. Deacon then offers to take her out to lunch and give her the "nickel tour" of his penis. Er, I mean "the area."
Sad sack Gunnar then hunts down the police officer handling Jason's case to ask if they've made any progress in identifying his murderer. The cop says that it looks like Jason was involved in a local drug deal gone bad. That doesn't sit right with Gunnar, but the cop says that in any event, it was a violent altercation in an area of town known for its criminal activity. When Gunnar questions how hard the police are "working on it," the cop says that Jason was a felon who violated his parole, so kind of drops down to the bottom of the "to do" list. If he were trying to get his life together, as Gunnar claims, he wouldn't have been in a bar like "The Last Time Around," even though the name is incredibly appropriate for his ultimate fate.
Rayna calls Teddy to let him know she's leaving the house, with fresh daffodils on the counter. Maddie apparently called Teddy, upset and confused at why they're taking turns at the house. Rayna explains that Maddie is grounded for being rude, and wants to confirm that Teddy will be home by 6 p.m. He's all "uh-huh, right" as he signs some papers. She's happy to be there if he can't, but he points out that, though it's a shock to Rayna, he knows what he's doing with their daughters. But...he's like, mayor now. Can he really just call off at 6? There's one other thing, too. Rayna would prefer it if Teddy would not "financially consult" with Peggy in the family home. In response, he hangs up on her. Appropriate on both ends, I'd say. As she prepares to leave the house, Rayna takes off her wedding ring and puts it in her purse, missing a perfectly good opportunity to throw it in the disposal.
And then it's time for family therapy with the Barneses! Jolene reminds Juliette of her first tour, when she came to Mobile, and Jolene waited outside of the venue entrance for her. Juliette saw her, and Jolene put arms out to hug her, and Juliette just walked right by. The appropriate response to this is, "Well, you had meth scabs all over your face," but instead Juliette denies that the incident ever happened. Jolene claims she was sober then, at least for a week, and so didn't hallucinate the whole thing, but Juliette says she never saw her and that Jolene is remembering it wrong. Dante jumps in to call Juliette's response dismissive, and Juliette jumps up to say that over the past several days all they've been doing is talking about sad stories that aren't even true. Dante asks for a moment alone with Juliette, and tells her that she agreed to participate. Sadly, this is her best attempt at participating. As a bonus form of participation, she asks for Dante's credentials. It turns out he's had 100 falls, worse than Jolene's, from a hell of a lot higher. He says that Juliette isn't the only survivor in town. And...I mean, he's basically told her nothing. Shouldn't he have some sort of degree, or even certificate? A membership card at least?
Meanwhile, Deacon has just finished banging the hot lady vet and says that they hit "all the important spots" in the nickel tour. And: ew. She says that she doesn't do this (banging strangers from the vet clinic), and Deacon is like, "Heh heh me either," and she's like, "NO REALLY," and it's clear that his response made her feel grosser. He wants to actually take her out for lunch, until he remembers that he has to meet Juliette for the fan club gig. Whatever! She has surgery on an akita anyway! On her way out, she asks Deacon for one favor: to name is dog. Young Yeller sits in the doorway looking confused and frightened. That's one way to get him to calm down, I guess.
We then cut to Scarlett, who's preparing to go to the showcase for Rayna and Marshall. She leaves a message for Gunnar on the phone, saying she thought they were going to head to the showcase together. But she guesses she'll see him there. On the way out she grabs her banjo, just in case. She's basically got an out of tune banjo, a scraggly weave, and a prayer at this point.
Avery, meanwhile, is getting dressed-down from Marilyn. She's trying to hear his concerns, but thinks he should be honored to defer to Dominic. He has a great track record, and Avery respects him, but says that what Dominic played doesn't even sound like something he'd listen to, much less perform. Dominic overhears and enters the room, asking, "You don't like it?" Avery tries to explain that his music is all he has, but Dominic corrects him, saying, "Your music's all I got. You signed a contract." Avery complains that it isn't HIM, but Dominic counters with the fact that Avery wanted success, and now Dominic is giving it to him. Avery is who Dominic wants him to be. And wow, such nuance and subtlety in Wyclef's performance! Who knew there were so many shades of yelling?
And then we're in the mayor's office, where Lamar is barging in despite the efforts of Teddy's assistant. Lamar congratulates Teddy and Cole for their press conference, and asks if it was supposed to send a message. Teddy says it was just a pragmatic appointment, given that Coleman is an experienced council member with inside-out knowledge of the city. But Lamar knows that Cole has no intention of supporting "his" baseball stadium, and so wonders if Teddy shares in Cole's philosophy or is a man of his word. Teddy announces that he will, in fact, be building a stadium -- just not on Lamar's land. It turns out that there's another stadium-sized parcel of land that's cheaper, more accessible, and better for the city. And Subway has shown interest in the naming rights! Instead of bats, all the baseball players will have to use footlong buns, so it's eco-friendly as well. Lamar cackles, and wants to remind both men just who got them there. But before he can, Teddy's assistant comes in to say that Maddie's on the line. Maddie is calling to ask if she can do her homework at a friend's place despite being grounded, since she has a "group" "history" "project." Teddy asks if said friend's parents will be there and, when Maddie says they will be, he agrees. But of course Maddie is actually at Two Old Hippies -- the site of the formerly intimate Juliette Barnes concert. Rayna would be disapproving of all of this so hard right now.
Meanwhile, Scarlett is calling Gunnar...again. This time from the location of the meeting with Rayna and Marshall. She'd like to know that he's okay, and also for him to get there, and also for him to pick up his phone. Rayna laments to Bucky how many times she's had to wait for a guitar player, and is clearly nervous and feeling like she has to prove something to Marshall. He enters and tells her that if she can discover another Rayna Jaymes and Juliette Barnes he'll be happy, she proposes two Rayna Jaymes's, and Bucky heads out to get Scarlett as awkward smalltalk continues.
At Two Old Hippies, Juliette takes the stage to much crowded-crowd excitement. Deacon notes that there are a whole lot more than 50 people in the audience, Juliette says it's exciting, and Deacon asks if it actually IS exciting. Juliette scowls in response. If she cares so much about what he thinks, why doesn't she just try asking him in advance once in a while? Juliette launches into a song that has something to do with sweet blue eyes, and Deacon spots Maddie toward the back of the crowd. The audience starts pushing forward, and Deacon gives a concerned look to the lone security guy in the crowd, who just shakes his head no. Juliette keeps singing, oblivious, and the crowd keeps pushing until some sort of Ikea shelving unit that is randomly placed in the middle of the floor comes toppling down right on Maddie's head. There were, like, colorful baskets on top of that rickety shelf. No one thought to move it right out of the middle of the room? I guess that's what they mean by saying the venue can't "handle" the larger crowd. Anyway: bedlam. Juliette's security guy grabs her and ushers her through the crowd and out of the venue, while Deacon runs straight for Maddie. She stands up and doesn't seem to be obviously bleeding, and is most concerned at this point about being grounded for life. I can't believe we didn't even get to see her laying on the ground unconscious for a few seconds before the commercial break, since this whole scene was so obviously leading up to such a payoff. More danger!
Back at the new label showcase, Marshall is wondering what the heck is up with "these two characters" who couldn't bother to show up together OR on time. He starts to head to another meeting, when Bucky brings in just Scarlett. She apologizes and says she doesn't know what could be delaying Gunnar, but is sure that he'll be there any second. Why doesn't she just tell them about the dead brother? Rayna asks Scarlett to do one of her numbers solo just to give Marshall a taste. Guess it's a good thing she grabbed that banjo! And oh my goodness, how can we be on episode 15 and the lip syncing is still this bad? She's doing whatever the lip syncing equivalent of playing the banjo is, too. A few seconds in and some other instrumentation and background vocals kick in, which is I think Rayna's in-head arrangement/production and not ghosts. And then Rayna's phone buzzes, presumably with news of how her daughter maybe got concussed by ill-placed rickety shelves at an illicit Juliette Barnes concert, and she runs out with a quick note of apology. Can no one on this show just explain what's going on like ONE TIME? Poor Scarlett is having quite a day.
Rayna arrives at the hospital and Teddy shows up soon after. She's incensed that he doesn't know what happened since all this went down on his watch. They see Maddie, who is fine and apologetic and being sent up for a CT scan to check for any concussion activity. Deacon is there, of course, since he brought Maddie in, and actually kind of sticks up for Teddy when Rayna is incensed about his parenting watchdog skills. Rayna says she's grateful to Deacon for taking such good care of Maddie, and Deacon responds that Maddie is "like family." IF HE ONLY KNEW. Maybe they'll accidentally do a paternity test while doing the CT scan? Or she needs a kidney transfusion and Deacon is the only match? He leaves, but not before giving Rayna a little stuffed animal to pass on to Maddie.
Meanwhile, Juliette is raging at Emily, who is doing her best to manage the situation despite the fact that she is not actually a manager. Juliette wonders why there were so many people at the show - HA - and further abuses Emily when she says she can't do this job alone. Jolene and Dante invite Juliette to partake in their afternoon yoga session. She declines, on grounds that she's in the middle of a major crisis.
Avery shows up to the church-studio and, when the engineer goes to grab some mics, lifts a whole bunch of things with his name on them and puts them in his bag. These are apparently his masters, which he plans to destroy. It's a good thing it isn't 2013 and all of that information isn't backed up on a server somewhere!
And then a drunk Gunnar turns up at home. To her credit, Scarlett doesn't instantly throw a teapot at his head. She cries and says that she understand he's grieving and blaming himself for Jason's death even though he shouldn't (he totally should), but she wishes he'd stop treating her like absolute dirt. Is that too much for a girl to ask? He sad-sacks that she has no idea what he's going through. She screams that she was stupid not to cancel their meeting with Rayna, but also he might have at least called her to let her know that he was alive. Gunnar is all, "JASON can't play music for Rayna anymore!" and then Scarlett invokes how helpful the police are being in figuring it all out, which of course only makes Gunnar madder. She goes to hug Gunnar, and he gets dead eyes and tells her to stop, since he doesn't need her pity. Implication: he doesn't need her pity-boning.
And speaking of pity, Avery smashes all the hard drives and tears apart the reel-to-reel and puts it all in a garbage can which he sets on fire. I would make fun of the fact that he's got actual tape there, except for the fact that I am totally making a record at an all-analog studio. This still exists! It's awesome, until you realize that you actually DO kind of want someone to autotune your ass. In any case, I imagine Dominic will come by any minute and throw Avery's little ass into that fiery garbage can, too.
Back at the hospital, Rayna and Teddy bicker over what exactly Maddie was doing at the life-threatening Juliette Barnes concert. She thinks she should cancel an upcoming trip to New York to be with the girls, but Teddy tells her that she can cancel all she wants but she still can't come to the house this week. That's their agreement, and he's going to ensure that they stick to it. Rayna argues that Maddie needs her mom -- e.g., a parent who will actually take care of her. Teddy is all, "Don't forget how I Mr. Mom'ed her ass for the last umpteen years," and tells Rayna that she doesn't get to run this one. And he has kind of a point, until Maddie is escorted back in a wheelchair and before she can even say hello to Rayna he interjects, "Tell your mom goodbye." At this point he basically has testicles spontaneously sprouting out of his elbows and from between his fingers. Calm down, dude.
Juliette watches news coverage of her concert melee, which apparently left six young people with injuries. Juliette asks if she can sue the news for blaming this all on her and everyone is like, "Seriously?" To make things worse, Rayna calls, noting that she's just been at the ER with her daughter and the five other kids who got hurt at Juliette's show. Juliette wonders why everyone is trying to make this her fault and Rayna is like, "BECAUSE IT IS COMPLETELY YOUR FAULT." She continues to give Juliette some kind of hell for never taking responsibility for anything and constantly hurting people around her. She yells, "Wake up!" and hangs up the phone. Juliette in turn seems to be mildly awoken.
Deacon and Cole debrief the concert mishap as Young Yeller eats random shit in the yard. Cole notes that the dog was not a practical birthday gift, which leads to talk about the pretty vet. Cole says, "Don't sleep with her," before quickly realizing that Deacon has already slept with her. He notes that Deacon is "Mr. One and Done," since he seems to try to keep himself available for Rayna. Deacon thinks that's dumb, and Cole in turn asks when was the last time he had a proper date. When he took Rayna to the prom, apparently. Deacon isn't just hooked on booze and pills, according to Cole -- he's strung out on Rayna Jaymes. In turn, Deacon quite fairly points out that a certain other deputy mayor sitting right beside him appears to be equally enthralled with the Jaymes-Conrad-Wyatts. Nobody can quit them!
Back in the church studio, Avery returns to find a very pissed Marilyn and Dominic. When he reveals that he burned his masters, Wyclef goes from shout to heightened shout. I smell an Emmy along with gasoline fumes! Marilyn is concerned about the producing fees that Dominic has billed them, and Avery hands over $75,000 from his publishing advance. He also gives back the keys to Dominic's car. Dominic wonders if Avery really thinks it's that easy. Apparently he does, since he bids Marilyn adieu as well to the very enthusiastic shouts of Dominic claiming that he's dead in this business. But Avery feels more alive than he has in months. Just don't go to The Last Time Around little buddy!
Back at Juliette's, Dante tells Jolene that he made over $50 million, and blew it all on drugs, sex and cars. He also had an addiction to power, and at the root of it was a sense of weakness. Jolene shares that at the root of her addiction is a feeling that she's failed everything she's ever done. They talk about what happened at Deacon's birthday, and how admitting it is the first step, and Juliette sits out in the hallway listening. Dante sees her and gives her a look like, "See? Therapy." How many more episodes until these two are boning?
Meanwhile, Scarlett bangs and bangs on Deacon's door. She's come for help, since she's worried that Gunnar is going to try to take justice into his own hands at The Last Time Around. At the mere mention of the bar's name Deacon gets VERY worried, so you know it must be bad. Sure enough, Gunnar is in a hoodie at the bar, apparently ready to go and accost an entire fleet of Hell's Angels. Scarlett, always as dramatic as possible, runs up and says if he's going in, so is she. Her scraggly weave hides a whole series of knives and brass knuckles, after all. Gunnar wants to find out who killed Jason, and Deacon is all, "Then what?" And of course Gunnar doesn't know, AND he already threw that gun in the river. Gunnar says that Deacon doesn't understand, but Deacon DOES. Because: Vince. Remember Vince, longingly brought up in conversation by journalist Carmen? Well, it turns out he was Deacon's best friend, and Deacon made him drive drunk. How do you make somebody drive drunk? Anyway, Vince hit a tree and died. The guilt made Deacon dark, and made him lose everything he ever cared about including the only woman he loved. He doesn't want Gunnar to get lost in the same dark crap, and advises him to hold on to Scarlett's scraggly weave to get him through it all. Gunnar turns away from the bar and leaves with the two of them, much to the chagrin of one burly Hell's Angel who was in the mood for a tasty snack.
Back at the Conrad-for-the-week manse, Rayna shows up at the door, wanting to see Maddie even though it isn't her week. Teddy says that Maddie is fine, and totally wants her to leave. But Rayna gives him credit for being a good dad, and says being in the hospital reminded her of the day that Maddie was born, when it was just the three of them. And...did anyone else think that these two were totally going to bone? For the first time in like five years? But really, I guess, Rayna just wants to talk to Maddie. Teddy softens and lets her in.
Gunnar and Scarlett arrive home, and he apologizes for blowing the showcase, and for scaring her. In turn, she says that "last night" -- e.g., the boning -- was a mistake and apologizes for it. Gunnar looks sad and retreats to his room. Can no one turn on a light in the whole freaking house? Jeez, no wonder they are so depressed all the time.
Meanwhile, Rayna enters Maddie's room with a present. It's the first guitar that Rayna ever tried to play, given to her by her mom. And now she's giving it to Maddie. She knows that Maddie's hurting, but wants Maddie to know that both she and Teddy love her. And if she channels all her hurt through her music, she might be the second act signed to Rayna's new label. Thus, the guitar. Maddie thanks her, and all the nasty teenage attitude seems to have been concussed right out. Still, she's grounded for life.
Then we're at the Bluebird, where "Avery Barksdale" is playing the open mic. Aw, poor guy. He sits at the piano and sings a very sad song about grieving the love he's been holding on to. Is it Scarlett? Is it his career? Is it his publishing advance? Anyway, he's down with whatever suffering he has to do to get his dignity back. What won't help is the fact that Scarlett and Gunnar toss and turn separately before meeting up in the kitchen, acknowledging that their boning was neither pity nor a mistake, and boning again. A romance for the ages, to the soundtrack of Avery Barksdale!
And then Rayna shows up on Katie Couric's show as her entire family and Deacon watch. Not together, of course. Rayna admits that her divorce is painful, and says that her experience isn't different than anyone else's -- the only difference is that she has to go through it publicly. So, I'm sure the whole thing is a PR win.
Meanwhile, in family therapy, Juliette admits that she DID see her mom that time in Mobile, and was embarrassed. She ignored her, and is sorry. And she wonders if both Jolene and Dante would like to go back out on tour with her. Dante can be a sober companion, or traveling shrink for both of them. I bet he's going to charge $50 million, then blow it on coke and whores. The temptations of the road! Rayna's hell-giving really had an impact on Juliette, apparently, since now she's going to the hospital to pay the bills of everyone who got hurt at her show. Now that's being a good self-manager.
And then Deacon goes back to the vet clinic, sans puppy. He greets the hot lady vet, who asks if he finally named Young Yeller. Deacon says, "Sue! I named him Sue." obviously quite proud, as he should be. Hot vet says, "But he's a boy." NAMED SUE. See, he needs to stop this whole thing before it even starts. There's hating country music, and then there's just being an idiot. Deacon also wants to ask hot vet on a date, in front of the entire office. She agrees! I'm sure everyone on the Red Lips White Lies tour is going to be totally fine with that.
Back at no-pity-not-a-mistake-sexytimes house, the phone is ringing. Scarlett gets out of bed to answer it. It's Bucky. Despite only sticking around for about a third of Scarlett's performance, Rayna was impressed. She'd like to sign Scarlett -- as a solo artist. In the words of Sue: Ruh-roh! The weave spontaneously straightens for a moment, and we're out.
week: The Big Apple! New York City! Where the streets are paved with gold! And where the hot vet introduces herself to Rayna as Deacon's girlfriend. D'oh!
Potes can't cry black mascara tears because she has very sensitive eyes. Tweet her @traciepotes or email potesypotes@gmail.com.